The Qajars' royal residence, the oldest substantial buiin the city, and one of a group of royal buildings then enclosed within mud walls known as the Arg,the Golestan Palace (Rose Garden), too, was completed by Fath Ali Shah Qajar. However, its construction is attributed to the Safavid Shah Abbas I. Nasser ad-Din Shah, if1fluenced by whhe had seen during his first European tour in 1873, added a Museum in the torm of a large, first-floor hall decorated with mirror work, where some of the priceless Crown jewels were put on show side by side with many other things of much less value, mainly acquired by the King during his European tour.
The coronation ceremonies of the last two kings of the Pahlavi dynasty took place in the first-floor hall, however, after a re- arrangement, complete renovation and redecoration of the interior with the intention of reviving the palace's ancient splendor. The last King used to hold New Year and Birthday Salaams in the Coronation Hall, where Ministers, foreign Ambassadors and other dignitaries in full dress offered their congratulations to the King of Kings. But generally, the Golestan Palace is open to strollers and tourists. The Palace garden offered an oasis of coolness and silence in the heart of the city. Shade is provided by what the inhabitants of Tehran call "the finest plane tree in town", rose bushes, blue fountain-bowls and streams of water recall the charm of ancient Iranian gardens.
Altogether, here you will see little more of the palace than the visitor hoping for a tour around Buckingham Palace who is fobbed off with the Royal Gallery. But while the state-rooms of the Palace may appeal to some others will turn to the Palace Library for the discovery of Iranian painting, which owes its relative lack of popularity to the inaccessibility of originals scattered from Cleveland to Istanbul, from Washington's Freer Gallery to St Petersburg, and from the British Museum to Cairo's National Library.
Address: j 5th Khordad Square. Tel 311.3335-6

Niavaran and Saheb Qaranieh Palace- Museum Of greater architectural interest is the summer palace complex of the Qajars known as Saheb Qaranieh (Lord of the Centuries) at Niavaran. This was built by Nasser ad-Din Shah and, as compared with Golestan Palace, shows considerable advance in design and the influence of European, notably Russian, taste: It is a relatively low building somewhat rococo in style; its white colonnaded porticoes give it a Colonial air, yet have the quality of stage scenery. It resembles many private residences of great charm and distinction built in and around Tehran in the middle or third quarter of the nineteenth century, many of which are now, alas, threaten with demolition. The garden of the Palace at Niilvaran is sheer delight. In the extensive grounds are a number of smaller pavilions where Nasser ad-Din Shah kept his harem. This Palace-Museum has a Korsi Khaneh and a Howz Khaneh, and all its rooms and halls are decorated with miniature paintings and precious objects. During the Pahlavi period, several new structures, including a school and the Niavaran Palace were added to the complex by the last Shah. Address: Niavaran, east of Tajrish Square, next 10 Niavaran Park Tel- 2287045-