Niavaran Complex

Niavaran Complex
Niavaran Complex
	The Niavaran mansion.
Type	Palace Museum, memorial
Location	Shemiran (northern Tehran), Iran
Coordinates	35°48′43″N 51°28′21″E / 35.8120°N 51.4725°E
Built	1772
Restored by	Mohammad Reza Nikbakht
Governing body	Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran

The Niavaran Palace Complex (Persian: مجموعه کاخ نیاوران – Majmue-ye Kākh-e Niāvarān) is a historical palace complex situated in Shemiran (northern Tehran), Iran. It consists of several palace buildings and monuments dating back to the Qajar and Pahlavi eras.^[1]

History

During the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah, a new palace named Niavaran was constructed for the imperial family. The palace was designed in 1958 and completed in 1967. It served a variety of purposes for the imperial court including as a home for the Shah and Shahbanu Farah as well a place to entertain visiting foreign heads of state. On New Year's Eve 1977, the reception and state banquet for US President Jimmy Carter took place here.^[2]

The Shah and Shahbanu left basically everything behind when they left Iran in January 1979. All of the peripheral buildings of the Sahebgharaniyeh Palace, with the exception of the Ahmad Shahi Pavilion, were demolished, and the present-day structures were built to the north of the Sahebgharaniyeh. The Ahmad Shahi Pavilion was then used as an exhibition centre for presents from world leaders to the Iranian shahs.^[1]

Private library

The library was publicly inaugurated in 1994, on the occasion of International Museum Day.^[3]

Construction

The interior designing of the library was designed by architect Aziz Farmanfarmayan.

Features

The building is allocated to libraries in three separate levels; the reading room, the main library, and the audio visual room. Other sections of the library include sets of artwork, which number over 350. The works reflect parts of modern art history, particularly the modern tendencies of Iranian art in the 1950s and 1960s.