Tehran city tour: Niavaran palace and Sa’adabad palace-Tehran palaces tour

The Sa’dabad Complex is a complex built by the Qajar and Pahlavi monarchs, located in Shemiran, Greater Tehran, Iran. One of the most beautiful royal palaces in Tehran, located at a high point in the northwest of Saadabad. 

The Sa’dabad Complex is a complex built by the Qajar and Pahlavi monarchs, located in Shemiran, Greater Tehran, Iran. Saadabad is enclosed from the north to the Alborz Mountains, from the east to Golabdare, from the west to Velenjak and from the south to Tajrish. Today, the official residence of the President of Iran is located adjacent to the complex. The complex was first built and inhabited by Qajar monarchs in the 19th century. After an expansion of the compounds, Reza Shah of the Pahlavi Dynasty lived there in the 1920s, and his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, moved there in the 1970s. After the 1979 Revolution, the complex became a museum. Currently, parts of the complex are museums, in which visitors can roam through, and some parts of the compound are used by the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran which is responsible for most of the artifacts, locations, and cultural aspects of the country. It has various facilities for the welfare of the visitors and users of the library , documentation center , the auditorium of the Persian Gulf , Synmamlt hall , amphitheater Ivan Attar, local radio stations , public prayer , health and sports stations , workshops The repair works and museum objects , multiple greenhouses and more.
The cultural and Historical Complex of Saadabad consists of 17 palaces, museums, and Halls.
Gates to the complex
Nezamie Gate, from which Reza Shah came into the complex
Zaferanie Gate, for the presidency organization
Gate of Darband Street, from which the emperor Mohammad Reza Pahlavi came into the complex
Gate of Darband Square
Ja’far Abad Gate (1st)
Ja’far Abad Gate (2nd)
River Gate
The White House Gate

Main Buildings
⦁ House of Ahmad Shah Qajar (not be confused with the Pavilion of Ahmad Shah Qajar in the Niavaran Complex)
⦁ The Green House (also known as the Shahvand House)
⦁ The Mellat Museum (The White House, where Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Farah Diba lived)
⦁ Museum of Natural History (The Special House, currently used by the presidency organization)
⦁ Museum of Fine Arts (The Black House)
⦁ Museum of Anthropology (House of Shams, named after Shams Pahlavi)
⦁ Museum of Glassware and Handicrafts(House of Ashraf, named after the sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi)
⦁ Building of the Amendment 36 (a governmental agency)-House of Gholam Reza, named after Gholam Reza Pahlavi
⦁ House of the Mother Queen (currently used by the presidency organization)
⦁ House of Ahmad Reza, the son of Reza Shah (currently used by the presidency organization)
⦁ Administration of the complex (House of Abdol Reza, named after Abdul Reza Pahlavi, the son of Reza Shah)
⦁ The Training Center (House of Bahman, named after the son of Gholam Reza Pahlavi)
⦁ The Military Museum (House of Shahram, named after the son of Ashraf Pahlavi)
⦁ Museum of Artistic Creatures (House of Farideh Ghotbi, mother of Farah Diba)
⦁ The Behzad Museum (1st House of Reza Pahlavi, named after Reza Pahlavi II)
⦁ Museum of Treasure (The Dafine Museum)-2nd House of Reza Pahlavi, currently used by the presidency organization
⦁ Museum of Mir Emad Calligraphy (House of Farahnaz and Ali Reza, named after Farahnaz and Ali Reza, children of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi)
⦁ The Abkar Museum (House of Leila, named after Leila Pahlavi)

The white House
The White house was built between 1931 and 1937 and served as the Pahlavi summer residence. This palace is built in surrounding area of 2164 square meters; it is a two story building and a basement with a total of 5000 square meters area. This building includes 54 units including ten large ceremonial saloons which was the official reception of Mohammad Reza Shah. The largest theater in this building is 220 square meters used as the dining room. The two bronze boots outside are all that remain of a giant statue of Reza Shah – he got the chop after the revolution. The modern building is filled with a hodge-podge of extravagant furnishings, paintings, a tiger pelt and immense made-to-measure carpets. It was the height of luxury in its day, with discreet air-conditioning units that fold away into the walls. In the upstairs Ceremony Hall is a 143-sq-metre carpet that is said to be one of the largest ever woven in Iran.

Green House Museum
It is one of the most beautiful palaces in Saadabad complex. This palace which is located in a higher ground in the north west of SaadAbad was built at the end of the Qajar era and extensively remodeled by the Pahlavis. Formerly this building belonged to someone called “AliKhan” who was one of the big land owners and sold this building to Reza Shah. Reza Shah lived here for only a year and apparently found the bed, if not the mirror stalactites on the ceiling, a little too soft – he slept on the floor instead. It was later used as a private reception hall (upstairs) and residence (downstairs) for special guests. The outside view is covered by rare pearl green stones from Zanjan province and hence it was called Green Palace. This palace is a two story building containing an area of 1203 square meters. The design is over-the-top opulent, with wall-to-wall mirrors in the appropriately named Mirror Hall and the bedroom. The most interesting part of this palace is the mirror hall with a large scale carpet of seventy square meters.