Malek National Library & Museum

Tehran


On display at this private museum and library are pieces from the collection of Hadji Hussein Agha Malek, in the 1930s one of the richest men in Iran. The watercolour paintings, delicate calligraphy and decorative arts, including incredibly detailed lacquerware boxes painted by 19th-century masters of the art of the miniature, such as Mohammad Zaman and Abu Taleb Modaresi, are exquisite.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Tehran attractions

1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs

0.03 MILES

Building No 9 of Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs occupies the former Shahrbani Palace on the pedestrianised street once know as Barg-e Melli (National…

2. Islamic Museum

0.07 MILES

Next door to the National Museum, and part of the same complex, this museum offers a stunning collection of arts and antiquities from throughout the…

3. Portal of Bagh-e Meli

0.08 MILES

The decorative gateway to the National Garden complex of museums and government buildings, dates from 1906 and was renovated in 1922 by the Minister of…

4. Qazaq Khaneh

0.1 MILES

Dating from 1892, the old Cossacks Quarters forms an impressive architectural flourish at the northern end of pedestrian Melal-e Mottahed, the street once…

5. National Museum of Iran

0.11 MILES

This modest museum is no Louvre, but it is chock-full of Iran’s rich history. The collection includes ceramics, pottery, stone figures and carvings,…

6. Ebrat Museum

0.14 MILES

There's nothing subtle about the graphic displays (suitable for adults only) in the one-time prison of the shah’s brutal secret police. A prime example of…

7. Imam Khomeini Sq

0.3 MILES

Ringed by perpetually seething traffic, Imam Khomeini Sq is not a place to linger. Little of the grandeur of the Qajar era remains here, although there is…

8. Tejarat Bank

0.35 MILES

The late 19th-century building housing the first public bank in Iran sits at the east end of Imam Khomeini Sq. At the time of writing the brick building…