Pars Museum (Tomb of Karim Khan Zand)

🕰️When was it built?

The pavilion was built on Karim Khan's order in the Zand era and added to the National Heritage List on 7 December 1935 as number 244. The Pars Museum opened in it in 1936; the museum's founding date is separate from when the building itself was made.

🏛️What was it built for?

The pavilion was used to receive guests and foreign envoys and to hold official ceremonies. After its use changed, objects from prehistory, the historical periods and the Islamic era were gathered in it, and the building became a museum.

👀What you will see

• The octagonal facade is decorated with tile pictures of flowers and birds, hunting scenes and the story of Solomon on his throne.
• The central space has four shahneshins around it, and a single-piece marble fountain sits in its floor.
• A painting of Karim Khan smoking a qalyan, by Jafar Naqqash, shows some figures of the Zand court beside him.
• Handwritten Qurans, watercolours by Lotf Ali Suratgar, and metal and pottery objects are among the museum's collection.
• On the west side of the garden, a cylindrical stone known as the History Tablet carries inscriptions from several periods.

💡Something interesting

Karim Khan was buried in this pavilion after his death. Under Agha Mohammad Khan his bones were taken to the Golestan Palace, and under Reza Shah they were brought back here, so the story of the grave does not end with the first burial.

Good to know before you go