Afif-Abad Garden

🕰️When was it built?

The garden existed in the Safavid era, and the present mansion was built in the Qajar era by Ali Mohammad Khan Qavam al-Molk. The garden later changed hands several times, and the army bought it in 1961. The military museum was set up in the complex in the spring of 1991.

🏛️What was it built for?

The garden was once a pleasure ground and residence and later became a museum complex. The lower floor of the mansion is given over to the display of weapons, and the upper floor, with its various rooms, keeps something of the look of the living and reception spaces.

👀What you will see

• The garden gate has four plaster columns whose capitals take their cue from Persepolis designs, with two lions on the gate's front.
• A large iwan runs along the east front, and four tall columns in front of it hold up the wooden ceiling.
• The upstairs hall has a wooden ceiling painted with flowers, hunting scenes and feasts, with stucco and muqarnas around the walls.
• The museum section keeps swords, armour, spears, helmets and old guns alongside weapons from more recent periods.
• The large pool lies in front of the mansion, and the garden's main path starts opposite it.

💡Something interesting

In the late Qajar era the garden passed to Afifeh Khanom, a niece of the mansion's builder. She made many changes and improvements, and after that time the name Afif-Abad caught on for the garden.