Next door to the National Museum and part of the same complex, this museum had been closed for several years when we passed and had a small but worthwhile exhibit of Silk Road artefacts in its place; staff assured us the main museum would reopen ‘soon, insh’Allah’. When it does you’ll find two floors exhibiting arts and antiquities from throughout the Islamic period. In the past, these included calligraphy, carpets, ceramics, woodcarving, sculpture, miniatures, brickwork and textiles. The collection includes silks and stuccowork from Rey, portraits from the Mongol period, a collection of Sassanian coins and gorgeous 14th-century wooden doors and windows. Look also for the beautiful Paradise Door , a 14th-century lustre-painted mihrab (niche in a mosque indicating the direction of Mecca) from Qom, and a 19th-century inlaid door from Esfahan.
