Narenjestan Museum and Garden - Shiraz
Narenjestan Museum is situated at the Lotf Ali Khan Zand Street in Shiraz. There is a beautiful garden in the middle of this museum, hence it’s name,” Narenjestan” the Place of the Oranges. Sometimes, main building is referred as “Narenjestan Qavam” or Qavam House.
History of Narenjestan Museum
This typical Persian garden has a fountain in the middle and it’s main building was built between 1879-1886 on the Northern side of the garden. The Narenjestan Garden building is attributed to Mirza Ebrahim Khan, a member of the Qavam family, who originally came from Qazvin.
The house was one of a typical for the upper class families in the 19th century. During the second Pahlavi era, the House became the headquarters of Pahlavi University’s Asia Institute in Shiraz. In 1965, Narenjestan was handed over to the staffs of Asian Institute and Shiraz University.
Interior
Architecture quality, brickwork and tiled frameworks, carvings by saw, wood works, mirror work, glass work, and plaster work, paintings and the other ornaments that used in this building had made it very unique in Shiraz. This house offers it’s visitors a unique window into the history of Shiraz’s architecture.
Mirror and glass work adorn the ceilings and walls of the house have paintings created on them. There is a marbled fire place in one of the rooms and at the top of it, a painting depicts a scene from the Persian Empire’s glory days.
Although, this building is small in size but art work makes up for it. Wood carving was always a great art in the Middle East but to add richness to it, plastic strings were added to give it a permanent look. Qavam House is officially called a museum now due to the finer details it possesses from the 19th century.
The garden and Qavam House both are very photogenic but also for a relaxing evening to take a break from the hustle and bustle of Shiraz.
