Tabriz Municipality Palace

The Tabriz city hall building, which here is called simply Saat, that is "the clock", stands on the square of the same name in the centre of the city. It was built in the middle of the 1930s with the participation of German engineers who were working in Iran at the time, and in plan it resembles a bird with outspread wings: two symmetrical wings run out from a central block with a tall clock tower. The style is usually called German neoclassicism with eastern details: smooth pale stone, rhythmic pilasters, rounded corners and deep loggias. The clock mechanism was brought from Europe, each of the four dials looks out on its own cardinal direction, and its chiming marked the time for the whole centre. For a long time the building housed the city administration, and then part of the premises was given over to the city museum, which shows the history of Tabriz, old photographs and objects of urban daily life. In front of the facade lies a square with fountains and flower beds, and in the evening the floodlighting picks out the cornice and the tower.

Part of the building is occupied by the city museum, and entry is paid; the facade and the square with its fountains can be looked at freely, and in the evening the floodlighting is switched on. It stands on the central Saat square, from which it is not far to the bazaar. Payment in cash.

Address

حیدرزاده, Tabriz

On the map