The lavish Golestan Palace is a masterpiece of the Qajar era, embodying the successful integration of earlier Persian crafts and architecture with Western influences. The walled Palace, one of the oldest groups of buildings in Teheran, became the seat of government of the Qajar family, which came into power in 1779 and made Teheran the capital of the country. Built around a garden featuring pools as well as planted areas, the Palace’s most characteristic features and rich ornaments date from the 19th century. It became a centre of Qajari arts and architecture of which it is an outstanding example and has remained a source of inspiration for Iranian artists and architects to this day. It represents a new style incorporating traditional Persian arts and crafts and elements of 18th century architecture and technology.

The palace was built in Tehran in the 16th century when the Safavid Dynasty was ruling Iran.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization made the decision on Sunday during its World Heritage Committee’s 37th annual session held in Phnom Penh.
The palace was built in Tehran in the 16th century when the Safavid Dynasty was ruling Iran.
The site received its most characteristic features following extensions in the 19th century, when the ruling Qajar family selected the palace as the royal residence and seat of power. Golestan Palace currently consists of eight key palace structures mainly used as museums.
“The Golestan Palace is considered of Outstanding Universal Value because it is presented as the most complete and only remaining example of a royal palace which is an architectural masterpiece of the Qajar era,” the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) said in a statement.
World Heritage site is a title that is given to the locations, which have “outstanding universal value” to all of humanity, according to the UNESCO description.
The World Heritage Committee inscribed Iran’s Friday Mosque and Gonbad-e Qabus Tower during its 36th session held in St. Petersburg, Russia, from June 24 to July 6, 2012. Armenian monastic ensembles of Iran, Bam and its cultural landscape, Bisotoun, Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Pasargadae, Persepolis, Sheikh Safi al-din shrine, Shoushtar historical hydraulic system, Soltaniyeh, Tabriz historic bazaar complex, Takht-e Soleiman, Tchogha Zanbil and the Persian garden are other Iranian historical heritage inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.