The Azerbaijan Museum is one of the most important and oldest museums in the country and the sights of Tabriz, that is located in the city center and annually receives domestic and foreign tourists. The city of Tabriz can be called a city of museums because it has rich monuments, historical buildings and museums, each of which has exhibited a part of Iranian history.
The Museum of Azerbaijan in Tabriz is one of the most important museums in Iran and the second archeological museum in the country after the National Museum of Iran. The infrastructure of the Azerbaijan Museum is 2400 square meters and has three floors and a theater on each floor with dimensions of 37 by 12 meters, several office rooms and a library. It is worth mentioning that the building of the Azerbaijan Museum is based on the French archeological plan called “Andre Godard” inspired by the local architectural style in Azerbaijan, Iran.
The history of creating a museum in the city of Tabriz dates back to 1306 AH. During these years, an exhibition of coins discovered in Tabriz was set up in the hall of Tarbiat Library. After holding this exhibition, many efforts were made by a group of cultural lovers to set up a comprehensive museum in Tabriz, and as a result of these efforts, the Museum of Azerbaijan was established in May 1337.
In 1341, the construction of a building with three chapters of the hall was completed and it was inaugurated in October of the same year. Although the plan to establish the Azerbaijan Museum took a long time, in the meantime, exhibitions of historical and artistic works continued in the ancient city of Tabriz; Among these exhibitions, we can mention the exhibition of 202 historical works belonging to the Museum of Ancient Iran in 1336 or the exhibition of historical works and objects of Tabriz in Nejat High School.
The Museum of Azerbaijan has historical and artistic works belonging to the pre-Islamic and Islamic eras. At present, the Museum of Azerbaijan has an important and valuable treasure containing twelve thousand pieces of antiques and art, of which 2300 pieces of antiques and art have been registered, and due to lack of space, a limited number of these works are on display in different parts of the museum. Located lovers of history, culture and art
On the ground floor of the Museum of Azerbaijan, historical artifacts and objects related to prehistoric and pre-Islamic times are collected, and the pottery of Ismail Abad hill, which is seven thousand years old, is one of the most historical works in this section.
The serpentine minerals found in Jiroft, Kerman, date back to prehistoric times; Images of various plants and animals are engraved on these stones.
Also, the statue of the goddess, which was found in Rostamabad, Gilan, is three thousand years old; This statue depicts the value of women in ancient Iran. Ritons dating from two to three thousand years old belonging to the Achaemenid, Parthian and Sassanid eras are also kept in this museum.
Another landmark is a showcase of buried male and female corpses from the first millennium BC. These bodies were discovered during scientific excavations in 1378 in the area of Kaboud Mosque and in fact, they are part of the remains of a 3,000-year-old cemetery. These bodies have been transferred to the museum due to their simultaneous location in a grave. Also, in order to better understand the historical course of the formation and expansion of the city of Tabriz, the layers discovered during the excavation have been reconstructed virtually.
At the end of the hall and on the wall on the north side is the stone Bismillah, which is one of the rarest works of art in Iran. This huge stone consists of five parts, four of which are the frame and the other part is the text of the work. All the carving work on the surface of this beautiful and unique stone has been done by the Iranian artist “Mohammad Ali Ghouchani”.
In the first floor hall and along the relics of the ancient civilizations of Iran, there are objects left over from the Neishabour civilization in the fourth century AH, which are characterized by the use of white glaze with Islamic motifs and Kufic script. The historical course of these ancient works continues until the Qajar period. Other prominent works of this section are the pottery of the patriarchal period and the symbolic lock belonging to the end of the sixth century AH.
Also in the new hall of this section, the Azerbaijan Museum has exhibited the oldest coins minted in the geographical area of different periods of Iran, from the Achaemenid period to the Qajar period. In addition, examples of the rarest and most beautiful old stamps can be seen next to the coins.
The basement of the Azerbaijan Museum has long been a place of display and preservation of exquisite sculptures created by the famous Tabriz sculptor “Ahad Hosseini”.
