Western Iran - Iran - page 181

wealth once carried by provincial treasurers. The basement features Ahad Hossein's
powerful if disturbing sculptural allegories of life and war. The top floor displays a re-
weave of the famous 'Ardebil' carpet, reckoned to be one of the best ever made; the ori-
ginal is beautifully displayed in London's Victoria & Albert Museum.

Arg-e Tabriz
This huge brick edifice (Imam Khomeini St) , an unmissable landmark, is a chunky rem-
nant of Tabriz's early-14th-century citadel (known as 'the Ark'). Criminals were once ex-
ecuted by being hurled from the top of the citadel walls. Far-fetched local legend tells of
one woman so punished who was miraculously saved by the parachute-like effect of her
chador.
Ongoing construction of a stadium-sized Mosallah Mosque next door is reportedly un-
dermining the Arg's foundations and access is usually impossible.

ARCHITECTURE

Other Attractions
Behind high gates, the curious Anglican Church (Walman St) has a tower of four dimin-
ishing cylinders. The relatively central Kalisa-ye Sarkis-e Moqaddas (Sarkis Church;
Kalisa Alley) serves the Armenian community. It's hidden in a basketball court behind
high white gates.
The 19th-century bathhouse, Nobar Hamam (Imam Khomeini St) , is usually locked but
worth double-checking. Almost opposite, the German-designed Municipal Hall
(Shahrdari Sq) is a century-old Tabriz icon. It's only open to the public during occasional
exhibitions. Follow Tabazan St down its western flank then take the second lane to the left
to find the Museum of Measurement (Sanjesh Muze; 554 2459; admission US$1;
8am-6pm Sat-Thu, 9am-1pm Fri) hidden amid very ordinary apartment blocks. The brilli-
antly restored 160-year-old Qajar mansion is more interesting than its display of rococo
German clocks and commercial scales. Two blocks further south a trio of impressive
230-year-old mansions with two-story colonnades and decorative ponds now comprise the
Architecture Faculty of the Islamic Arts University . Two more blocks further is the
house museum of much-loved Tabrizi poet Ostad Shahriyar exhibiting the loveably or-
dinary settee and TV set that he used till his death in 1987. Shahriyar is now commemor-
ated much more ostentatiously with the strikingly modernist Poets' Mausoleum (Magh-
barat al-Shoara, Maqbar al-Shoara; Seyid Hamzeh St) . Its angular interlocking concrete
arches are best viewed across the reflecting pool from the south. The complex also com-
memorates over 400 other scholars whose tombs have been lost in the city's various earth-
quakes. Take bus 116.