Ramsar Marble Palace

The Ramsar Royal Palace, also known as the Marble Palace, is one of the finest surviving works of the Pahlavi era in Ramsar, Iran. It is located in Mazandaran Province, southeast of the city of Ramsar, about 6 kilometers (12 minutes) from the city center. The Ramsar Marble Palace was built on the orders of Reza Shah between 1312 and 1316 (Solar Hijri) as a retreat for the royal family, on a hill overlooking the sea and the beautiful forests of Ramsar. It served as a residence of the royal family until the 1357 (Solar Hijri) Revolution. The palace takes its name from the marble used in the building, including the four marble columns and two marble tigers on the entrance porch. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, then Shah of Iran, and his second wife, Soraya Esfandiary, then Queen of Iran, spent their honeymoon in this palace. The palace stands in the middle of a garden covering 60,000 square meters, where the first grafted citrus saplings and rare ornamental plants were planted. It is one of the most interesting and diverse gardens in Iran.

The palace, with a floor area of about 600 square meters, was designed and built by Iranian artists. The building is made of white veined marble, with a porch of 4 columns carved from single pieces of marble, and two marble tiger statues flank the staircase at the back of the palace. At the entrance there is a central hall, onto which the doors of the side rooms open. The central hall leads to two large rooms. The reception and conference hall holds a woolen carpet of 82.5 square meters, handmade by artisans from Kerman, which is the largest carpet in the complex. The carpet has a navy-blue background and is decorated with medallion, flower and shrub designs. French furniture 200 years old is placed in this hall, and its cabinets and decorative pieces turn it into a luxurious space.

After the 1357 (Solar Hijri) Revolution, the palace came under the ownership of the Mostazafan Foundation, and it is open to the public as a museum under the name Khazar Tamashagah. The items on display include antique furniture, candelabra and buffets, exquisite bronze and marble statues, and paintings by world-famous artists. In the grounds in front of the palace stands a pine tree 23 meters tall, planted in 1292 (Solar Hijri). It is known as the Kashefi Pine, and its trunk is more than half a meter thick. The blue pool in front of the palace holds a number of sturgeon, kept for decoration. The Ramsar Marble Palace is located inside the city of Ramsar and is easy to reach. Facilities provided for visitors' comfort include a café and restaurant next to the bathhouse, a parking lot, a handicrafts bazaar, a wooden gazebo selling souvenirs east of the shop, restrooms in the southeast of the garden, a prayer room, improved paths for visitors with disabilities, a photography booth and a pastry shop.