Abgineh or glass museum in the city of Tehran was the residence and office of former Iranian Prime Minister “Ahmad Qavam“ (1876-1955 AD) until 1951. Later, the Egyptian Embassy in Tehran took over the building and handed it over to Iran’s Bank Tejarat.
According to Allmuseums website, since 1976 a group of Iranian and Austrian architects refurbished the building and converted it into a museum which was opened on 1989.The decorations of the building include brickworks of the exterior facade and interior plaster cutouts, mirror works and inlays.
As one of the Iranian famous museums, Abgineh Museum comprises several halls, workshops and a library. Artworks and handicrafts exhibited in this museum include three collections of porcelains, glassworks and crystals.
Porcelains
The magnificent collection of porcelains exhibits a thorough history of ceramics and porcelains made in Iran from the dawn of history until today. It also provides a bulk of information about the evolution of porcelain and its production technique. Major centers of porcelain making in Iran, including Kashan, Rey, Qazvin, Gorgan and Neishabour are also introduced.
Visiting this museum, you learn about simple and colorful glazed porcelains and the art of decorating them with calligraphic designs, paintings of plants and animals and geometrical designs over and under the layer of the glaze.
Some of these porcelains enjoy paintings on the basis of proverbs and old mythical and folk tales.
Glassworks
Glassworks exhibited in the museum date back to the first and second millennia BC until modern times. In this section the glass works production technique including the sand molds, cutting and pressing equipment are introduced. The painting method on the glass is also exhibited.

Crystals
On the ground floor hall of the museum, crystal and flint glass samples of 18th and 19th centuries are exhibited. All these samples are mostly cut and made in Europe.
Specialized Library in the northwestern courtyard of the museum, the newly constructed building of the library is visible. This specialized library contains almost 4,000 books on archeology and the history of art. A hall is also allocated to exhibit the glassworks and porcelains made by contemporary artists and craftsmen. Workshops to teach production of glassworks, crystal cuttings, porcelains and their painting are also provided.

Iranian and foreign archeologists will begin excavations in Chehrabad’s salt mine in the city of Zanjan in the coming months, a cultural heritage expert said.
Abolfazl A’ali noted that the Cultural Heritaage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization has reiterated the continuation of archeological excavations in different Iranian sites, ISNA reported.
Pointing out that several European companies have given proposals for contributing to the project, A’ali noted that Germany and the UK have already applied for taking part in Chehrabad salt mine.
A’ali further noted that a 200-million-rial budget has been allocated for this purpose by ICHHTO.

Qara Church, near Chaldoran city in West Azarbaijan province, has been proposed by Iran for UNESCO registration, deputy head of West Azarbaijan’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization said on Monday.
Alizadeh also told reporters that the church is one of the biggest historical holy sites in the world and deserves to be enlisted for registration as an international heritage by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), reported IRNA.
Qara Church (St. Tataous Cathedral) is the first Christian monument and Tataous had been one of Jesus Christ’s (PBUH) evangelists.
Badarak rites are annually held at the church in summer and attended by foreign Armenians and Armenians residing in Iran.
He said that natural events have caused damages to the church that has been renovated.
Qara means black in Azeri language and Qara Kelisa means Black Church.

By implementing Qeshm Geopark development plan, more foreign tourists will be attracted to Qeshm Island, deputy head of the Commission on the Geological Map of the World said.
In an interview with IRNA, Abdolazim Haghipour announced that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization registered geoparks on its global network of geoparks in 2003.
He said China is leading in the field of geoparks, adding that some 50 geoparks have been spotted in China of which eight have been registered in the UNESCO’s global network of geoparks.
Haghipour also called for cooperation of all related officials to support the Qeshm Geopark, which is regarded as the first geopark in the Middle East.
“In 2006, UNESCO announced that Qeshm Geopark has been registered on its global network of geoparks,“ he added.
He also noted that geoparks provide the best venue for young people to learn more about nature.
Geoparks can help promote tourism, handicrafts and introduce culture and history, as well as create more jobs.
Qeshm Geopark is located in the western part of Qeshm Island and is one of the world’s largest salt caves. It is 6,000 meters long and is unique.
More that 30 hectares from the western part of Qeshm Island was allocated for construction of geopark in 2003.
Qeshm Geopark has many privileges for different sciences, particularly geology, zoology, botany and archaeology.

Head of the archeological team excavating the ancient site of ’Sarab Murt’ in Gilan-e Gharb of Kermanshah province said that they are getting closer to excavating a fire temple belonging to Sassanid era (226-651 AD).
Yousef Moradi said that his team has found a prayer hall, a quadri-arc room, during their excavations in the site near the fire temple, ISNA reported.
“We began our excavations in a house dating back to Ashkanid era last year. The house comprised of different sections, including administrative, religious and private rooms,“ he added.