Main Halls
Museum Room (Salam, Reception or Coronation hall):
This hall was built to be used as a museum from the very beginning, but then due to the transfer of the royal throne from the old museum and Mirrors Hall to this building and holding of special greetings in it, it gradually took the name Salam Hall.
Before construction of this hall and the Mirrors Hall that is next to it, there was a building in their place, which was called Almasiyeh Hall, and before Almasiyeh Hall was built, there was a wall that separated the mansion of Asif al-Dowleh and Salar from Golestan Garden.
The first royal and state museum in Iran, which was established by Naser al-Din Shah, was inside the royal buildings and in one of the large halls of the Golestan Exit Mansion, which was located between Shams-al-Emareh and the northeast corner of the garden, but after the first travel of Shah to Europe in 1873 AD and visiting the great museums and galleries of the western countries, he decided to establish and create a museum similar to the European museums in the royal citadel. For this purpose, after returning to Iran, he ordered to demolish the old buildings on the north side of Golestan Garden and build the Museum Room, Entrance Hall, pool and other extensions, which all of them almost have remained until now.
The architecture of the Museum Room (Salam Hall), the Mirrors hall and the Entrance hall and their related Pond Houses, i.e. the current gallery and the Special museum, was designed by Haji Abul hasan Navai Memar, known as Memar Bashi or Sani al-Mulk Isfahani, and was supervised by Mirza Yahya Khan, Motamed al-Mulk, the minister of construction. He was Mirza Hossein Khan Sepah Salar’s brother, the Prime Minister of Naser al-Din Shah and founder of the Sepah Salar Mosque. He was also the fourth husband of Ezat al-Dowleh, the sister of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar. It can be seen that the building of the Museum hall and other parts of it was completed in 1876 AD, but the arrangement of objects and works etc., in the Museum hall took many years and finally was almost finished in 1878 AD.
Naser al-Din Shah also participated in organizing the museum and determining the location of the objects, artworks, jewels and paintings, and he took part in the decoration of the hall, and this work continued for several years. The Shah spent his free time in arranging the museum objects, especially its jewelries.
Benjamin, the first American ambassador to Iran, wrote in his book “Iran and Iranians”, which is about the period between 1882 and 1883 AD:
"... the most excellent part of Naser al-Din Shah's royal buildings is the Hall of Salam, which is one of the most magnificent halls in the world in terms of its size and glory. Its ceiling and walls are decorated with plaster moulding, like the ones that can be seen in the Al-Hamra Palace. The floor of the hall is covered with tiles with beautiful mosaic patterns. In the middle of the hall there is a very large table, all parts of which are covered with gold sheets, and on both sides of the hall there are armchairs which are also covered with gold sheets …
At the beginning of the establishment of the new museum, in addition to the display of Iranian and European works of art and the gifts that the monarchs of foreign countries had sent to the kings of Iran, and the weapons and armors of the former emperors, historical works, paintings, vases, chandeliers, clocks, statues, etc., most of the jewels, jewelries and royal medals were also displayed in the Museum hall inside glass showcases, all of which are now in the Iran’s Jewelry Museum of Central bank.
In addition, it should be mentioned that the last events that are somehow recorded in the history of this hall include the coronation of second Pahlavi (October 26, 1967).
Mirrors Hall
This hall is located in the west of Salam hall and is one of the famous halls of Golestan Palace. Before this hall was built, there was a wooden 40- column summer house in its place, and before that there was a mansion called Almasieh.
Hall of Mirrors was built at the same time as Hall of Salam (about 1874 AD) and it was considered part of the new museum building. At the beginning of the transfer of objects and works from the old museum to the new museum, this hall was dedicated to the peacock throne and royal crown. The design and construction of Salam and Mirrors Halls and its associated corridors and pond houses were done by Haji Abul Hasan Memar Bashi, known as Sani al-Mulk, and the construction was supervised by Mirza Yahya Khan Motamed al-Mulk, the minister of construction.
Although the building of the hall was finished around 1877 AD, its decorations, mirror work and plastering continued until 1881 AD.
In addition to its location and decorations, the main fame of the Mirrors Hall is mainly due to the oil painting of the Mirrors Hall, which was done by the late Mirza Mohammad Khan Kamal al-Mulk Ghafari in 1891 AD, which is now preserved in the Salam Hall of Golestan Palace.
Ivory or Aaj Hall:
Next to the Hall of Mirrors, there is an Ivory hall or mansion. The date of its construction and Howz khaneh underneath (the current Howz khaneh Museum) is not known exactly, but it was done before Salam Hall and Mirrors Hall.
There is a very beautiful watercolor painting by Mahmoud Khan Malik al-Shoara, which shows the state of the exterior of the hall in 1869 AD, and from the painting it can be seen that the hall has three sashes with three large panels, a porch with six delicate columns, and a staircase on the west side.
According to Etemad al-Saltaneh in Iran newspaper, in 1878 AD, this building was decorated with works and objects presented by the European court to the Qajar court. Later, during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah, changes were made in the appearance of the ivory hall, the porch was placed inside the hall, and its windows were made at the same level and similar to the hall of Salam.
Porcelain hall:
The construction of this building, which was done on the remains of Qajar buildings and in the north of the pantry building, was completed in 1965 AD. Some of the gifts that the European monarchs gave to the Qajar kings were transferred from the Museum Room (Salam Hall) to this mansion and placed inside the showcases that were built for this purpose.
Among the dishes that have been placed in this museum are the porcelain set related to the wars of Napoleon Bonaparte, the set donated by Nicholas I, the Russian emperor, the jewelry set given by Queen Victoria, the set made of precious malachite stone donated by Alexander III, and the Chinese set donated by Wilhelm to the crown prince of Iran.