TEHRAN –Tadayyon Hospital, the first hospital built in the north-central city of Semnan, will be turned into a health museum, a local tourism official has said.  

The museum is expected to open its doors to the public by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2022) after an extensive restoration, Saeid Parsa announced on Friday. 

Covering an area of 15 hectares, the hospital was constructed by the well-known merchant Haj Fazlollah Tadayyon in 1926 in the early Pahlavi period. 

The main population centers of Semnan province lie along the ancient Silk Road (and modern-day Imam Reza Expressway), linking Rey (Tehran) with Khorasan (Mashhad). While few visitors spend much time in the area, driving through you can easily seek out several well-preserved caravanserais (notably Dehnamak and Ahowan), cisterns (the Cafe Abenbar in Garmsar is a special treat), and ruined mud citadels (Padeh is lumpy but fascinating). The large, bustling cities of Semnan, Damghan, and Shahrud (Bastam) all have a small selection of historic buildings and Semnan has a fine old covered bazaar.

Some three million historical objects are currently being kept in Iranian museums which are affiliated with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts.

“There are many historical relics that are owned by private collectors and entities and the government cannot act in order to preserve them in the museums; therefore, we made efforts that this [cultural] heritage to be conserved and showcased in [their] private museums,” according to Mohammadreza Kargar who presides over the ministry’s museums and historical properties department.

ABU/AFM