Tabriz city due to its being the residence of the crown prince during the Qajar dynasty, it is full of historical houses of that period. As you know, the history of Tabriz city is more than that but the city has experienced terrible earthquakes and lost its ancient monuments. Since the Qajar period, the city hasn’t any great earthquakes, as a result, the Qajar houses remained with all their beauty.
You can see the list of Tabriz historical houses in this link. Today we want to get more information about Alavi House or Tabriz Pottery Museum. It is the only alive pottery museum of Iran; visitors can see the process of making pottery in this museum. To visit this house, you can go to the No. 100, Shahid Norouzi alley, Sarraflar alley, in front of Gro Station, Shams Tabrizi Street. If you want to see the most beautiful view of the house, you’d better visit it in the morning. The first thing attracts you at the entrance of the house is the ceramic house number. After entering from a little door, the white view of Alavi house will surprise you. The trees and the beautiful blue pool in the yard are eye-catching.
First of all, let’s talk about the history and architecture of the house. The history of the house dates back to the Qajar and Pahlavi period. It has an original Iranian Architecture including a basement, upper floor and a balcony which is based on two columns with beautiful stuccos.
Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of East Azerbaijan province bought and repaired this valuable house and changed it to the pottery training center. Since 1995, it has become a pottery museum and has been visited by many pottery lovers.
If you go to the museum at 9 o’clock, you will have the opportunity of watching the preparing of soil and mud, the process of making ceramic dishes and the way of moving them. The students and pottery experts of Tabriz make potteries at the basement of Alavi house. The most popular characteristic of these ceramics is the white colour of them. White ceramic is the main characteristic of Azerbaijan pottery. This white soil comes from the white soil mine of Zonouz region. The origin of this art is from Zonouz country of Marand city in the East Azerbaijan province.
The upper floor with its Iranian coloured glass windows (Orosi) and a beautiful hall is dedicated to exhibiting Tabriz unique potteries. You can buy some of this handicrafts as a souvenir.
