The Azerbaijan Museum sits directly next to the Blue Mosque and is the second most important archaeological museum in Iran after the National Museum in Tehran. Its three floors trace the prehistory and history of the region with finds from across Iran's northwest, including bronze-age pottery, Sassanid coins, and Achaemenid jewellery.
The lower floor is given over to a striking permanent exhibition of sculptures by the contemporary Iranian artist Ahad Hosseini, whose work deals with themes of war, poverty, and human suffering. The contrast with the ancient material upstairs makes the visit unexpectedly moving. Captions are mostly bilingual (Persian and English) and an hour is enough to see everything.