Lake at Bagh-e Melli park, Tabriz

Lake at Bagh-e Melli (Shah Goli) Park, Tabriz We had been driving for three long days and at Tabriz we took a day off for sightseeing. The Bagh-e Melli Park park was on the outskirts of Tabriz.

The Shah was still in power when we were there and the park was known as the Shah Goli Park. However after the Islamic Republic of Iran was formed it became known for a while as simply El Goli (The Lake). Formally it is a Bagh-e Melli, or National Garden.

There are many places known as Bagh-e Melli in Iran, the most famous being the Bagh-e Melli in Teheran, a government compound used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The main gates to the compund were built during the Qajar dynasty period (19th and early 20th centuries).