Ardabil Anthropology Museum, museum in Ardabil, Iran
The Ardabil Anthropology Museum sits inside an old bathhouse dating from the Ilkhanid period and later renovated during the Qajar era. The building contains 33 wax figures dressed in traditional clothing, old manuscripts, and displays the architectural features of a historic public bath with pools, changing rooms, and heated and cold sections.
The bathhouse was built during the Ilkhanid period and later took its name from Aqa Naqi Motmen al-Ro'aya, who renovated it during the Qajar era. After decades of use as a public bath, it was acquired by the Cultural Heritage Organization in 1998 and converted into a museum in 2001.
The museum shows how people in Ardabil lived together and cared for themselves. The wax figures and traditional costumes reveal the importance of bathhouses as social gathering places where families and neighbors shared daily routines.
The museum is located at Ali Qapu Square in central Ardabil and is easily reached by city buses or taxis. Opening hours run from 8 AM to 8 PM, and visitors should bring comfortable walking shoes to navigate the rooms of the former bathhouse at an easy pace.
The building featured a clever drainage system of clay pipes connected to a nearby river, showing how builders created intelligent solutions for water management centuries ago. A horn was blown to signal when the bathhouse was ready for use, a tradition that highlights how central these places were to community life.
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