Tabriz Municipality

Early accounts
The early history of Tabriz is not clear yet. Some archaeologists suppose that the Garden of Eden was probably located in Tabriz. For the first time, Tarui or Tauris or Medes are mentioned in Assyrian King Sargon II's epigraph in 714 B.C. Tabriz has been chosen as the capital for some rulers commencing from the Atropates era and his dynasty.
A recent excavation at the site of the Iron Age museum, the north of the Blue Mosque site, uncovered a graveyard of the first millennium B.C. This connects the history of civilization in the city to the first millennium B.C. It is more likely that the city was destroyed and rebuilt several times either by natural disasters or by invaders.
The earliest elements of the current city structure are claimed to be built either at the time of the early Sassanids in the 3rd or 4th century A.D. or later in the 7th A.D. century.
From the Muslim conquest to Qajars
After the conquest of Iran by Muslims, the Arabic Azd tribe from Yemen resided in Tabriz, and the development of post-Islamic Tabriz began this time. In 791 AD, Zubaidah, the wife of Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, rebuilt Tabriz after a devastating earthquake and beautified the city so much as to obtain the credit for having been its founder.
After the Mongol invasion, Tabriz came to eclipse Maragheh as the later Ilkhanid capital of Azerbaijan until it was sacked by Timur in 1392. Chosen as a capital by Abaqa Khan, the fourth ruler of the Ilkhanate, for its favored location in the northwestern grasslands, in 1295, his successor Ghazan Khan made it the chief administrative center of an empire stretching from Anatolia to the Oxus River and from the Caucasus to the Indian Ocean. Under his rule, new walls were built around the city, and numerous public buildings, educational facilities, and caravansaries were erected to serve traders traveling on the ancient Silk Road. The Byzantine Gregory Choniades is said to have served as the city's Orthodox bishop during this time. Marco Polo who traveled through the silk road passed Tabriz in about 1275 describe it as:
"...a great city surrounded by beautiful and pleasant gardens. It is excellently situated so the goods bring to here from many regions. Latin merchants especially Genesis go there to buy the goods that come from foreign lands..."
From 1375 to 1468, Tabriz was the capital of Kara Koyunlu state in Azerbaijan, and from 1469to 1501 the capital of Ak Koyunlu state. Some of the existing historical monuments including Blue Mosque are belonged to Kara Koyunlu period.

In 1501, Shah Ismail I entered Tabriz and proclaimed it the capital of his Safavid state. In 1514, after the Battle of Chaldiran, Tabriz was temporarily occupied by the Ottomans but remained the capital of the Safavid Iranian empire until 1548, when Shah Tahmasp I transferred it to Qazvin.
Between 1585 and 1603, Tabriz was occupied by the Ottomans but was then returned to the Safavids after which it grew as a major commercial center, conducting trade with the Ottoman Empire, Russia, central Asia, and India. In 1724–1725 the city was again occupied by the Ottomans, and two hundred thousand of its inhabitants were massacred. The city was retaken later by the Iranian army. In 1780, a devastating earthquake near the city killed over 200,000 which is regarded as the 25th most deadly disaster of all time.
During the Qajar dynasty, the city was the residence of the Crown Prince. The crown prince normally served as governor of Azerbaijan province as well. One of the most important events in this period was the war between Iran and Russia. With the last series of the Russian-Iranian wars, the city was captured by Russia in 1826. After signing the peace treaty the Russian army retreated from the city however the Russian political influence remained a major issue up to the fall of the Russian empire. After the retreat of the Russian army Abbas Mirza, Qajar prince of the crown started a modernization scheme launched from Tabriz. He introduced Western-style institutions, imported industrial machinery, installed the first regular postal service, and undertook military reforms in the city. He rebuilt Tabriz and established a modern taxation system.
Contemporary age
Thanks to the closeness of the west and communications with nearby countries' enlightenment movements, Tabriz became the center of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution movements between 1905 and 1911, which led to the establishment of a parliament in Iran. Sattar Khan and Bagher Khan two Tabrizi reformists who led Tabriz people's solidarity had a great role in the achievement of this revolution.
Capital of Iran
Tabriz was chosen as the capital for a couple of rulers commencing from the Atropates era. It was the capital of the Ilkhanate dynasty since 1265. During Ghazan Khan Era, who came into power in 1295, the city reached its highest splendor. The later realm was stretched from the Amu Darya in the East to the Egypt borders in the West and from the Caucasus in the North to the Indian Ocean in the South. It was again the capital of Iran during the Kara Koyunlu dynasty from 1375 to 1468 and then during Ak Koyunlu within 1468–1501. Finally, it was the capital of the Iranian Empire within the Safavid period from 1501 until their defeat in 1555.
During the Qajar dynasty, Tabriz was used as the residence center of the Iranian Crown Prince (1794–1925).

The predominant language spoken in Tabriz is Azerbaijani Turkish (Azerbaijani people call it Türkü or Türki language), which is a Turkic language mutually intelligible with modern Turkish dialects. Similar to the other parts of Iran, the official language is Persian and most inhabitants are professional users of the Persian language, which is the official language of Iran and the language of education. Other than Azerbaijani, there is a notable minority of Armenian speakers.
 
After being crowned at Tabriz in 1501, Shah Ismail Safavi announced the Ithna Ashari branch of Shia Islam the only accepted sect in Iran and of course Tabriz. Currently, the majority of people are followers of Shia Islam. The city has a visible Armenian minority who follow Christianity.

Tabriz is a house for numerous Iranian writers, poets, and illumination movements. In old times the city notables supported poets and writers by organizing periodical meetings. Within its long history, it was a residence for many well-known Iranian writers and poets. The list can start from the old-time Rumi, Qatran, Khaqani to recent years Samad Behrangi, Gholam-Hossein Sa'edi, Parvin E'tesami. The prominent Iranian Azeri poet Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar was born in Tabriz.
Following samples of verses from some of Iran's best poets and authors, Tabriz also has a special place in Persian literature.

"Tabriz style" painting was shaped in the era of Ilkhanids, Kara Koyunlu and the Safavids. The paintings date back to the early 14th century and show significant influence from Chinese and Chinese-influenced pictures. Over years Tabriz became the center of the famous school of Persian miniature painting.
In Iran, Tabriz is known as the city of "The Firsts" because many inventions and innovations were used in Tabriz for the first time in Iran. The first printing house, library, cinema, preschool, school, the deaf and dumb school, modern coin, bill, chamber of commerce, municipality, telephone, power plant, fire department, ... was made in Tabriz, and Tabriz university is the second oldest university in Iran after Tehran University.

Authority for the city lies with the Mayor, who is elected by a municipal board. The municipal board is periodically elected by the city's residents. The Municipal central office is located at the Tabriz Municipality Palace. Tabriz is divided into 10 municipal districts. Each municipal district retains a number of the older neighborhoods that are of cultural and historical interest.

As it is known, Tabriz is the city of "The Firsts" because many inventions and innovations were introduced and utilized in Tabriz for the first time in Iran. As a vivid example of the claim, Tabriz municipality was established over 110 years ago (as the first municipality in the country). Some years later, Tabriz's municipal central office was constructed under the supervision of German engineers and based on a German-style. This building was the host of many mayors until the new municipality building was built on a new site on Aboreihan Street.
Now, some parts of the old city hall are decorated with the function of a museum called the municipal museum or City museum of Tabriz. This museum is considered as the first museum of history in Iran’s municipalities. It was opened in 2007 coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the municipality in Tabriz.

Laleh Park
 
Tabriz Laleh Park is the first shopping center of brands in the country.
The Laleh Park was constructed in an area of 26500 m2 and the square footage of the building is 91550 m2.  The project is located in the fifth district of Tabriz municipality.  
An entertainment center and a five star rating hotel are attached to the shopping center.
Given to its large area, various utilizations and also its access to the highway system, the Laleh Park is considered as a worthwhile project in Tabriz.
The trade center of the Laleh Park includes a collection of various goods and brands of clothing, shoes and bags, jewelry, sporting goods, home appliances, video and audio appliances, restaurants and coffee shops, bank and other services. 
 
Facilities and advantages:
The Laleh Park Complex enjoys 126 shops, hyper market in an area of 5300 m2, kids play ground with an area of 1400 m2, 70 Restrooms for men, women, and persons with disabilities are.
The complex also has outdoors and indoors parking lots with a capacity of 1200 cars. It has special room for kids’ services and feeding babies. It has 12 escalators, four electric ramps and first aid rooms in each floor.

Roofed Bazaar
East Azarbaijan province, regarding the historical aspect, is among the most flourishing and significant regions of Iran. In addition, its cultural and historical background was the causes of emerging monuments from ancient to contemporary periods in all historical, cultural and social clusters. Generally, such features have changed the region into one of the most scenic provinces of Iran.
One of the most significant historical relics of Tabriz is Tabriz splendid roofed bazaar. In the past, there were 8 gates in Tabriz city for arrival and departure. Later, along with these historical gates, small bazaars were built to supply the citizens’ needs of each region and avoid their frequent attendance to the central bazaars. As time passed, the residential complexes were built around these small bazaars, upon which the small bazaars were connected to each other and new neighborhoods were emerged on every corner of the city.
This matchless complex, which has embraced various shops, hallways, Saras, passageways with shops, mosques, and schools, professions with the other ancient and modern bazaars on every side, is known as the city center. As such, Tabriz bazaar was entitled as the biggest brick-made bazaar and the most spacious covered complex of the world and one of the masterpieces of the country architecture. Tabriz Bazaar was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2010, and postal administration of United Nations (UN) issued a memorial stamp of Tabriz roofed bazaar in 2017, narrating the global splendor of such precious treasury.

Atlas Shopping Center
Along with numerous shopping centers located in Tabriz districts, Atlas shopping center is one of the most modern and most beautiful ones, located in Vali Asr District with a total area of 44828 square kilometer in 18 floors, inckluding service departments and food courts. The mall has plenty of modern shops and renowned brands.

Setareh Baran Shopping Center
Setarehbaran Complex was established in the recent years to unite the city with the global market developments. Through its modern standpoint in the field of commerce and presence in domestic and foreign markets, it attempts to play its role in the progress of the city.
Complex is one on of the most important trade projects of the city that could play an important role in preparing citizens with recreation activities. The Complex is located in Rah Ahan Av. which is the longest avenue of the city and connects the West of the city to the East, playing a major role in cultural and economic exchanges.
Considering the shortage of shopping and trade centers in Tabriz, it can be said that Setarehbaran Complex will be an influential one in progress of economy in the city.