A new family of nanosized lanthanide "molecular lanterns" Ln(2)(III)L(4) (Ln(III) = La (1), Ce (2), Sm (3), Eu (4) and Tb (5)) with tunable luminescent properties based on the bent 3,5-bis(3-benzocarboxylate)-4-amino-1,2,4-trizole ligand and nine-coordinated square antiprism Ln(III) node was reported.