19 properties in South Khorasan added to National Heritage List

TEHRAN – Nineteen historical and natural sites in the eastern South Khorasan province have been inscribed on the National Heritage List, CHTN reported.

15 natural sites in Qeshm Island demarcated

TEHRAN – Fifteen natural sites in southern Qeshm Island were demarcated, CHTN quoted Mostafa Purali, a senior official with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, as saying on Thursday.

Visit 17th-century museum-like factory in Isfahan

TEHRAN – “Assarkhane” is a Persian word equivalent to a traditional oil-extracting factory where special mills are/were used to grind stuff such as stones, turmeric, and pepper. There were many Assarkhanes operational in every corner of Iran in the time of yore.

Coronavirus shuts Zanjan’s Katale-Khor cave once again 

TEHRAN – Katale-Khor, a limestone cave full of natural crystals believed to date from the Jurassic era, has gone on lockdown again for at least two weeks following the increase in the number of people infected with the coronavirus, CHTN reported. 

Centuries-old petroglyph, architectural remains discovered in western Iran

TEHRAN – Centuries-old petroglyph and architectural remains have recently been found in Iran’s western Lorestan province, provincial tourism chief has announced.

Restoration project starts on Bronze-Age objects found in northeast Iran

TEHRAN – A restoration and rehabilitation project has been commenced on 20 Bronze-Age relics which have recently been excavated by a team of Iranian and German archaeologists at Tepe Rivi, an ancient hill in northeastern North Khorasan province.

17th-century masterpiece of Persian architecture undergoes urgent restoration

TEHRAN – Segments of Si-o-Se-Pol, the 17th-century bridge widely known as a masterpiece of Persian architecture, has undergone urgent restoration in Isfahan, central Iran.

Prehistorical relics seized from smuggler in western Iran

TEHRAN - Iranian authorities have recently confiscated 167 relics from a smuggler in western Kermanshah province. The objects date back to the first and second centuries BC and middle Islamic eras as well.

Thorough research sheds new light on 21 ancient sites across central Iranian plateau

An aerial photo shows the ruins of a millennia-old human settlement, which along with 20 others, has recently been identified during what is called the ‘most extensive’ systematic field research so far conducted in the central Iranian plateau, July 6, 2020. 

Iran, ITC developing national tourism export strategies

TEHRAN – Iran’s deputy tourism chief has said that the social, wildlife, historical, cultural, and medical realms of tourism have been selected for the ongoing cooperation between Iran and the International Trade Centre (ITC) in the way of developing the national tourism export strategies for the Islamic Republic.

Hotel projects worth over $28m underway in northwest Iran

TEHRAN – Two four-star hotels are being built in the northwestern province of Ardabil with a total budget of 1.2 trillion rials (Over $28 million).

Over 60 smuggled historical objects seized in Kerman

TEHRAN – Sixty four historical objects have been confiscated in the southeastern Kerman province during the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 20), a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage said on Tuesday, IRNA reported.

Centuries-old Yazd Jameh Mosque back to former glory

TEHRAN – The 12th-century Jameh Mosque of Yazd (Masjid-e Jameh) has undergone a new round of restoration, a local tourism official has said.

A peek into Bronze-Age Tepe Gariran, a gateway to the “Old Routes of Western Iran”

TEHRAN – In 1931, the renowned British archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862 – 1943) surveyed Tepe Gariran in western Iran along with several others across the ancient land. His views were published in November 1969 in a book titled “Old Routes of Western Iran: Narratives of an Archaeological Journey”.

Magnificent Hasanlu undergoing restoration project

TEHRAN – A rehabilitation and restoration project has been commenced on millennia-old Hasanlu, a magnificent archaeological site in northwestern Iran, which is highly hopped to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in the near future.

‘World’s longest suspension bridge’ being built in Iran

TEHRAN – The world’s longest suspension bridge with a length of 500 meters is being constructed in the northwestern province of Ardebil and will come on stream in June 2021.

Visits to Kermanshah tourist sites plummet as coronavirus forces travel curbs

TEHRAN – Some 32,000 travelers visited historical and tourist sites across Kermanshah province during the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 20), a sharp decline compared to around 232,000 visits in the same period last year as travel curbs were imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lorestan province to hold fam tour despite pandemic

TEHRAN – Lorestan tourism department is scheduled to hold a familiarization tour in a bid to promote traveling to the western province.

Some 3,000 tourism workers in Kish lose job over coronavirus outbreak 

TEHRAN – Some 3,000 tourism workers in Kish Island have lost their jobs temporarily as the coronavirus has nearly closed down all travel hotspots across the Persian Gulf island, ILNA reported. 

23 properties in East Azarbaijan added to National Heritage List

TEHRAN – Twenty-three historical and natural sites as well as industrial properties in the northwestern East Azarbaijan province have been inscribed on the National Heritage List, CHTN reported on Sunday.

Archaeological survey identifies 205 relics, ancient sites in Kerman

TEHRAN – A total of 205 relics and ancient sites have been identified during an archaeological survey in Kuhbanan, the southeastern Kerman province, suggesting that the region has long been a hub for Tutia (vitriol) production and the main corridor for human migration into the eastern parts of the Asian continent.

By Seyed Hossein Hosseiniseddiq

Tanour: A traditional bread baking system in Iran

Bread is known as the blessing of the table and is the predominant food of most Iranians. The aroma of fresh bread will multiply the human appetite. In Islam, the value of this divine blessing is so great that even its crumbs are respectable.

Roofing covers of ‘winged human’, palaces replaced at Pasargadae

TEHRAN – The four-year-old roofing covers of the magnificent “winged human” bas-relief and several other ruined palaces at the UNESCO-registered Pasargadae in southern Iran have recently been replaced.

Tehran to host major carpet exhibit in Sept. despite coronavirus concerns

TEHRAN – Tehran will host an international carpet exhibition in September as the event had been postponed for some three months over coronavirus concerns.

Coronavirus causes $357m damage to Kish Island’s tourism

TEHRAN – Kish Island’s tourism industry has taken 15 trillion rials (over $357 million) hit from the coronavirus outbreak over the previous months.

Historical objects unearthed in Burnt City added to National Heritage list

TEHRAN – Twelve moveable properties, which had been previously unearthed in various excavations in the Burnt City, a UNESCO-registered site in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, have been inscribed on the National Heritage list, CHTN reported on Saturday.

‘Effective advertising could get tourism out of coronavirus crisis’

TEHRAN – Iran’s deputy tourism minister Vali Teymouri said on Wednesday that producing effective advertising content on social media could get the tourism sector out of the coronavirus crisis. 

Overnight stays hit 5 million record high in month 

TEHRAN – Iranian travelers registered a record high of more than 5 million overnight stays at accommodation centers across the country during the month of Khordad (May 21–June 20), CHTN reported. 

13 items added to intangible cultural heritage list

TEHRAN – Thirteen new items from the northeastern province of North Khorasan have been registered on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list, CHTN reported on Friday.

Anthropology museum ‘cleaned out’ in downtown Tehran

TEHRAN – A burglar has ‘cleaned out’ a museum of anthropology, which is located within the premises of a centuries-old mansion called Sara-ye Kazemi in downtown Tehran.