TEHRAN – A blaze which erupted late on Wednesday at the historic bazaar of Tabriz, northwest Iran, is estimated to have caused about 200 billion rials ($1.33 million) to the UNESCO-registered site.

Mohammad-Hassan Talebian, a deputy at Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, announced the figure on Saturday, adding the renovation of the marketplace, which dates back to 1,000 years, will commence as soon as possible, Mehr reported.

“An agreement will be forged between the CHHTO and all the associated organizations to commence the reconstruction project of the bazaar in the near future,” he said.

There was no word on what started the fire. However, the bazaar has seen several fires over the past years due to the disregard of safety measures, the report said.

The fire left had no fatality but hurt 29 people. Around 100 shops were seriously damaged and 50 ones suffered slight damage.

It took some six hours for firefighters to extinguish the fire.

A labyrinth of interconnected covered passages that stretches for about 5 km, the historic bazaar of Tabriz has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2010 and was mentioned by Marco Polo when he traveled the Silk Road in the Middle Ages.

It embraces countless shops, over 20 caravanserais and inns, and a number of vast domed halls, bathhouses, and mosques.

AFM/MQ/MG