TEHRAN – Maysan Mozif and the historical entrance gate of Marashi Mansion in southwestern Khuzestan province have been engulfed in fire in separate incidents, IRNA reported on Saturday.

Located in Dasht-e Azadeghan, Maysan Mozif was completely burned down on Thursday, cultural heritage expert Qassem Kasir said.

The mozif, which is one of the tourist attractions of the province, was set on fire due to some tribal dispute that had nothing to do with the owner, which caused over one billion rials (almost $25,000) damage, he added.

Mozif, which is a kind of traditional guest house, is an arched shaped structure made entirely out of bamboo sticks. Doorway of a mozif is deliberately designed smaller so that guests would be required to bow to enter which would oblige them to honor those who are inside. Once in, guests are confronted with a huge room fully covered in Persian carpets and adorned with colorful cushions. Arabic coffee is served in the mozifs.

Fortunately, the other incident in Shushtar has inflicted no damage to the main building of the 300-year-old mansion, but its historical entrance gate was completely destroyed in the fire on Friday, he explained.

He also noted that the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Earlier this month, a fire broke out at the UNESCO-registered site of Susa in the province, but it inflicted no damage to the historical site.   

Susa was once the capital of the Elamite Empire and later an administrative capital of the Achaemenian king Darius I and his successors from 522 BC.Part of Susa is still inhabited as Shush on a strip of land between the rivers Shaour (a tributary of the Karkheh) and Dez.

Weed growth and dry vegetation, as well as heat and wind, caused the fire.

The cultural heritage officials of the province also announced that due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country and the lockdown of the historical sites, the small number of employees, who attend their workplaces in the historical sites across the province, couldn’t monitor the whole areas every day.

During previous months fires broke out at the ancient Hegmataneh Hill in the west-central Iranian province of Hamedan and Rab’-e Rashidi, a 14th-century educational complex in northwestern East Azarbaijan province, which could be a cause for concern for the country’s tourism industry.

ABU/MG