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.

The Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism announced the inscriptions on Saturday in a letter to the governor-general of the province, the report added.

Among the properties inscribed on the list are Haj Khalil Mosque, Enjili Church, and Kheljan Dovecote in Tabriz, Amir Tuman Bathhouse in Sarab, Mohammad Qassab Mansion in Shabestar and Maragheh and Marand train stations.

Soaked in history and culture for millennia, Tabriz, which is the capital of East Azarbaijan, embraces several historical and religious sites, including Jameh Mosque of Tabriz and Arg of Tabriz, and UNESCO-registered Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex to name a few. The city became the capital of the Mongol Il-Khan Mahmud Gazan (1295–1304) and his successor. Timur (Tamerlane), a Turkic conqueror, took it in 1392. Some decades later the Kara Koyunlu Turkmen made it their capital, it was when the famous Blue Mosque was built in Tabriz.

The city retained its administrative status under the Safavid dynasty until 1548 when Shah Tahmasp I relocated his capital westward to Qazvin. During the next two centuries, Tabriz changed hands several times between Persia and the Ottoman Empire. During World War I, the city was temporarily occupied by Turkish and then Soviet troops.

ABU/MG