TEHRAN – A budget of 20 billion rials (about $476,000 at the official rate of 42,000 rials) has been allocated to boost tourism infrastructure in the Uraman rural landscape in western Iran.

Located in the western province of Kordestan, Uraman rural landscape is a candidate for becoming a World Heritage site in 2021.

Stretched on a steep slope in Uraman Takht rural district of Sarvabad County, the village is home to dense and step-like rows of houses in a way that the roof of each house forms the yard of the upper one, a feature that adds to its charm and attractiveness.

The budget will be spent on the improvement of Uraman’s historical structure as well as the development of the region’s villages, Kermanshah province’s tourism chief Omid Qaderi announced on Saturday. 

Earlier this month, Pouya Talebnia, the director of the cultural landscape, announced that a UNESCO assessor will travel to Kordestan by Sept. 21 in order to review the status of the Uraman rural landscape for the World Heritage list.

“That will be the last [field] step for the global registration of Uraman, and the UNESCO evaluator [will probably] recommend us to solve issues within six months, and next year, on such days, a voting session will be held for the registration of Uraman on UNESCO list.”

Iran submitted the UN body a dossier for the Uraman cultural landscape in 2019. Some eighty experts in various fields compiled and developed the dossier in terms of anthropology, archeology and history, natural sciences, architecture, historical documents, and other related fields.

Uraman is considered a cradle of Kurdish art and culture from the days of yore. Pirshalyar, which is named after a legendary local figure, is amongst time-honored celebrations and rituals that are practiced annually across the region.

ABU/MG