TEHRAN – A total of 16 tourism-related projects are scheduled to be inaugurated soon across East Azarbaijan province on the occasion of Ten-Day Dawn (Jan. 31- Feb. 10, marking the victory anniversary of the Islamic Revolution).

The projects include tourist complexes, a boutique hotel, a hotel, and a tourist camp, which are expected to develop the tourist infrastructure of the northwestern province, the provincial tourism chief has announced. 

Two private museums and some restored historical sites will also come on stream within the next few days, Ahmad Hamzezadeh said on Monday. 

The provincial capital Tabriz embraces several historical and religious sites, including the 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.

Tabriz 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/AFM