TEHRAN - An agreement in principle has recently been reached to launch a hydrotherapy center for the first time in the city of Urmia, which is the capital of the northwestern West Azarbaijan province. 

“The agreement in principle seeks to encourage other investors to establish similar centers in the city,” Urmia’s tourism chief said on Wednesday.

The center is expected to require investments of 120 billion rials ($2.8 million at the official exchange rate of 42,000 rials per dollar) to be completed, Mohammad Tanabi announced.

Some 100 job opportunities are also expected to be generated when the project gets off the ground, the official added. 

The provincial capital of Urmia, also spelled Orumiyeh, lies just west of Lake Urmia on a large fertile plain that yields grains, fruits, tobacco, and other crops. The population is mainly Azeri Turkish, with Kurdish, Assyrian Christian, and Armenian minorities. The remains of ancient settlements are scattered over the plain, as are traces of the ancient kingdom of Urartu.

West Azarbaijan embraces a variety of lush natural sceneries, cultural heritage sites, and museums including the UNESCO sites of Takht-e Soleyman and Qareh Klise (St. Thaddeus Monastery), Teppe Hasanlu, and the ruined Bastam Citadel.

The region was home to several ancient civilizations. According to Britannica, it was conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC and was named Atropatene after one of Alexander’s generals, Atropates, who established a small kingdom there. Ultimately, the area returned to the Persian (Iranian) rule under the Sasanians in the 3rd century CE.

ABU/AFM