TEHRAN – A total of 19 tourism-related projects are scheduled to be inaugurated in West Azarbaijan, the provincial tourism chief has announced.

“In celebration of the 43rd anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, which is known as Ten-Day Fajr celebrations (this year from February 1 to 11),  the projects will come on stream,” Jalil Jabbari said on Sunday. 

Eco-lodge units, travel agencies, hotels, apartment hotels, tourism complexes, and traditional restaurants are among the projects, the official added. 

Among the most significant projects are enhancing the tourism infrastructures at the Monastery of Saint Thaddeus and UNESCO-registered Takht-e Soleyman (“Solomon’s Throne”), he explained. 

A budget of two trillion rials ($7.6 million) has been invested in the projects, which are scattered in different cities of the province, he noted. 

The projects are expected to generate 150 job opportunities upon their inauguration, he mentioned. 

He also noted that the projects will add 250 beds to the hospitality sector of the province. 

The northwestern province 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