TEHRAN–West Azarbaijan province has registered some 104,000 visits to its cultural heritage museums over the past Iranian calendar year (which ended on March 20), a local official has said.

“Museums of West Azarbaijan played host to 104,000 visitors during the past year (1400),” the deputy provincial tourism chief said on Wednesday.

Moreover, 102 restoration projects of historical monuments were carried out across the province during the past year, Davoud Farazi said.

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 Azarbaijan region, according to Britannica, 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 Persian (Iranian) rule under the Sasanians in the 3rd century CE.

AM