TEHRAN—Remnants of Sassanid architecture have been identified during archeological excavations at the Jameh Mosque of Urmia in West Azarbaijan province, the provincial tourism chief said.

Morteza Safari added that the West Azarbaijan Cultural Heritage Department, with cooperation and supervision of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage Department, has put on its agenda to conduct excavations at the place of worship, which is one of the oldest mosques of the Azarbaijan region, ILNA reported. 

The mosque had been renovated during different eras, he said. 

Safari said that Iran is a civilized nation with lots of monuments and sites. West Azarbaijan boasts valuable monuments, sites and hills, he added. 

West Azarbaijan has close to 1,400 historical hills and sites, he mentioned. In addition, 1,835 historical monuments have been registered on the national heritage list, he said. It has five global monuments which have been registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, he added.

Pointing to excavations conducted in Qalaichi (or Ghalay-chi) hill and Chaparabad dam, he said, “since the historical site of Qalaichi was being drained due to the construction of the Chaparabad Dam and was going underwater forever, we conducted serious studies and excavations in this area, which led to valuable results and finding prehistoric settlements.”

Apart from archeological excavations, he said 30 renovation projects were implemented by West Azarbaijan Cultural Heritage Department during last Iranian year. Good works were done in the cultural heritage sector and tourism infrastructure via national and provincial credits worth 1,300 billion rials ($1.4 million), he added.

He continued that there are 200 dossiers in registration queue. 

Safari called the acquisition and release of several historical monuments in West Azerbaijan province important measures taken by West Azarbaijan Cultural Heritage Department. They were in the possession of other executive bodies, such as the Education Ministry, he added.

He explained that the 22nd Bahman School, which is located in Urmia’s Imam Square, has an area of 4,000 square meters and a 2,400 square meter built-up area on three floors. Currently, it has turned into Urmia’s museum, he added.

 Safari pointed out to acquisition of Hedayat ancient school, adding that the school was turned into the House of Handicrafts after undergoing renovation measures. 

In addition, Ansari Historical House, which dates back to the Qajar era, was taken over from Ministry of Education. Currently, the first phase of renovation has been conducted, he said, adding the second phase is to be restored this year. 

Also, Maku’s estate building, as one of historical monuments dating back to the late Qajar era, was placed at the disposal of the West Azarbaijan Cultural Heritage Department.

There are 1,400 hills and ancient sites which are protected by 50 protection unit staff, he said, adding that the staff is not enough for preserving the monuments.  Therefore, people should take part and preserve their sites and monuments, he added.

KD