TEHRAN The head of the Bam Cultural Heritage Department said that during Norouz holidays some, 40,000 tourists visited ancient Arg-e Bam and other tourist attractions of Bam, Kerman Province. Hossein Tayyari, in an interview with IRNA, said that some 1,200 foreign tourists also visited the magnificent Arg-e Bam during the same period. He said that most foreign tourists were from Spain, Germany, France, Japan and Austria. Without mentioning the number of tourists who visited the city of Bam last week, Tayyari said that the number of tourists has considerably increased this year. Arg-e Bam is the world's biggest ancient fortress made of sun-dried bricks, built some 2,000 years ago over an area of 6 sq.km, northeast of Bam. According to experts, the fortress was inhabited until 180 years ago.

There are a large number of tourist attractions in Bam which are not very well-known yet. Bam's ancient monuments include Emamzadeh Asiri, Emamzadeh Zeid, and the mausoleum of the poet Seyed Taheroddin Bami. Some tourists who visited Arg-e Bam call for the establishment of further recreational centers in Bam.