TEHRAN - The number of visitors setting foot on Belqeys citadel rose by 55 percent during the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2018), from the same period a year earlier.

The ruined citadel, which is sometimes referred to as Shahr-e Belqeys (“The city of Belqeys”) is located in northeastern North Khorasan province. It lies at a short distance from the city of Esfarayen.

“A total of 60, 892 people toured the historical city during the first nine months of the year,” provincial tourism chief Habib Yazdanpanah said, ISNA reported.

Remnants of the citadel, family lodgings, irrigation channels, a cistern, and a hypostyle hall are amongst objects so far been unearthed in Belqeys during rounds of excavation.

Belqeys is Iran’s second largest mudbrick citadel after the UNESCO-registered Bam citadel.

AFM/MQ/MG