TEHRAN – A budget of 1.5 billion rials (some $35,000) has been allocated to implement a restoration project on the Hatami mansion which dates back to Safavid-era (1501–1736) in Borujerd, the western province of Lorestan.

The project includes repairing the rooftop and arches of the 1,300-square-meter building based on its original plan, CHTN quoted provincial tourism chief Seyyed Amin Qasemi as saying on Tuesday.

Lorestan province is one of the lesser-known travel destinations in Iran, which mainly acts as a gateway to the neighboring Khuzestan province which hosts UNESCO sites of Susa, Tchogha Zanbil, and Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System.

Falak-ol-Aflak fortress in Khorramabad, the capital of the province, is one of its top tourist destinations.

Lorestan is also a region of raw beauty that an avid nature lover could spend weeks exploring.

Lorestan was inhabited by Iranian Indo-European peoples, including the Medes, c. 1000 BC. Cimmerians and Scythians intermittently ruled the region from about 700 to 625 BC. The Luristan Bronzes noted for their eclectic array of Assyrian, Babylonian, and Iranian artistic motifs, date from this turbulent period.

Lorestan was incorporated into the growing Achaemenid Empire in about 540 BC and successively was part of the Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanid dynasties.

ABU/MG