TEHRAN – Hessam Mahdi, the representative of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), has said that the case for the inscription of the Uraman cultural landscape on the UNESCO World Heritage list has been well prepared and he has been impressed by the status of Uraman rural landscape.

He made the remarks on the sidelines of a visit to the western province of Kermanshah to assess the possible inscription of the cultural heritage site on the UNESCO list.

“I am proud of being chosen to assess the case and traveling to Iran as I could visit the local people in the region,” he said in a meeting with tourism minister Ali-Asghar Mounesan.

He also noted that as the cultural aspects of the landscape are especially important to the UNESCO, he would try to understand this cultural perspective.
 
For his part, Mounesan said that the inscription could introduce Iran’s valuable tangible and intangible cultural heritage more to the world.

“This global registration will lead to the boost and development of tourism in the region... We hope that the region will host more foreign tourists after the registration.”

Stretched on a steep slope in Uraman Takht rural district of Sarvabad County, the village is home to dense and step-like rows of houses in a way that the roof of each house forms the yard of the upper one, a feature that adds to its charm and attractiveness.

As the cultural landscape covers 300 villages and in terms of architecture and landscape, it is one of the most beautiful and presentable heritages in the world, the dossier is really important to Iranians, the minister added.

Earlier this month, Pouya Talebnia, the director of the cultural landscape, announced that the visit of the UNESCO assessor will be the last step for reviewing the status of Uraman rural landscape for the World Heritage list.

“That will be the last [field] step for the global registration of Uraman, and the UNESCO evaluator [will probably] recommend us to solve issues within six months, and next year, on such days, a voting session will be held for the registration of Uraman on UNESCO list.”

Iran submitted the UN body a dossier for the Uraman cultural landscape in 2019. Some eighty experts in various fields compiled and developed the dossier in terms of anthropology, archeology and history, natural sciences, architecture, historical documents, and other related fields.

Uraman is considered a cradle of Kurdish art and culture from the days of yore. Pirshalyar, which is named after a legendary local figure, is amongst time-honored celebrations and rituals that are practiced annually across the region.

ABU/MG