TEHRAN – Nearly all historical sites and monuments, which are scattered across the ancient town of Shushtar and its outskirts, are in need of restoration work, tourism director of the southwestern Iranian town has said.

“All the historical monuments of Shushtar are in need to be restored,” Ali-Mohammad Chaharmahali told Mehr news agency in an interview on Friday.

Shushtar is home to numerous sites dating from the prehistorical times onwards, he noted.

Since last summer, more than eight monuments, including houses and sabats, have been restored using government funds, the official said, adding some others are also being overhauled by private investors.

Sabat is an arched structure built between the opposite buildings on both sides of a narrow street in tropical and desert areas and it creates shade and a cool place for passers-by.

The town is also famed for being home to the UNESCO-registered Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System, known as a ‘masterpiece of creative genius’. The ensemble comprises bridges, weirs, tunnels, canals, and a series of ancient watermills powered by human-made waterfalls. It is named after an ancient city of the same name with its history dating back to the time of Darius the Great, the Achaemenid king.

Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2009, the Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System may testify to the heritage and the synthesis of earlier Elamite and Mesopotamian knowhow. According to UNESCO, the ensemble was probably influenced by the Petra dam and tunnel and by Roman civil engineering.

AFM/