TEHRAN – The cities of Porto and Isfahan will soon sign a sister city agreement as the two cities have common cultural, architectural and historical features, IRNA reported on Wednesday.

A sister city, or twin town, relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.

While there are early examples of international links between municipalities akin to what we call today sister cities or twin towns dating back to the 9th Century, the modern concept was first established and adopted worldwide during the Second World War.

Porto is the second most important cultural and historical city in Portugal after the Portuguese capital, and in 2001, it was named the cultural capital of the continent. 

The historical feature of the city was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996. Porto, like Isfahan, is considered as the leading architectural city of its country and continent, so that the most prestigious scientific centers of architecture in the world are located there.

Due to the common features of Porto and Isfahan, the town twinning agreement will soon be inked, Iman Hojjati, director of Communications and International Affairs of Isfahan Municipality, said.

The initial proposal for twinning was made by the Iranian Embassy in Lisbon (the capital of Portugal), he stated.

He went on to note that Isfahan has sister city agreements with 13 cities and is a member of 9 networks of world cities.

The city has so far signed agreements with Xi’an, Kuala Lumpur, Freiburg, Florence, Havana, Lahore, St. Petersburg, Yash, Barcelona, Yerevan, Dakar, Baalbek, and Kuwait, he said.

In addition to the common features, the sister city agreement has shown the importance of friendship between the people of the two cities and a way to create a positive atmosphere among the nations, he explained.

In addition to Porto, a sister partnership agreement will be signed with the two cities of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, and Hyderabad in India, he noted.

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