TEHRAN – Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Minister Ali-Asghar Mounesan on Sunday inaugurated a traditional boutique hotel during his visit to Tabriz, the capital of East Azarbaijan province.

Over 600 billion rials (some $14.2 million at the official exchange rate of 42,000 rials per dollar) have been invested in the construction of the tiny hotel, which has a capacity for only ten guests, CHTN reported.

Soaked in history and culture for millennia, Tabriz embraces several historical and religious sites, including the Jameh Mosque of Tabriz and Arg of Tabriz, and UNESCO-registered Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex to name a few. The city became the capital of the Mongol Il-Khan Mahmud Gazan (1295–1304) and his successor. Timur (Tamerlane), a Turkic conqueror, took it in 1392. Some decades later the Kara Koyunlu Turkmen made it their capital, it was when the famous Blue Mosque was built in Tabriz.

The city retained its administrative status under the Safavid dynasty until 1548 when Shah Tahmasp I relocated his capital westward to Qazvin. During the next two centuries, Tabriz changed hands several times between Persia and Ottoman Empire. During World War I, the city was temporarily occupied by Turkish and then Soviet troops.

AFM