ROME -- The two-month exhibition on 7,500 Years of Iranian Historical Artifacts which opened here at Rome's Oriental Art Museum a month ago was attended in large numbers by Italian visitors.

Some 180 pieces of dishes, sculptures, tablets, copies of holy Qoran and other ancient Iranian artifacts belonging to the period from 7th millennium B.C. to 4th century A.H. currently on display at Rome's Oriental Art Museum have been transferred to Rome by Iran's National Museum.

An official of Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization (ICHO) said that plans are under way to arrange further exhibitions of Iranian historical and archaeological artifacts in Europe.

A selection of dishes, sculptures and other historical artifacts, will be displayed in expositions in various European capitals in two categories: Pre-Islamic and post-Islamic.

The exhibition kicked off in Vienna last year at the threshold of the Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations (2001), and is currently being held in Rome.

According to the Head of National Museum of Iran Mohammadreza Kargar the artifacts currently on display in Rome will be displayed in Germany very soon.

He added that stiff competition is going on between Bonn and Berlin to host the upcoming exhibition of valuable Iranian artifacts, but based on experience, Berlin would be a better choice.

According to him the exhibition will then be held in Belgium, Sweden, and Spain due to growing enthusiasm of other European countries to hold such an event. Meanwhile, on diversifying venues of the exhibitions to other locations, he added that a number of requests have been received from American continent including Mexico and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and some correspondence have been made in this respect.

The Head of Rome's Oriental Arts Museum Donatella Mazzeo told IRNA here Monday that she finds this exhibition quite appealing and appreciated the Iranian cultural authorities for holding such a valuable exhibition in Rome.

She said that the large number of Italian visitors (some 5,000) having so far turned up at the museum to visit the current exhibition and their warm reception is quite unexpected, considering that the visitors are required to buy tickets in order to enter the museum.

She added that the visitors comprised of different walks of life and various age groups, were equipped with a basic artistic background and quite interested in culture as well, and that they greatly enjoy from viewing the artifacts on display and often bring up many questions.

She said that the exhibition's being exclusive in its kind, as well as the great publicity in public places and media account for the large turnout of visitors.

Mazzeo expressing her interest in the sustenance of such cultural events with the cooperation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, asked the Iranian cultural authorities to extend the ongoing two-month exhibition.

Meanwhile, she said that efforts are currently under way to hold an exhibition on the Iranian artifacts transferred into Italy in the previous centuries, which indicate friendly Irano-Italian ties from 12th-15th century.