17 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Iran wants UNESCO recognition for 56 of its historic caravansaries

Iran wants 56 Caravanserais from various periods, from the Sassanids (224 CE-651) to the Qajar period (1789-1925), to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Caravanserais is a composite term formed by combining the words “caravan” and “Sara”; the former refers to a group of travelers, while the latter refers to the structure. Massive gateways were frequently supported by high load-bearing walls. Guest rooms were built around the courtyard and stables behind them, with doors in the yard’s corners.

During the Achaemenid dynasty, the first caravanserais were established in Iran (550 -330 BC). Centuries later, when Shah Abbas I came to power from 1588 until 1629, he ordered the development of a nationwide network of caravanserais.

Roadside inns were initially established to shelter people, their belongings, and animals along historic caravan routes during various epochs. The former Silk Roads may be the most famous example dotted by caravanserais.

KALMARD CARAVANSERAI
KALMARD CARAVANSERAI. The Kalmard Caravanserai is located in a quiet setting next to the Halvan Desert sand dunes in Tabas. [email protected]

Iran’s tourism ministry announced in 2019 that it is preparing a dossier for a selection of its ancient caravanseries to be considered for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list. In this context, such monuments spread throughout the country were evaluated by cultural heritage experts, and a list was created according to their architectural, historical, and cultural qualities.

A senior adviser to the tourism minister recently said that Iran has recently submitted a selection of 56 caravanserais for inclusion in the UNESCO’s cultural heritage list collectively.

“After three years of following the case, a dossier for 56 caravansaries [which have been selected] from 24 provinces was submitted to UNESCO for a [possible] registration on the World Heritage list,” Mohammad-Hassan Talebian announced.

SHAH ABBASI CARAVANSARY
SHAH ABBASI CARAVANSARIES. The Shah Abbasi Caravansary is a relic of the Safavid era, boasts all the details of the Safavid architecture, such as the central courtyard of the four-porch with spacious rooms around it and King’s Hall, with all the amenities.

The [UNESCO] assessors are scheduled to arrive in Iran on Saturday for field visits, which is expected to take at least three months, he said.

As one travels around the country, one may come across crumbling caravanserais, many of which have been abandoned for a long time. In the Information Age, such guest houses have largely lost their actual usage.

A couple of years ago, the Iran tourism ministry introduced a scheme to keep them alive and profitable; tens of caravanserais are ceded to the private investors for better maintenance. Now, some are exclusively renovated, repurposed into boutique hotels and tourist lodgings.

Tehran Times

Cover Photo: Wikipedia, MOSHIR CARAVANSERAI

Related Articles

Ice Age turtle finds near Magdeburg point to canned food from the Stone Age

2 May 2024

2 May 2024

Experts have recovered around 50,000-year-old turtle shell fragments from the Barleben-Adamsee gravel pit near Magdeburg. The turtles could have been...

New evidence for the use of lions during executions in Roman Britain

9 August 2021

9 August 2021

Archaeologists have discovered an elaborate key as proof that wild animals were employed as execution vehicles in public arena events...

More than 56400 Cultural Goods Seized in Operation Pandora V

11 May 2021

11 May 2021

Operation Pandora V, aimed at preventing the illegal trade of cultural goods, has been one of the most successful operations...

Ancient Christian Settlement Discovered in Egypt

14 March 2021

14 March 2021

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said on Saturday that a French-Norwegian archaeological team had discovered a new ancient Christian settlement...

Bronze Age Petroglyphs discovered in Kazakhstan

1 May 2024

1 May 2024

Volunteers in Kazakhstan have discovered new petroglyphs from the Bronze Age. The rock carvings were found by volunteers of the...

A new study provides evidence that modern humans, coexisted in the same region with Neanderthals for thousands of years

11 February 2024

11 February 2024

A genetic analysis of bone fragments excavated from an archaeological site in Ranis, Germany provides conclusive evidence that modern humans...

Young Metal Detectorist Discovers Huge Viking Treasure Hoard in Denmark

23 April 2023

23 April 2023

A group of hobby metal detectorists has discovered two Viking treasures buried a few meters apart near the ruins of...

A Lynx Buried with Four Big Dogs in an Ancient Roman Well in Hungary

17 April 2024

17 April 2024

Archaeologists have discovered the skeleton of an adult male lynx accompanied by four big dogs in a Roman-era pit in...

“Last Rhodes shipwreck” of Roman period found in Turkey’s Fethiye

5 March 2022

5 March 2022

Turkish researchers, a Rhodes shipwreck from the third century A.D. was discovered in the depths of the Gulf of Fethiye...

Central Turkey’s largest Byzantine mosaic structure found

28 October 2021

28 October 2021

A 300-square-meter (3,330 square feet) ​floor mosaic belonging to the Late Roman-Early Byzantine period was discovered during excavation work in...

Rare African Script Offers Clues to the Evolution of Writing Systems

4 February 2022

4 February 2022

The world’s very first invention of writing took place over 5000 years ago in the Middle East, before it was...

Ancient stone grenades discovered at Badaling Great Wall in Beijing

16 October 2023

16 October 2023

Chinese archaeologists have unearthed 59 ancient stone grenades from the ruins of a building in the western section of the...

Archaeologists unearth human spines threaded onto reed posts in Peru

5 February 2022

5 February 2022

Archaeologists have found almost 192 examples of human vertebrae threaded onto reed posts 500 years ago in the Chincha Valley...

4,500-year-old rare Canaanite goddess sculpture found by a farmer in Gaza Strip

25 April 2022

25 April 2022

A farmer in the city of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, found a rare 4,500-year-old stone sculpture while...

The 1,000-year-old surgical kit found in Sican tomb, Peru

28 March 2022

28 March 2022

A set of surgical tools indicating that the deceased was a surgeon was found in a funerary bundle found in...