Best UNESCO world heritage attraction of iran

When you want to travel to Iran alone, with your own group or with a Iran small group tour, you might need to know a little bit about the places on UNESCO world heritage sites list. Iran is one of the ancient countries of the world with a rich history, so you might rightly expect to see more than just a few names on the list. In this article, we briefly take a look at some of them.

Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran (2008)

Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran (2008)

This place is located in East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan in Iran. The place is, in fact, made up of three Armenian churches that were constructed in a period of 7 centuries, ranging from the 7^th to the 14^th AD. These are on the UNESCO world heritage sites list because they are highly representative of Armenian culture and architecture, among other reasons.

Bam, an ancient city from Archimedean period (2004)

Bam, an ancient city from Archimedean period (2004)

Nowadays, we remember Bam for the unfortunate earthquake of 2003, but its historical roots go back to Archimedean period. Bam was once at the crossroads of significant trade routes. It is listed due to several reasons, such as the ancient citadel, the culture which was a testimony to the dynamic interaction of man and nature, and being a great fortified settlement made with genius architectural methods.

Bisotun Epigraphs and Hercules Statue (2006)

Bisotun Epigraphs and Hercules Statue (2006)

Bisotun is one of the lovely places among UNESCO world heritage sites . When Darius I came to power in 521 BC, he ordered his followers to make a bas-relief and write something in cuneiform. In the bas-relief, he is standing with a bow in his hand and one foot on the body of an apparently dead person. Bisotun is listed because of the almost perfect representation of human values through the development of writing in history. The site is located along the path that used to link many important cities together. Bisotun means “the city of the gods”.

The burnt city, the most ancient UNESCO world heritage (2014)

The burnt city, the most ancient UNESCO world heritage (2014)

Shahr-i Sokhta is one of the oldest cities of the world, and also one of the most ancient among UNESCO world heritage sites . Its construction dates back to 3200 BC. The name means “the burnt city”. This city was once at the crossroads of the trade routes in the Bronze Age. According to UNESCO, there are three main reasons why Shahr-i Sokhta is on the list. Well, first of all, there was a time when people decided not to live in the villages and actually moved to urban areas. But there weren’t any cities around, so people decided to make them. Shahr-i Sokhta bears testimony to the transition of man’s life from village to city. In fact, the second reason is that the city is actually one of the first examples of urban planning. Way to go for 5000 years ago, huh? There is also the culture. This city is one of the first examples of a civilization founded on a lifestyle of trade and foreign relations. So you should probably drop by sometime and see it for yourself.

Yazd Historical City at the heart of Iran central desert

Yazd Historical City at the heart of Iran central desert

Yazd is located in the heart of the deserts of Iran. People who live in the desert have their own ways of intelligently using the limited resources they have. Yazd is no exception. For thousands of years, people of Yazd managed to overcome all kinds of hostilities that their environment imposed, thanks to their genius architecture. The microclimate created through all those wind-catchers and weird, thick walls is just amazing. In fact, Yazd is a great example of the interaction between man and nature by making such clever constructions and since to these reason this ancient city is on list of UNESCO world heritage sites.

Tchogha Zanbil from Achaemenid Empire

Tchogha Zanbil from Achaemenid Empire

In 1250 BC, the Elamite King ordered his followers to make Tchogha Zanbil. The city served as the religious center of Elam (the present Khuzestan). Tchogha Zanbil is in a vast area overlooking a valley in which a river, Ab-e-Diz, is rushing. Greenery covers most of the valley. In Tchogha Zanbil lies the ziggurat, the best-preserved monument of the kind and also the largest one (outside Mesopotamia, of course). The remainder of Susa and Tchogha Zanbil are all we have left of the architectural development of that era. The Elamite was among the few whose empire managed to survive into the Achaemenid Empire, the first empire which literally changed history and gave us some of the greatest kings we have ever known.

Iran small group tours are always visiting UNESCO world heritage sites and many others on the list. If you want to see them, it is good to go with a small tour rather than a large one because you need to relax, contemplate, and enjoy when you are in such ancient places.