Visit 27 UNESCO Heritage Sites in Iran

The historical site of Pasargadae, the first ceremonial capital of the Achaemenian dynasty, comprises various early monuments of this period; these include the mausoleum of Cyrus, audience palaces, private palaces, royal gardens, a fire temple, and the Takht-e Solayman platform. A few monuments from the Islamic period (7th and 8th centuries AH) also exist there.

It was the capital of the Ilkhanid dynasty which was founded by the Mongols. The main feature of Soltaniyeh is the Mausoleum of Il-khan Öljeitü, traditionally known as the Dome of Soltaniyeh. located some 240 kilometers (150 mi) to the northwest of Tehran.

The Lut Desert, or Dasht-e-Lut, is located in the southeast of the country. Between June and October, this arid subtropical area is swept by strong winds which transport sediment and cause aeolian erosion on a colossal scale. Consequently, the site presents some of the most spectacular examples of aeolian yardang landforms (massive corrugated ridges). It also contains extensive stony deserts and dune fields. The property represents an exceptional example of ongoing geological processes. 

Located in the center of Isfahan city, Meidan Emam is one of the largest city squares in the world. The square is surrounded by important historical buildings and traditional craft bazaars from the Safavid era.

Known as the encyclopedia of Iranian architecture. It displays architectural styles of different periods in the country’s Islamic architecture.

Takht-e Soleyman, “The Throne of Solomon,” is the holiest shrine of Zoroastrianism and the former Sassanid Empire in the northwest of Iran.

It is an island city from the Sassanian era with a complex irrigation system.

It is a 19th-century royal residence, built by the Qajar dynasty. It displays traditional Persian architecture with Western influences.

It is a Sufi spiritual retreat dating from between the early 16th century and the late 18th century. Ardebil is among the northwestern cities of Iran.

It is a monumental tomb tower in the north of Iran, the earliest and tallest in this part of Asia.

An ancient ceremonial capital of the second Iranian dynasty, the Achaemenid Empire Situated in the central south of Iran, 70 km northeast of Shiraz city.

The ruins of the holy city of the Kingdom of Elam are centered by one of the few great Ziggurats and surrounded by three huge concentric walls. It is located in the southwest of Iran, 80 km (50 mi) north of Ahvaz.

It contains remains dating from pre-historic times through the history of ancient Persia. located in the west of Iran, it bears a unique testimony to the Persian Empire and the interchange of influences in art and writing in the region.

An Achaemenid-period site that is situated in a desert on the southern edge of the Iranian high plateau Bam was almost completely destroyed in an earthquake in 2003. Since then, Rayen Citadel has substituted it.

Nine gardens throughout Iran from different epochs and climates are registered in this category. Royal Garden of Pasargadae, Bagh-e Eram (Shiraz), Bagh-e Chehel Sotun (Isfahan), Bagh-e Fin (Kashan), Bagh-e Dolat Abad (Yazd), Bagh-e Pahlavanpur (Mehriz), Bagh-e Shahzadeh (Kerman), Bagh-e Abas Abad, and Bagh-e Akbariyeh.

It is an archaeological site from the Bronze Age urban settlement. It is associated with the Jiroft culture, an “independent Bronze Age civilization with its own architecture and language,” intermediate between Elam to the west and the Indus Valley Civilization to the east.

The Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran, in the northwest of the country, consists of three monastic ensembles of the Armenian Christian faith. They illustrate the very long duration of relations between the Persian and Armenian civilizations.

It is one of the oldest bazaars in the Middle East and the largest covered bazaar in the world. Tabriz has been a city of cultural exchange since antiquity, and its historic bazaar complex was one of the most important commercial centers on the Silk Road.

In this desert city, you will lots of sun, not the burning desert sun, but thousands of happy smiling uni-browed miss sunshines adorning homes, tiles, and pottery. The Little Miss Sunshine Adorning has come to represent the art and industry of a town and people whose pottery industry is as old as their ancient city.

Located in the southwest of Iran, in the lower Zagros Mountains, the property encompasses a group of archaeological mounds rising on the eastern side of the Shavur River, as well as Ardeshir’s palace on the opposite bank of the river. The excavated architectural monuments include administrative, residential, and palatial structures. Susa contains several layers of superimposed urban settlements in a continuous succession from the late 5th millennium BCE until the 13th century CE. The site bears exceptional testimony to the Elamite, Persian, and Parthian cultural traditions, which have largely disappeared.

Throughout the arid regions of Iran, agricultural and permanent settlements are supported by the ancient qanat system of tapping alluvial aquifers at the heads of valleys and conducting the water along underground tunnels by gravity, often over many kilometers. The eleven qanats representing this system include rest areas for workers, water reservoirs, and watermills. The traditional communal management system still in place allows equitable and sustainable water sharing and distribution. The qanats provide exceptional testimony to cultural traditions and civilizations in desert areas with an arid climate.

Eight archaeological sites are situated in three geographical parts in the southeast of Fars Province: Firuzabad, Bishapur, and Sarvestan. These fortified structures, palaces, and city plans date back to the earliest and latest times of the Sassanian Empire, which stretched across the region from 224 to 658 CE. Among these sites is the capital built by the founder of the dynasty, Ardashir Papakan, as well as the city and architectural structures of his successor, Shapur I. The archaeological landscape reflects the optimized utilization of natural topography and bears witness to the influence of Achaemenid and Parthian cultural traditions and of Roman art, which had a significant impact on the architecture and artistic styles of the Islamic era.

Maymand is one of the districts of Shahr-e-Babak and is one of the most spectacular villages in Iran. Here there is a mass of crypts, with 15 stony, circular, and roofless chambers. The same covers an area of approximately 400 sq. m. This vicinity seems to be a place of burial, as skeleton bones and other articles have been found here. The stony mosque of Maymand is another interesting site in this village. The ancient houses in this rural settlement resemble minarets constructed in the breast of these hard-stone mountains. In these minaret-shaped dwellings, which are very strong and durable, there are chambers, corridors, and pillars displaying intriguing architecture. Due to the incline of the surrounding valley, these dwellings are placed in a terraced fashion, in four or five steps one after another. These have a height of 2 m. are nearly 16 – 20 sq.m. in area, and are devoid of windows or chimneys. In the center of each chamber is a stove that was used for cooking purposes as well as warming the dwellings.

The Trans-Iranian Railway connects the Caspian Sea in the northeast with the Persian Gulf in the southwest, crossing two mountain ranges as well as rivers, highlands, forests, plains, and four different climatic areas. Started in 1927 and completed in 1938, the 1,394-kilometre-long railway was designed and executed in a successful collaboration between the Iranian government and 43 construction contractors from many countries. The railway is notable for its scale and the engineering work it required to overcome steep routes and other difficulties. Its construction involved extensive mountain cutting in some areas, while the rugged terrain in others dictated the construction of 174 large bridges, 186 small bridges, and 224 tunnels, including 11 spiral tunnels. Unlike most early railway projects, the construction of the Trans-Iranian Railway was funded by national taxes to avoid foreign investment and control.

Hyrcanian forests form a unique forested massif that stretches 850 km along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. The history of these broad-leaved forests dates back 25 to 50 million years when they covered most of this Northern Temperate region. These ancient forest areas retreated during the Quaternary glaciations and then expanded again as the climate became milder. Their floristic biodiversity is remarkable: 44% of the vascular plants known in Iran are found in the Hyrcanian region, which only covers 7% of the country. To date, 180 species of birds typical of broad-leaved temperate forests and 58 mammal species have been recorded, including the iconic Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana).

The remote and mountainous landscape of Hawraman/Uramanat bears testimony to the traditional culture of the Hawrami people, an agropastoral Kurdish tribe that has inhabited the region since about 3000 BCE. The property is at the heart of the Zagros Mountains in the provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah along the western border of Iran. Tiered steep-slope planning and architecture, gardening on dry-stone terraces, livestock breeding, and seasonal vertical migration are among the distinctive features of the local culture and life of the semi-nomadic Hawrami people who dwell in lowlands and highlands during different seasons of each year. Their uninterrupted presence in the landscape, which is also characterized by exceptional biodiversity and endemism, is evidenced by stone tools, caves and rock shelters, mounds, remnants of permanent and temporary settlement sites, workshops, cemeteries, roads, villages, castles, and more.

Persian caravanserais were roadside inns that provided shelter, food, and water for caravans, pilgrims, and other travelers. The routes and locations of the caravanserais were determined by the presence of water, geographical conditions, and security concerns. The fifty-four caravanserais of the property are only a small percentage of the numerous caravanserais built along the ancient roads of Iran, which are registered by UNESCO HERITAGE. They are considered to be the most influential and valuable examples of the caravanserais of Iran, revealing a wide range of architectural styles, adaptations to climatic conditions, and construction materials spread across thousands of kilometers and built over many centuries.