UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards honors Iranian cultural heritages

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has announced Sadoughi House and Zarch Qanat in Iran’s Yazd Province as the winners of this year’s UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

Zarch Qanat received the Award of Distinction while Sadoughi Historical House won the Award of Merit.

The winners were announced during the international symposium of “The Next Fifty Years: Challenges and Opportunities for World Heritage” which was held in Beijing, China, on Saturday and Sunday, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

In this year's UNESCO Preservation of Historical Heritage Award ceremony, 13 proposed historical sites from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, and Thailand were chosen by the UNESCO International Board of Jurors.

Since 2000, the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation program has been recognizing the efforts of private individuals and organizations in restoring, conserving, and transforming structures and buildings of heritage value in the region.

The historical house of Sadoughi dates back to the Qajar dynasty. The building has been restored, and is currently operating as the Martyr Sadoughi House of Culture.

It is constructed based on architectural style of Yazd with clay and mud materials.

The Zarch Qanat, dating back to the pre-Islamic Era, is the longest one in Iran and the world.

It is the life-giving artery of Zarch city in Yazd.

At the 40th UNESCO World Heritage Summit held in Istanbul in July 2016, the Zarch Qanat, along with 10 other Iranian qanats, was registered on the World Heritage List.

MM/FM