Iran’s Great Wall of Gorgan to undergo restoration

The ancient Great Wall of Gorgan in northern Iran will undergo restoration with the aim of obtaining a UNESCO World Heritage status, Iran’s cultural organization says.

The Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) will organize an all-inclusive dossier on the landmark monument to be submitted to the United Nations’ cultural agency, CHTHO Deputy Director Mohammad-Hassan Talebian said recently.

“Historical studies are relatively time-consuming and different from those of development projects,” he said, explaining the difficulties in collecting such comprehensive data.

The organization will also restore parts of the ancient monument which have already been excavated, Talebian said, adding that, “We hope that the global registration of the site will come to a conclusion next year.”

The Great Wall of Gorgan was built from 420s to 530s CE, serving as a defense system along southeastern parts of the Caspian Sea near modern Gorgan in Golestan Province.

Sections of the monument, dated from the Sassanian-era (224 to 651 CE), have already been unearthed.

The wall stretches for almost 200 kilometers with a total of 38 forts dotted along its long span. It is also more than three times the length of the longest Roman defensive wall, the Anastasian Wall west of Constantinople.

AI/AI