Discovering dark tourism destinations in Iran

Dark tourism has been of tourists' great interest in recent years and many countries are trying to work on this field, Iran is no exception though.

The travelers who are interested in visiting places that are associated with death, sorrow, grief, natural disasters, war, disease, etc. are considered as dark tourists.

Some of the famous dark destinations in the world are Concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland, Chernobyl in Ukraine, Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Japan and 9/11 Memorial in New York.

Following are some of the dark destinations for tourists in Iran:

The Stone Garden of Darvish Khan

Darvish Khan was a farmer who lost his farm to the government and all of the trees he had planted dried up. To show his objection, he carried all the trees to a faraway place and hanged stones from the branches to create a garden.

At that time people thought Darvish Khan had lost his mind but after his death they called the site Stone Garden. Today, many people visit the garden near the city of Sirjan.

The Ruins of Bam City

The city of Bam was home to the oldest and biggest adobe structure of the world but it was destroyed due to a huge earthquake around 18 years ago.

It was a massive disaster, many lives were lost and many children lost their families. Today UNESCO is constructing the ruins of the city and many travelers go to visit the site.

Khalou Hossein Cave

Khalou Hossein is a man living in the province of Kermanshah. After losing his sons in Iraq-Iran war, accompanying his daughter, he went to live in the city of Paveh.

Khalou Hossein also lost his leg. All these incidents made him to devote his life to digging some spaces in the surrounding rocks and mountain.

After 19 years, he succeeded to create seven rooms in the mountain. He also built a tomb in the mountain for himself.

Museum of Qasr Prison

The Museum is one of the oldest political prisons in Iran. Pahlavi dynasty used it as a place to torture its opponents. After Iran's Islamic Revolution the prison was closed and changed to a museum.

The museum is open to tourists and visiting the place they can hear the story of political prisoners once held in the site.

PR/MG