TEHRAN – Entry will be free to countrywide museums on May 18, which marks the International Museum Day.

Museums and historical sites in the country are set to host wide variety of cultural programs on the occasion of the International Museum Day that is amidst the National Cultural Heritage Week, IRIB quoted Mohammadreza Kargar, an official with the Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization as saying on Sunday.

Every year since 1977, the occasion is organized worldwide around May 18 as an initiative to raise awareness on how important museums are in the development of societies.

According to, the World Museum Community, the International Museum Day has been experiencing its highest involution during the recent years with contribution of almost 30,000 museums in more than 120 countries.

PHOTO: People visit a majestic capital of a column from Persepolis, the ceremonial capital city of the Persian Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550-330 BC), at the National Museum of Iran.

AFM/MG