TEHRAN -- A team of Iranian and Italian experts attended a conference last week to discuss methods to restore Pasargadae in Iran’s southern province of Fars.

Experts from the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities participated in the conference, which was organized by Iran’s Parsa and Pasargadae Research Center, the Persian service of CHN reported on Tuesday.
Italian experts are old hands at the restoration of ancient sites built from stone.
Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente -- IsMEO conducted many restoration and excavation projects at Pasargadae and Persepolis prior to the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
Although the IsMEO has been criticized for the methods it used in the restoration of Pasargadae, those methods were the best available at that time.
The Italian Institute for Africa and Orient (IsIAO), established in 1995 by the merger of the IsMEO and the Italo-African Institute -- IIA, is currently carrying out a series of comprehensive studies to find new methods for restoration projects at Iran’s most important ancient historical site, Persepolis.
In November 2008, a team of Iranian experts completed a series of restorations on the Cyrus Tomb, which is located at the Pasargadae site.
A number of experts censured the restorations, describing them as inept, and saying that the authentic character of the tomb of Cyrus the Great has been seriously compromised by the project.
A team of Italian experts was scheduled to carried out the restoration project according to an agreement signed during the administration of former president Seyyed Mohammad Khatami.
However, an Iranian group was substituted for the Italian team after a new administration came to the CHTHO under President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
Photo: The tomb of Cyrus the Great is seen scaffolded for a restoration project in photos taken on November 15, 2008. (Mehr/Mohammad-Hossein Nikupur).