TEHRAN – Participants to a UNESCO meeting, which was held in Hamedan, paid visits to several tourist attractions in the ancient Iranian city.

Hamedan hosted the 6th meeting of the Coordinating Committee on the Serial Transnational World Heritage Nomination of the Silk Roads from September 23 to 26.

The invitees toured several cultural and natural attractions including the mausoleum of Avicenna, and prehistoric rock carvings of Ganjnameh which feature sets of cuneiform inscriptions written in three languages of ancient Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian, CHTN reported.

The guests were from France, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, China, Russia, South Korea, Japan, Bhutan, Turkey, Switzerland, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Nepal, the report said.

Organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Center and UNESCO Cluster Office in Tehran in cooperation with the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO and the Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism, the meeting reviewed possible UNESCO inscription of the Silk Roads as a serial transnational World Heritage.

The ancient Silk Road has existed for thousands of years, passing through many different empires, kingdoms, reigns and societies throughout history. At certain times in its long history, traders could travel freely along these routes, whereas at others, travel was difficult or dangerous.

According to UNESCO, the Silk Road enriched the countries it passed through, transporting cultures, religions, languages and of course material goods into societies across Europe, Asia and Africa, and uniting them all with a common thread of cultural heritage and plural identities.

Known in classical times as Ecbatana, Hamedan was one of the ancient world’s greatest cities. Pitifully little remains from antiquity, but significant parts of the city center are given over to excavations, and there’s a scattering of historical curiosities.

Hamedan, never falls short of offering cultural heritage sites to its visitors. Scenic natural landscapes, traditional restaurants, public gardens and colorful outdoor markets and more importantly, its hospitable people make for an unexpected slice of the city.

AFM/MG