TEHRAN - International tourist arrivals in Iran’s southeastern Kerman province rose 16 percent in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21) from a year earlier.

“Some 23,000 foreign nationals visited Kerman during the first six months of the year, which shows a 16 percent growth year on year,” provincial tourism chief Fereydoun Fa’ali said on Sunday, IRNA reported.

“A majority of the travelers were from Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Spain and China,” the official noted.

The ancient city of Kerman, [the UNESCO-registered] sites of Lut Desert, Bam Citadel, Maymand village, and Shazdeh Garden along with the mudbrick Rayen Castle were the top destinations for the foreign travelers during the six-month period, Fa’ali added.

The Lut Desert is teemed with giant dunes, shifting sands, salt plains and wind-hewn kaluts, offering visitors epic journeys of breathtaking beauty and wilderness. It is a destination for people who are in search of new adventures; outstanding scenery and unparalleled serenity. The scorching desert is also being considered as one of the top areas in the world for finding meteorites, thanks to its unique parameters. In recent years, significant finds have been made, with the efforts of national and international teams of researchers.

Bam and its Cultural Landscape is located on the southern edge of the Iranian high plateau, close to the Pakistan border. It’s highly regarded as an outstanding example of an ancient fortified settlement. According to UNESCO, the origins of the citadel can be traced back to the Achaemenid period (6th to 4th centuries BC) and even beyond. The ensemble was on crossroads of important trade routes as well in its heyday sometime between 7th to 11th centuries.

The well-preserved Bag-e Shazdeh (meaning the "Prince’s Garden"), spanning around 5.5 hectares, provides its visitors with delightful yet greenish peace and quiet though it is situated on margins of the central Iranian desert. The garden also embraces a two-floor residential structure at the upper end. Persian Garden an ancient idea that combines natural elements with manmade components in a bid to materialize the concept of Eden or Paradise on Earth.

Sandwiched between desert and mountain landscape, Maymand (also spelt Meymand) is famous for being an exemplar manmade-cave destination that is home to tens of troglodytes, the majority of whom are semi-nomadic shepherds.

Under the glare of blazing sun and on the margins of a harsh desert lies the mudbrick Arg-e-Rayen or Rayen Castle that is still standing tall after tolerating several earthquakes and other natural disasters, which have been flattened similar nearby structures. Covering an area of about 20,000 square meters, the castle was inhabited until 150 years ago and some experts believe it is at least 1,000 years old.

The big and sprawling Kerman province has long been a destination for globetrotters. Kerman has been a cultural melting pot since antiquity, blending Persians with subcontinental tribe dwellers.

AFM/MG