TEHRAN – More than 1.5 million visits were paid to tourist attractions and museums in Lorestan province, western Iran, during the past Iranian calendar year 1398 (ended March 20), provincial tourism chief announced on Sunday.

Falak-ol-Aflak fortress in Khorramabad, the capital of Lorestan province, was the top destination with over 220,000 visits, IRNA reported. 

Foreign tourists also made over 1,000 visits to the province, which is one of the lesser-known travel destinations in Iran, and mainly acts as a gateway to the neighboring Khuzestan province which hosts UNESCO sites of Susa, Tchogha Zanbil, and Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System. 

Lorestan is also a region of raw beauty that an avid nature lover could spend weeks exploring.

Lorestan was inhabited by Iranian Indo-European peoples, including the Medes, c. 1000 BC. Cimmerians and Scythians intermittently ruled the region from about 700 to 625 BC. The Luristan Bronzes noted for their eclectic array of Assyrian, Babylonian, and Iranian artistic motifs, date from this turbulent period.

Lorestan was incorporated into the growing Achaemenid Empire in about 540 BC and successively was part of the Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanid dynasties.

Photo: Falak-ol-Aflak fortress in Khorramabad, Lorestan province.

ABU/MG