TEHRAN – Some elite students in the city of Lar, southern province of Fars, have created three-dimensional models of a number of the historical monuments of the ancient city.

The models have been designed based on aerial photographs taken from the city in 1956 and before the earthquake and the destruction of the city’s historical structures in 1960, IRNA reported on Wednesday.

The 3D models include the 15th-century Qeisarieh Baazar, the oldest bazaar in the country, the Sassanid era (224 CE–651) mudbrick fortress of Ezhdehapeikar and Safavid-era (1501–1736) New Caravanserai.

The ancient region of Fars, also spelled Pars, or Persis, was the heart of the Achaemenian Empire (550–330 BC), which was founded by Cyrus the Great and had its capital at Pasargadae. Darius I the Great moved the capital to nearby Persepolis in the late 6th or early 5th century BC.

The capital city of Shiraz is home to some of the country’s most magnificent buildings and sights including Hafezieh (mausoleum of Hafez), the UNESCO-registered Persepolis, and Sadi mausoleum. Increasingly, it draws more and more foreign and domestic sightseers flocking into this provincial capital which was the literary capital of Persia during the Zand dynasty from 1751 to 1794.

ABU/MG