TEHRAN – A number of provincial officials have urged to pave the way to complete a gigantic theme park, which is being developed near the city of Malayer in western Iran.

Hamedan province's governor-general, mayor of Malayer, and the governor of the city were amongst officials who visited the Mini World on Thursday.

"Completion of the Mini World complex is one of our important goals in turning Malayer into a tourist destination," IRNA quoted the governor as saying on Friday.  

"All of our efforts are to remove the obstacles to the progress of this huge tourism complex and to accelerate the construction process of this project," the official added.

As a window to the world, the theme park is estimated to lure more travelers to Malayer, which has earned a national reputation for its rugs and popular parks.

The project is said to be the first of its kind in West Asia and fourth in the world next to similar projects in Japan, Belgium, and China.

Replicas of Easter Island’s moai statues, the Eiffel Tower, Si-o-Se Pol (Bridge of Thirty-Three Arches), the Hafez mausoleum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and some Achaemenian-era sites are amongst tens of monuments one can see within the theme park so far.

A hub of woodcarving

Malayer may be top on the list for those who are interested to visit a woodcarving hub. The west-central Iranian town is named a global hub for woodcarving and carved-wood furniture by the World Crafts Council - Asia Pacific Region (WCC-APR).

Located in Hamedan province, the ancient city is home to over 4,000 furniture workshops in which more than 8,000 wood masters and some 25,000 crafters are engaged.

Although the art had been practiced in Malayer for a long time ago, it is about a half-century that it has gained prosperity in the region. In some cases, the whole family is occupied with traditional furniture making and although they didn't make much money this way, their love for handicrafts and the increasing perseverance of woodcarving artists of Malayer shows today a new face of this art-craft to the world.

Artists and crafter of this region use the wood of beech, walnut, and plane trees to make different products such as traditional, classic, steel, and sofa furniture. Their other products are dining table, desk, all kinds of chair, bed, and decorative pieces.

Currently, some 60 percent of the furniture and woodcarving products in Iran are reportedly produced in Malayer and they are sent to various Iranian cities or being exported to Central Asian countries, Persian Gulf littoral states, Turkey, and Iraq amongst some others. 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.

AFM/