TEHRAN – A permanent museum dedicated to the religious heritage will be inaugurated in Sorkheh, north-central province of Semnan in the near future, Sorkheh’s tourism chief has announced. 

Chehel Sotoun Mosque will be hosting the museum, which is aimed to highlight local religious figures, thinkers, monuments, and rituals, Bahman Akhlaqi said on Saturday.

A budget of five billion rials ($119,000 at the official exchange rate of 42,000 rials per dollar) has been allocated to launch the museum, the official added. 

In terms of religious tourism Iran enjoys enormous potential. It has 8,000 sacred sites and pilgrimage places, around 4,400 of them have been registered. Moreover, different religions in Iran have their own religious ceremonies, which can attract tourists.

Among the top destinations for international tourists to Iran are the religious cities of Mashhad, Qom, Shiraz, and capital Tehran. These cities are respectively home to the holy shrines of Imam Reza, the eighth Imam of Shia Muslims; his sister Hazrat Masumeh (SA); his brothers Ahmad and Mohammad; as well as the late founder of the Islamic Revolution Imam Rouhollah Khomeini.

The main population centers of Semnan province lie along the ancient Silk Road (and modern-day Imam Reza Expressway), linking Rey (Tehran) with Khorasan (Mashhad). While few visitors spend much time in the area, driving through you can easily seek out several well-preserved caravanserais (notably Dehnamak and Ahowan), cisterns (the Cafe Abenbar in Garmsar is a special treat), and ruined mud citadels (Padeh is lumpy but fascinating). The large, bustling cities of Semnan, Damghan, and Shahrud (Bastam) all have a small selection of historic buildings and Semnan has a fine old covered bazaar.

ABU/AFM