TEHRAN – 19 elements traditionally practiced in Yazd including the art of making indigenous dishes have won national heritage status, joining some 2,000 ones inscribed on Iran’s national list of intangible cultural heritage.

The entries comprise making various meat stews and bread, as well as their associated rituals, passed down from generation to generation in villages across the central Yazd province, CHTN reported on Monday.

Some 2,000 elements have been registered on Iran’s national list of intangible cultural heritage, tourism minister Ezzatollah Zarghami said on Friday.

“So far, about two thousand intangible cultural elements have been registered in the country.”

“Intangible cultural heritage such as culture, religion, and rituals are of very high importance as they shape the identity of any nation,” Zarghami said.

Moreover, 17 Iranian elements have been registered in UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Among Iran’s entries to the prestigious list are Radif of Iranian music; traditional skills of carpet weaving in Kashan; Music of the Bakhshis of Khorasan; Naqqali, Iranian dramatic story-telling; traditional skills of building and sailing Iranian Lenj boats in the Persian Gulf; and traditional skills of crafting and playing Dotar. Furthermore, the ancient country seeks to register five intangible elements on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in near future.  They are ancient festivities of Mehregan and Yalda,  crafting and playing [the stringed instrument of] the Oud, traditional craft of silk spinning, and Turkmen Duzi (a kind of traditional textile being practiced by Iranian Turkman tribes).

With its winding lanes, a forest of badgirs (wind catchers), mud-brick houses, atmospheric alleyways, and centuries of history, Yazd is a delightful place to stay, being referred to as a ‘don't miss’ destination by almost all travel associates in the region. The oasis city is wedged between the northern Dasht-e Kavir and the southern Dasht-e Lut on a flat plain ringed by mountains.

Yazd has an interesting mix of people as well, some 10 percent of whom follow the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism. Yazd Jameh Mosque, Dowlatabad Garden, the Yazd Atash Behram, also known as Atashkadeh-e Yazd, Towers of Silence, and adjacent desert landscape are among its tourist sites.

AFM