TEHRAN – Restoration work has begun on the ancient Marvast fort, which overlooks an oasis town of the same name in Yazd province.

According to a local tourism official, the ruined mudbrick fortress is estimated to date from the early Islamic era, IRIB reported.

The restoration work entails masonry to amend adobe bricks, arched ceilings, thatched roofs, and walls, as well as stone-paved floorings, Abbas Qadirian said.

The fort castle is built of clay and masonry materials and mud bricks. It has three circular towers in three corners. There is an entrance instead of a tower on the southwest side.

The head of the castle is built on two floors, the roof of the first floor is completely collapsed and only its bases are left. The highlight of the building and its aristocracy to the city and its attractions and views from far away and on entering Marvast is one of the hallmarks of this building.

In July 2017, the historical core of Yazd was named a UNESCO World Heritage. Wedged between the northern Dasht-e Kavir and the southern Dasht-e Lut on a flat plain, the ancient city enjoys a very harmonious public-religious architecture that dates from different eras.

Yazd is regularly referred to as a delightful place to stay, or a “don't miss” destination by almost all of its visitors. The city is full of mudbrick houses that are equipped with innovative badgirs (wind catchers), atmospheric alleyways, and many Islamic and Iranian monuments that shape its eye-catching city landscape.

Some say it is a living testimony to the intelligent use of limited available resources in the desert for survival. Water is brought to the city by the qanat system. Each district of the city is built on a qanat and has a communal center.

Furthermore, Yazd is home to numerous qanats which have supplied water to agricultural and permanent settlements for thousands of years. The man-carved underground qanat system relies on snow-fed streams flowing down the foothills of surrounding mountains.

AFM