TEHRAN-A clean-up project has recently been commenced on parts of the UNESCO-tagged Soltaniyeh Dome in northwestern Zanjan province, the director of the World Heritage site has announced.

“It is an annual routine to remove plants and weeds from the site during the summer season to prevent fire hazards and to minimize damage to the historical works,” Hossein Eidani said on Friday.

The 14th-century Gonbad-e (“The Dome of”) Soltaniyeh is highly recognized as an architectural masterpiece particularly due to its innovative double-shelled dome and elaborate interior decoration. The very imposing dome stands about 50 meters tall from its base. Covered with turquoise-blue faience tiles, the stunning structure dominates the skyline of the ancient city of Soltaniyeh.

Meaning “Town of the Sultans”, Soltaniyeh was briefly the capital of Persia’s Ilkhanid dynasty (a branch of the Mongol dynasty) during the 14th century.

The monument is, in fact, the mausoleum of Oljaitu, also known as Muhammad Khodabandeh, who was the eighth Ilkhanid dynasty ruler from 1304 to 1316.

According to UNESCO, the mausoleum’s interior decoration is so outstanding that scholars, like A.U. Pope, have described the building as “anticipating the Taj Mahal”.

The UN cultural body has it that the Mausoleum of Oljaitu is an essential link and key monument in the development of Islamic architecture in central and western Asia. The fairly large dome is the earliest extant example of its type in the country and became an important reference for the later development of the Islamic dome.

ABU/MG