TEHRAN—The number of travelers visiting Gilan province jumped more than 100 percent during the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21) compared to a year ago.

“Gilan province recorded 42 million overnight stays during the first half of the year, which shows over a two-fold increase year on year,” the provincial tourism chief Vali Jahani said on Saturday.

Some 53 million travelers arrived in the northern province during the mentioned period, the official said.

Gilan Rural Heritage Museum, Rudkhan Castle, and the village of Masuleh gained the most number of visitors during the period, the official added.

Gilan is well-known for its rich Iron Age cemeteries such as Marlik that have been excavated over the past century. It was once within the sphere of influence of the successive Achaemenian, Seleucid, Parthian, and Sassanid empires that ruled Iran until the 7th century CE. The subsequent Arab conquest of Iran led to the rise of many local dynasties, and Gilan acquired an independent status that continued until 1567.

Rasht, the provincial capital, has long been a weekend escape for residents of Tehran who are looking to sample the famous local cuisine and hoping for some pluvial action–it's the largest and wettest town in the northern region. Gilan is divided into a coastal plain, including the large delta of Sefid Rud and adjacent parts of the Alborz mountain range.

AM