TEHRAN - Director of Taq-e Bostan, Mohammad-Mehdi Feyzaghaei, said the historic site of Taq-e Bostan in Kermanshah province was cleaned up on April 22, which marks the National Earth Day.

He told ISNA that a group of non-governmental organizations and environmentalists cleaned the historic site of Taq-e Bostan and the areas in the precincts of this ancient monument. 

During this symbolic measure, the garbage scattered and released on surface level of the historic site of Taq-e Bostan and Khosrow Parviz Hunting Ground was collected, he said.

He explained that environmentalists and non-governmental organizations took part in the event.

The goal behind this measure was to inculcate the culture of keeping the earth clean and preserve the important historical monuments of the province, he said.

Taq-e Bostan is connected to a Sassanid-Parthian cultural heritage axis. It was originally part of a Parthian royal hunting garden where Sassanians later added their own regal stamp. It features a series of extraordinary bas-reliefs of victorious Sassanid kings, which have been inscribed into the base of a towering cliff.

It consists of a series of properties from prehistoric to historical periods such as Morad-Hassel Tepe, an ancient village, a Parthian graveyard, and Sassanid hunting ground.

However, the most significant property of the complex belongs to the Sassanid one which comprises two porticos (large and small Ivans) as well as outstanding bas-reliefs from the same period.

What doubles the beauty of Taq-e Bostan is the existence of a lake in front of the arches, which has existed for over 1,000 years due to the presence of several bubbling springs among the old and towering trees. 

KD