TEHRAN – Iran’s UNESCO-tagged Bisotun is hosting a 5-day professional workshop for tourist guides as the country is trying its best to draw more sightseers.

Organizers have invited some world experts to share their knowledge on tour guiding and its world standards and to provide a deeper insight on UNESCO world heritage sites, CHTN reported. 

Mohammad-Hassan Talebian and Vali Teymouri, who are deputies for the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, along with several cultural officials attended the opening ceremony of the event that runs through August 8.  

Situated in western Kermanshah province, Bisotun comprises immense life-size carvings depicting the Achaemenid king Darius I and several other figures. It also bears three different cuneiform script languages: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian.

Measuring about 15 meters high and 25 meters wide, the inscription was created on the order of Darius I in 521 BC. It was the first cuneiform writing that was deciphered in the 19th century.

UNESCO says that Bisotun bears an outstanding testimony to the important interchange of human values on the development of monumental art and writing, reflecting ancient traditions in monumental bas-reliefs.

Nearly 7.8 million foreign nationals visited the Islamic Republic during the past year (ended March 20), which shows a 52.5 percent increase year on year.

AFM/MG