TEHRAN -A total of 18 historical mansions along with a hospital and a college, which are located in Fars province, have been added to the national heritage list.

The Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts on Monday announced the inscriptions in separate letters to the governor-general of the southern province, CHTN reported.

The ancient region of Fars, also spelled Pars or Persis, was the heart of the Achaemenian Empire (c. 550–330 BC), which was founded by Cyrus the Great and had its capital at Pasargadae. Darius I the Great moved the capital to nearby Persepolis in the late 6th or early 5th century BC.

The capital city of Shiraz is home to some of the country’s most magnificent buildings and sights. Increasingly, it draws more and more foreign and domestic sightseers flocking into this provincial capital which was the literary capital of Persia during the Zand dynasty from 1751 to 1794.

ABU/AFM