TEHRAN – Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Minister Ezatollah Zarghami on Thursday inaugurated a museum dedicated to the indigenous handicrafts in the northwestern Zanjan province. 

Opening the Museum provides tourists with the opportunity to learn about Zanjan handcrafts and introduce them to local products, the minister said, ISNA reported. 

Charuq (a local style of women’s handmade shoes), filigrees, knives, potteries, and copper dishes are among the popular handicrafts in Zanjan, which their practical know-how is passed down from generation to generation across the province. 

Knifemaking is one of the oldest handicrafts practiced for centuries in several Iranian cities, of which the northwestern city of Zanajn is the most famous.

Knives, swords, and daggers were produced and a lot of knife-making workshops were active in these cities. But due to their design, cut, diversity, and durability, Zanjan knives have been the most successful.

Hand-made copper dishes are very popular in the central province of Isfahan and Zanjan. In addition to being useful for human health, these products can also be used as decorative pieces and are considered to be superb works of art. 

Filigree consists of curling, twisting, or plaiting fine, pliable metal threads and soldering them at their points of contact with each other with metal groundwork.

In January 2020, Zanjan was designated as a “world city of filigree” by the World Crafts Council after the WCC assessors visited various craft workshops, stores, exhibits, and bazaars of the city in a two-day itinerary in December 2019.

ABU/AFM