TEHRAN –An international conference focusing on the culture and sustainable development of the UNESCO-designated Uramanat is scheduled to be held in the western province of Kermanshah, the director of the World Heritage site has said. 

The conference is planned to explore the region’s history, archaeology, handicrafts, cultural heritage, literature, local dialects, geography, environment, tourism, art and culture, urban planning, economics, architecture, employment, and sustainable development, Pouya Talebnia explained on Friday. 

The event aims to introduce and identify the capacities of the World Heritage site to the global community, he added. 

Organized by the province’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department in collaboration with Kermanshah’s Razi University, the seminar will be held on July 16 and 17, he noted. 

Over the past couple of years, western Iranian provinces have held several meetings to discuss ways to expand tourism, bringing together local officials, hoteliers, travel agents, and tour operators from provinces of Lorestan, Ilam, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh, and Boyer-Ahmad, Kermanshah, Kordestan, Hamedan, Zanjan and East Azarbaijan, amongst others.

Uramanat is home to dense and step-like rows of houses in a way that the roof of each house forms the yard of the upper one, a feature that adds to its charm and attractiveness.

Archaeological findings dating back about 40,000 years, caves and rock shelters, ancient paths and ways along the valleys, motifs and inscriptions, cemeteries, mounds, castles, settlements, and other historical evidence attest to the continuity of life in the Uramanat region from the Paleolithic to the present time.

ABU/AFM