TEHRAN–Kerman province’s tourism department has implemented initiatives to improve tourist amenities in the UNESCO-registered Maymand, which has long been an amazing place for troglodytes in southern Iran.

“200 billion rials (some $690,000) was spent to help improve the tourism infrastructure in Maymand,” CHTN quoted the provincial tourism chief as saying on Sunday.

“Due to the global registration of Maymand and the high presence of Iranian and foreign tourists in this village, completing its tourist infrastructure has been one of the priorities of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage in Kerman province,” Fereydoun Fa’ali explained.

The cultural landscape of Maymand was named a UNESCO World Heritage in 2015 as an exemplar system of manmade cave dwellings that is believed to be practiced in the region to cope with its harsh climate.

Sandwiched between a desert and a mountain, Maymand has cold winters and exceedingly hot summers yet abundant with mulberry and blackberry trees. Living conditions in the village are considered severe due to the aridity of the land, high temperatures in the summer, and very cold winters.

It is believed to be one of human’s primary residents in the country as its history stretches far back in time to about 10,000 years ago. Some of its natural and manmade caves are still used for housing and shelter.

The houses in the continually inhabited village are carved like caverns inside the mountain. The internal spaces have corridors and pillars featuring rural architecture. The houses are situated on four or five stories, one on top of the other.

Narratives say the early residents did not use a hammer and chisel, but rather a type of local, pointed stone that was hard enough to carve images onto the rocks. This method of carving is still practiced in the region. Some of the stone engravings in the village date back to 10,000 years ago.

For the time being, the majority of inhabitants are semi-nomadic shepherds. They raise their animals on mountain pastures, living in temporary settlements in spring and autumn.

The community has a strong bond with the natural environment that is expressed in social practices, cultural ceremonies, and religious beliefs.

The local dialect contains words from the ancient Sassanid and Pahlavi languages. The dialect has barely changed due to the remoteness of the village.

The area is also home to various animals such as snakes, lizards, hedgehogs, deer, leopards, wolves, foxes, and also birds of prey. Few seasonal springs around the village contribute to the flourishing of agriculture in the area. In such an arid climate, residents have to collect every drop of water to make a living as their ancestors did.

AM