TEHRAN – Qaleh Khajeh, a historical fortress in Andika, southwestern Khuzestan province, needs urgent restoration, a local tourism official has said.

The restoration of the historical castle could turn it into a tourist destination, which could lead to a truism boom in the region, Seyyed Ali Mousavi explained on Wednesday.

The castle has a private owner, who could restore and revive the structure in collaboration with Andika’s cultural heritage department, the official added.

From ancient to modern times, defensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest.

Fortresses were designed primarily to defend territories in warfare and were also used to solidify rule in a region during peacetime.

Many of the fortifications of the ancient world were built with mud brick, often leaving them no more than mounds of dirt for today’s archaeologists.

Andika is a small county in southwest Iran. There was a time when this land was known as Andiko, which means the land of wonderful mountains, in the native language.

The Bardi Qaleh in this region is one of the first settlements of the Lor tribe in the southwest of Iran, and the first signs of Persian architecture can be found in this ancient castle. The nomad route (Ilrah) of this part of the country passes through Andika.

ABU/AM