TEHRAN –The tourism infrastructure of Jundi Shapur University, an ancient academy in the southwestern city of Dezful, is being developed, a local tourism official has said. 

A budget of seven billion rials ($14,000) has been allocated to the project, Yaghub Zalaqi explained on Monday. 

The project aims at boosting tourism in the region as well as attract more travelers, the official added. 

Jundi Shapur, also spelled as Gundi Shapur, was one of the world’s birthplaces of knowledge and wisdom, which is a source of national pride and enthusiasm for Iranians.

The city was the intellectual center of the Sassanid Empire (224–651) and the home of the Academy of Jundi Shapur University, which offered education and training in medicine, philosophy, theology, and science.

The university was home to a teaching hospital, and also comprised a library and a center of higher learning. It has been identified with extensive ruins south of Shahabad, a village 14 km south-east of Dezful, to the road for Shush, in the present-day province of Khuzestan.

The town fell into decline after the Muslim conquest of Persia (633–654), the city surrendering in 638, however, it continued to remain an important center in the Muslim period. Yaqub Layth Saffari, the founder of the Saffarid dynasty, made Jundi Shapur his residence three years before his sudden death. His tomb became one of the most prominent sites in the city.
ABU/