According to hyperrestaurant, Iran suffers from a lack of water. The causes are global warming, frequent droughts and heavy water abstraction for large cities and irrigated agriculture. Rivers are drying up and lakes are shrinking with increasing frequency. Tapped groundwater causes the ground to sink in the Tehran area. The stock of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea has decreased dramatically due to overfishing.
Golestan Palace in Tehran (World Heritage)
The lavish and artistically designed Golestan Palace is a masterpiece of the Persian Qajar dynasty, under which Tehran became the capital. Built at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, the palace is one of the oldest buildings in Tehran. In the architecture and interior decoration, traditional Persian and younger elements of the 18th century merge in an exemplary way. To booty, this style is a model for Iranian architecture.
Golestan Palace in Tehran: facts
| Official title: | Golestan Palace in Tehran |
| Cultural monument: | Lavishly designed palace of the Persian dynasty of the Kanjars (1779-1925), built at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century; Part of the oldest historical monuments in Tehran, built around gardens with extensive ornaments from the 19th century and rich tile mosaic; Center of art and architecture of the Kanjars; seat of the Persian monarch until the Islamic Revolution |
| Continent: | Asia |
| Country: | Iran |
| Location: | Tehran, Iran |
| Appointment: | 2013 |
| Meaning: | Exceptional testimony to a dynasty and its influence on art and architecture; outstanding example of a new architectural style combining traditional Persian art and elements of the 18th century |
Gonbad-e Qaboos Mausoleum (World Heritage)
The 52-meter-high conical burial tower for the ruler of a local Persian dynasty was made entirely of fired bricks in what is now the north-eastern Iranian province of Golestan at the beginning of the 11th century.
Gonbad-e Qaboos mausoleum: facts
| Official title: | Gonbad-e Qaboos mausoleum |
| Cultural monument: | Built in 1006, 53 m high mausoleum for the Ziyarid ruler Qabus; Strikingly sober, strictly geometric architecture of the imposing, cylindrical tower made of fired bricks with a diameter of ten meters, an 18 m high conical roof and ten triangular buttresses; last remnant of the historic city of Jorjan, a center of arts and science at the beginning of the second millennium |
| Continent: | Asia |
| Country: | Iran |
| Location: | Gonbad in the Golestan Province of northeast Iran |
| Appointment: | 2012 |
| Meaning: | Outstanding example of innovative Muslim architecture with great influence on buildings in Iran, Anatolia and Central Asia; exceptional testimony to the cultural exchange between the Central Asian nomads and the civilization of Iran; unique document of the development of mathematics and science in the Muslim world |
Jame Mosque in Isfahan (World Heritage)
The Great Friday Mosque from the 11th and 12th centuries has been structurally altered several times and is a living museum for Islamic architecture. The floor plan was the model for many courtyard mosques.
Jame Mosque in Isfahan: facts
| Official title: | Jame Mosque in Isfahan |
| Cultural monument: | Located in the historical center of Isfahan, the oldest Friday mosque in Iran, built from 772 to the 20th century; burned down in 1121 and then rebuilt; Ensemble with two domes and adapting a variety of architectural styles; first implementation of the architectural style of the Sassanid palaces with four inner courtyards for a religious Islamic building; huge complex of 20,000 km² with a bazaar in the southeast wing |
| Continent: | Asia |
| Country: | Iran |
| Location: | Isfahan, central Iran, 350 km south of Tehran |
| Appointment: | 2012 |
| Meaning: | Impressive testimony to the evolution of mosque architecture over 12 centuries; Prototype for the construction of mosques in Central Asia; Extraordinary example of the innovative strength in the continuous restoration and expansion of an early mosque complex |
Persian Gardens (World Heritage)
The world heritage includes representative examples of Persian horticulture, which is around 3000 years old. Typical of the garden design that goes back to the Achaemenids is its geometric, mostly four-part arrangement. The gardens represent paradise on earth and reflect the elements of heaven, earth, water and plants.
Persian gardens: facts
| Official title: | Persian gardens |
| Cultural monument: | Nine gardens in different provinces of Iran as mythical-religious sites, laid out over centuries, beginning in the 6th century BC. Under Cyrus II; according to the principles of “Char Bagh” (“Four Gardens”), a mythical order in geometric proportions with the elements of heaven, earth, water and plants according to the Zoroastrian philosophy; after the conquest of Persia by the Arabs, the gardens continued as a spiritual embodiment of paradise on earth with a harmonious arrangement of natural and human components, including the buildings and pavilions; Sophisticated water supply with the »Quanats«, up to 16 km underground canals with melt water from nearby mountains; Model for the development of gardens especially in India and Spain |
| Continent: | Asia |
| Country: | Iran |
| Location: | Behshahr, Birdjand, Isfahan, Mahan, Mehriz, Schiras, Yazd |
| Appointment: | 2011 |
| Meaning: | Unique masterpieces of creative human work that naturally symbolize spiritual principles; perfect integration of natural surroundings and cultural elements; impressive early technical achievements in water management; Widespread and used template for the geometric layout of gardens around the world |
