Tabriz Historical Bazaar has a great chance of being registered on UNESCO's temporary heritage list, said head of Tabriz National Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department.
Addressing a news conference Wednesday, Torab Mohammadi further said that in the current Iranian year (started on March 19), Shoushtar Cascades were introduced as the main nominees for registration on the Global Heritage List and Tabriz Bazaar and Sheikh Safi Al-Din Ardebili's Mausoleum in Ardebil have been placed on temporary list.
He also said that necessary documents on Tabriz Bazaar should be presented by late September to pave the way for its registration on the Global Heritage List next year.
If the Bazaar is placed on the temporary list this year, it will have a greater chance for global registration against Sheikh Safi Al-Din Mausoleum due to its special characteristics such as the glory of the monument, Mohammadi said.
Describing the trend for global registration as long due to limits in the number and the need to meet essential conditions for that, he said that registration of the monument on the Global Heritage List has been planned for 2010.
A special provincial headquarters presided by East Azarbaijan's governor general has been set up to pursue the issue, he noted.
Referring to a visit to be paid to Tabriz Bazaar by UNESCO's inspectors to review the trend of documentation and standardization of the monument based on global indices in January, he underlined the need to take the issue seriously.
Establishing Tabriz Historical Bazaar Association to follow up declared rules by World Cultural Historical Works Registration Organization and pave the way for its global registration is unavoidable, he said.
Tabriz Historical Bazaar is one of the world's most beautiful markets dating back to the fourth century AH.
© IRNA 2008
