Cultural Landscape of Maymand inaugurated as UNESCO World Heritage Site

The cultural landscape of Maymand was officially inaugurated as Iran’s 19th UNESCO World Heritage Site, AVA Diplomatic reports.

The festive ceremony took place in the small troglodytic village situated in the province of Kerman and was attended by H.E. Vice-President Soltanifar; Ms. Kuisch-Laroche, Director and Representative of the UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office; Dr. Jalali, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of the Islamic Republic of Iran to UNESCO in Paris; Dr. Talebian, Deputy Head of ICHTO; the Governor of Kerman, Mr. Alireza Razm-Hosseini, and the local community.

During the ceremony, Ms. Kuisch-Laroche congratulated the people of Maymand on the registration of their cultural landscape on the World Heritage List and highlighted the outstanding universal value of the site. She mentioned that the decision to nominate Maymand for the World Heritage List was an important one, as it represented a desire by the Islamic Republic of Iran to protect and preserve this unique heritage. “This is an important milestone – not just for the people of Maymand, but for Iran and for all humanity”, said the UNESCO Representative.

After the ceremony, Ms. Kuisch-Laroche and Dr. Soltanifar unveiled the official plaque in the presence of all guests and visited one of the traditional houses in the village.

Maymand is a small and relatively self-contained valley within the arid chain of Iran’s central mountains. The villagers are agro-pastoralists who practice a highly specific three-phase regional variation of transhumance that reflects the dry desert environment. During the year, farmers move with their animals to defined settlements, traditionally four, and more recently three, that include fortified cave dwellings for the winter months. In three of these settlements the houses are temporary, while in the fourth, the troglodytic houses are permanent.

The Cultural Landscape of Maymand bears exceptional testimony to the evolution over centuries of a traditional way of life in close interaction with nature. It bears testimony to significant social, economic and religious activities from the ancient times. And the traditional lifestyle is still part of the present-day farming and animal husbandry.

Due to its outstanding universal value, the site was registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2015, at the same time as Susa.