Plans are underway by Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization to expand services to visitors of Behistun historical complex in Kermanshah Province while ensuring the preservation of the UNESCO-inscribed world heritage site.
A number of empty warehouses in the vicinity of the site will turn into workshops to produce cultural goods and spaces where tourists can become familiar with the history of Behistun before they enter the site, according to a senior official.
Mohammad Hassan Talebian, deputy for cultural heritage affairs at ICHHTO, said the new services will also facilitate tourists’ entry into the popular complex.
“Besides, due to the great public interest in seeing the inscriptions closely, special binoculars will be provided, which will allow visitors to see the rock relief in details without getting too close to the site and minimizing the risk of damage,” he was quoted as saying by travel news website Donyaye Safar.
The official added that a comprehensive plan and a book on Behistun’s activities are slated to be prepared soon for both experts and the public.
Behistun Inscription is a multilingual inscription and large rock relief on a cliff at Mount Behistun in Kermanshah Province in western Iran, which is said to have been crucial to understanding cuneiform scripts.
