Kerman’s Shahr House Inscribed

The former building of Kerman’s Governorate known as Shahr House has been inscribed on the National Heritage List.

Zahra Ahmadipour, the head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, made the announcement on July 31 through a letter to the city’s governor general, Alireza Razm-Hosseini, Khabaronline reported.

The letter stresses that the building is under the protection of ICHHTO and any encroachment or activity that causes damage or destruction will be considered a crime.

Any restoration and reconstruction of the building must also be carried out with the permission and under the supervision of ICHHTO.

Shahr House was built in 1979 with a unique architecture that is a combination of traditional and modern features. The use of stone and colorful tiles and glass are among the building’s features. The budget for its construction was directly supplied from water taxes collected by Kerman’s residents.

A new building for the governorate was built behind the old structure in 2009 and Shahr House had to be destroyed to make way for the entrance to the new structure.

The governor insisted that Shahr House was dilapidated and on the verge of collapse and had to be knocked down while cultural heritage activists and Kerman City Council maintained that it is of historical value.

Kerman’s ICHHTO office finally stepped in and prepared a file on the building for national inscription and it eventually gained the status on the ICHHTO chief’s order.  

Oshidari House, another old building belonging to the Pahlavid rule in Kerman’s city center, was also inscribed on the list of national heritage sites simultaneously.