A plan on restoring and increasing the number of informative signs of heritage sites in Fars Province has been set in motion as part of efforts to introduce their rich history more efficiently.
The two-phase project covers both road signs along the routes leading to the province and those standing beside each historical site, ISNA quoted Hamid Fadaei, director of Pasargadae World Heritage Base, as saying.
"We will mount signposts providing directions to the heritage sites about 40 kilometers to each spot on the roads from Izadkhast and Shiraz," Fadaei said, elaborating on the plan's first stage.
According to the official, there are currently only two such road signs all through the whole route between the two cities, which is about 200 km long.
In the second part of the project, boards will be installed at each heritage site that contain up-to-date and historically reliable information that include "neither boring numerical data, nor unnecessary explanations," the official added.
Research-Rich Boards
"For about 70 heritage sites in the province, some 30 bilingual historical information boards have so far been prepared which will be soon installed after locating the most suitable spot."
Research into ancient texts and documents is still underway to update the data relevant to all historical spots in the province, the official added.
Those sites already featuring a sign, such as Pasargadae, he noted, will boast a new plaque after, about 15 years in the world heritage site.
"The changes are aimed at offering precise historical data about heritage sites, plus preventing encroachment on the site's buffer zone," Fadaei said.
Reportedly, all the signs, including both road signs and information plaques, will be of high quality resistant material with the notes engraved on them.
Fadaei additionally emphasized that due to the cultural importance of the signs for which in-depth studies have been conducted, any sort of offensive action and destruction will lead to prosecution.
Shiraz has been inhabited by various peoples, including Aryans, Semites and Turks, each leaving a lasting imprint on the Iranian culture.
Fars Province boasts 3,000 national heritage sites, accounting for 9% of Iran's historical sites. It is also home to world heritage sites including the ruins of Persepolis, the Achaemenid Empire's capital Pasargadae and Eram Garden (inscribed along with seven other gardens grouped under "Persian Gardens").
The latest global designation of the city was for the Sassanid archaeological landscape which was inscribed in the UNESCO list on June 30.
