More than 100 NGOs signed a letter urging UNESCO to favorably consider the dossier of Yazd at the upcoming session of the World Heritage Committee.
As reported by Mehr News Agency, 102 cultural heritage NGOs across the country wrote signed the letter detailing why Yazd, the world’s largest inhabited adobe city, should be inscribed on the World Heritage List during the 40th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Istanbul, Turkey (July 10-20, 2016).
Pointing to architectural designs reflecting styles of different eras, the signatories wrote that the city’s inscription would boost efforts to restore and protect Yazd’s historical texture.
“We hope the city will receive a share of the spoils during the 40th session,” Mohammad Mehdi Sherafat, head of the provincial office of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, was quoted as saying.
In October, experts from the France-based International Center for Earthen Architecture, CRAterre, traveled to Yazd to help officials compile the dossiers for the city’s inscription on the World Heritage List and help monitor and preserve the city’s historical texture.
With a historical texture covering 2,270 hectares, Yazd is thought to be one of – if not the first - adobe city in the world.
