The archaeological remains of the ancient city of Hegmataneh, a site located inside the modern-day city of Hamedan in western Iran, has finally been inscribed on the World Heritage List.

According to The Iran Project, Iran’s deputy minister of tourism Ali Darabi said on Saturday that Hegmataneh had been accepted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a world heritage site during the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee in New Delhi, India.

The World Heritage Centre confirmed Hegmataneh’s inscription on its website under a post titled New Inscribed Properties.

“Continuously inhabited for nearly three millennia, Hegmataneh provides important and rare evidence of the Medes civilization in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE and later served as a summer capital of Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian rulers,” read the post.

Hegmataneh, which is also known as Ecbatana both in Iran and in the world, becomes the 28thIranian property on the World Heritage List.

Artifacts recovered from site, including the Achaemenid golden rhyton, are testaments to Iran’s ancient and glorious civilization.
The inscription will be a major boost to Iran’s plans to turn Hamedan into a major tourist destination.

That comes as Iran’s tourism ministry was also seeking to obtain the world heritage status for Hamedan’s historic inner-city, which surrounds Hegmataneh and includes the city’s old bazaar.

However, Darabi said the inscription was not granted in the New Delhi session of the World Heritage Committee although he insisted that Hegmataneh’s designation as a global heritage site will create enough protection for Hamedan’s historic central neighborhood. 

UNESCO’s world heritage list includes a total of 1,222 properties, including cultural, natural or mixed items, around the world. The list was expanded this year by 23 items.