Amir Chakhmaq Complex in Yazd | Photo by: National Geographic

Yazd is the first historical city in Iran to be listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 9 July 2017 because of its architectural styles and its intact historical fabric.

The registered historical fabric includes 1730 acres of land of the ancient city of Yazd and 77 neighborhoods of the city. Some of the most known neighborhoods are Chahar Menar, Sheikhdad and Fahaadaan. The special and unique desert architecture, having a pleasant ambiance consistent with the warm and dry climate of Yazd, using domes , wind_towers and thatch to cool the area are some of the points of interest in the historical fabric of Yazd for registering this city as a world heritage site . In this type of architecture, for each neighborhood , there is a bathhouse , small bazar, cistern, mosque, Hussainiya, square, small workshops and water reservoirs (to access the aqueduct).

By walking in these neighborhoods, you could vividly experience being in an ancient city and you’d get to know the beautiful architecture of the desert and the lifestyle of the people in the past.

The city of wind towers

The variety of monuments is one of the features of Yazd that put it at the top of Iranian cities in terms of monuments. Different buildings with wind-towers, paving alleys, cisterns, Tower of Silence and Zoroastrian fire temples , mosques, Hussainiyas, tombs, bazaar and historical gardens are among the valuable monuments of Yazd that are all arranged in the best possible way.
So far, five of Yazd’s monuments have been listed on the UNESCO list, which has increased Yazd’s reputation. They include the historical sites of Yazd city, Dowlat Abad Garden in Yazd, Pahlavanpour Garden in Mehriz, Zarch and Hasan Abad-e Moshir Qanat.

The reasons why Yazd city is successful in obtaining the name of the second historical city in the world and being a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the city’s success in tourism and tourist attraction are, keeping the historical fabric of the city , preservation and maintenance of valuable monuments and fabric, protecting the old neighborhoods and keeping them alive and the use of authentic spaces for different applications while preserving traditional elements for the development of city tourism.

* Written by Sooshia Shamsaei.