Excavations to continue in Soltaniyeh World Heritage site: Official
The director of the Soltaniyeh Dome, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Iranian province of Zanjan, announced the continuation of a new round of excavations in the Abwab-al-Bar area with the aim of identifying Ilkhanid architecture and re-reading historical structures.
“According to historical texts, Oljeitu, the eighth Mongol Ilkhan, built a tomb for himself at the same time as the construction of the new capital of the Ilkhanid government in Soltaniyeh, which is known today as Soltaniyeh Dome or Ali Mansion. Following the actions of his brother, Ghazan Khan, in Tabriz, and at the recommendation of Iranian ministers, he established a complex of public welfare buildings called Abwab-al-Bar next to this dome and within the citadel,” Abolfazl Aali said in an interview with ISNA.
Pointing to historical sources, he added, “Abwab-al-Bar included 19 buildings with various functions, which, as a charitable foundation with a specific administrative structure and independent budget, provided services to the residents of the capital and travelers. However, precise information about the location of these buildings and their architectural structure is not mentioned in historical texts, and this has provided an incentive for new excavations.”
Aali underlined that the directorate of Soltaniyeh World Heritage site, with the aim of increasing knowledge about the structure of Abwab-al-Bar and the buildings around the dome, began excavations in the eastern and western sides of the dome in August, and said, “In this phase, the focus is on determining the enclosure around the dome, the entrances, and how this complex connects with other parts of the historical Soltaniyeh citadel.”
According to the director of the Soltaniyeh Dome, in continuation of the research, considering previous findings in the 1970s and also excavations in the 1980s and 1990s on the eastern side of the dome, another goal of the new excavations is to re-identify and interpret the works and results of past excavations.
“In this season of excavations, significant results have been obtained on the western side of the dome, and a part of the spaces adjacent to the dome belonging to the Ilkhanid period, along with traces from subsequent periods, have been identified,” Aali added.