Irandaily No Iranica Page www iran daily com HOME ABOUT US ARCHIVE SEARCH RSS CANTACT All Contents Today Newspaper I R A N D A I L Y Front page National Domestic Economy Economy Iranica Society Science Promotional Item World Sports Art amp Culture SEARCH SEARCH In this paper All the papers PAGE TITLES Naqsh e Jahan Decision By March End Niavaran Palace Reopens Nat l Museum Storehouse Relics Neglected American Tourists In Bandar Abbas Grading Hotels Top Priority Stolen Tsarist Medallion Returned to Russia Carpet Designers Society Top HOME ABOUT US SEARCH RSS CONTACT INFO هایپر مدیا مرکز جامع خدمات رسانه ها نگارش روزنامه All right is reserved by Iran Newspaper Font Size Print News Cut Move Panel Naqsh e Jahan Decision By March End The UNESCO will announce its decision on the fate of Naqsh e Jahan Square in a few weeks Junko Taniguchi program specialist of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization s Tehran Cluster Office made the announcement at a press conference in Isfahan on Wednesday Taniguchi led a UNESCO delegation comprised World Heritage Center s program specialist Feng Jing and managing director of Geo Research Institute in Osaka Yoshinori Iwasaki to the Jahan Nama Tower last week Mehr News Agency reported The delegation has been commissioned to study the general status of cultural heritage in Isfahan activities carried out for lowering Jahan Nama Tower as it overshadows Naqsh e Jahan Square and the Iranian government s cooperation in this regard Taniguchi said they have not completed their mission yet and refused to make any comment about the modification of Jahan Nama Tower The delegation will return to Tehran on March to scrutinize the information gathered during their mission Then UNESCO will decide on the fate of Naqsh e Jahan Square within a month he added Jahan Nama Tower spoils the panoramic view of Naqsh e Jahan Square a complex of Safavid era monuments registered on UNESCO s World Heritage List in UNESCO s World Heritage Committee called for the modification of Jahan Nama Tower during its th session on July It threatened to place the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger if Iran fails to fulfill its obligation to modify the tower Another delegate Iwasaki has also been assigned to study the threats posed by the construction of metro lines to the city s historical sites which are located within the perimeter of Naqsh e Jahan Square Metro lines under construction are threatening monuments located on Chahar Bagh Street and Naqsh e Jahan Square Experts believe vibration from passing trains in future would damage the monuments A tunnel boring project for the metro deviated from its route in November and bumped into a ramp and a lower part of the historical bridge of Si o Se Pol According to the information given to the delegation the foundations of the year old bridge have not been damaged Taniguchi said However Taniguchi pointed out that the outcome would be announced after Iwasaki completes his investigation Niavaran Palace Reopens Niavaran Palace the former residence of the ousted monarch is once again opening its doors to the public after a six year closure for extensive renovation and installation of security systems Situated in the northern part of Tehran the Niavaran Palace Complex consists of several buildings and a museum The palace completed in was designed by Iranian architect Mohsen Foroughi Mehr News Agency reported The two story palace is located on a hectare plot and includes over priceless tableaus and decorative items and statues Repair and upgrade of the air conditioning system doors fences and elevators as well as painting and renovation of the palace are some of the works completed over the past six years director of the Niavaran complex Massoud Sharifi explained during the opening ceremony The royal automobile museum and the historical document and studies center as well as a cinema tech will be opened in the first six months of the Iranian New Year starting March During the six years of restoration visitors could only enter the big garden in which the palace is located The official noted that the Niavaran Cultural Historical Village will be established in the near future with the aim of promoting art and culture in Tehran by promoting cultural artistic historical and religious activities Cultural and artistic programs will be designed for all ages ranging from kids and teenagers to the elderly he said adding that several societies including those related to films plays music cultural heritage and handicrafts will be set up at the complex by Sharifi announced the establishment of a teenagers committee in the near future with the aim of conducting cultural historical activities The revival of plays related to Persian historical figures is on the agenda he said There has been a reduction in the number of visitors to the complex in recent years since the closing of the palace Ommol Banin Nemat Gorgani of Iran s Cultural Heritage Handicrafts and Tourism Organization said at the ceremony She said the visitors asked for the reopening of the palace which shows people s interest in and awareness of their historical heritage Niavaran Palace Complex traces its origin to a garden in Niavaran which was used by Nassereddin Shah as a summer residence It was originally referred to as the Niavaran Palace and later renamed Sahebqaraniyeh Palace During the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi all peripheral buildings of the Sahebqaraniyeh Palace were demolished with the exception of the Ahmad Shahi Pavilion or Kushk e Ahmad Shahi The present day Niavaran Palace Complex s buildings and structures were built in the northern part of Sahebqaraniyeh Palace Nat l Museum Storehouse Relics Neglected Thousands of ancient relics gathering dust in the storehouse of Iran s National Museum were shown to reporters and media people for the first time The precious pieces had been kept in substandard cartons and sacks CHTN wrote The pieces of potteries cloths inscriptions and statues were kept in cartons without any document and only Unknown written on them These ancient artifacts which had not been displayed anywhere include a wide range of potteries from Kermanshah s Bistoun brass relics from Orumieh s Hassanlou Hill stone statues from Jiroft and relics from various parts of the country Awful Situation Head of the Center for Archeological Research Ahmad Mirza Koochak Khoshnevis told reporters the storehouse is a place for keeping thousands of ancient pieces belonging to various eras This storage lacks any ventilation and facilities for extinguishing fire he said Unfortunately many ancient relics are at risk since they were kept in the storehouse in substandard conditions According to the official the humidity inside the storehouse accelerated the decay of skeletons and cloths as well as the corrosion of metal pieces On the antiquity of these relics Khoshnevis said that due to the absence of any expert classification the cartons include artifacts dating from Paleolithic era till the Islamic era as well as contemporary ones The storehouse is polluted and contains harmful bacteria Even people s breathing and camera flash are dangerous for the relics he added The official said the main reason behind the reporters visit is to show the awful situation in which the ancient pieces have been kept in the storehouse Khoshnevis said the negligence of former managers has caused the destruction of many pieces noting that the museum s new management is determined to organize the storehouse with the help of the Center for Archeological Research The reporters visited another storehouse which was also in similar conditions Bones discovered in Izeh had been wrapped in newspapers and bayonets belonging to Jiroft Civilization were kept in computer cartons Also nylon sacks containing soil from prehistoric era were on display At the end of the tour Khoshnevis said preliminary measures have been taken to organize the storehouse The media will be informed of the progress of the works he said Substandard National Museum of Iran contains artifacts of which have previously been registered were confiscated from smugglers and over had not been registered The museum is lacking in standards said Director of the Iranian National Committee for International Council of Museums ICOM Ahmad Mohit Tabatabaie The national museum is a place that displays the cultural identity of a nation but we are still far from having a world class national museum in the country he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency Cultural identity shows the relationship of a nation with the land on which they live and all that they have achieved throughout the years These achievements encompass a wide range of arts traditions customs and historical sites he said American Tourists In Bandar Abbas Nearly passengers aboard an ocean liner called Crystal Serenity arrived in Iran as the luxurious ship anchored at Shahid Bahonar Harbor in Bandar Abbas on Saturday During their short stay in Iran which lasted only a few hours visitors who were mostly from the US visited historical sites of the province and some of them took flights to Isfahan Shiraz and Tehran to visit these cities attractions Fars News Agency reported A number of provincial officials security forces and artists gathered at the harbor to welcome the passengers The passengers were gifted handicrafts and traditional arts as souvenirs by the officials The cruise ship left Bandar Abbas for Kuwait at on Saturday Crystal Serenity which carried the flag of Bahamas was built in It is feet long with a gross tonnage of The ship is capable of hosting passengers in its rooms Grading Hotels Top Priority Grading the hotels is the top priority of the tourism sector in the next Iranian year starting March Speaking at the inauguration of Persian Gulf Spinas Hotel in Tehran Reza Mousavi the deputy head of Iran s Cultural Heritage Handicrafts and Tourism Organization ICHHTO said the organization aims to attract investors to promote the hotel industry CHTN wrote The investment in hotel industry will increase the number of accommodation centers and generate jobs he said The official said the Association of Hotel Managers will be in charge of grading hotels as of April If the private sector is involved in the hotel industry it will bring a breath of fresh air to the sector he said Mousavi ICHHTO will enforce more supervision on the quality of hotel services as of next year The organization will not set prices for hotels in order to create competitiveness in the sector Hotels should have three types of prices high season low season and group hotel rates he said Behroud Hotel Handicrafts can be used in various sectors of tourism such as hotels Hamid Baqaie the head of Iran s Cultural Heritage Handicrafts and Tourism Organization ICHHTO said the government supports investment in hotel industry Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for Behroud International Hotel one of the Spinas Int l Group of Hotels in Tehran Baqaie said currently many hotels are under construction across Tehran ICHHTO supports the private investment he added Baqaie noted that the organization has negotiated with banks to give loans to private investors pointing to the launch of construction work at seven star hotels across the capital Stolen Tsarist Medallion Returned to Russia A stolen silver medallion that once belonged to the family of Russia s last tsar was returned to Russian authorities by the United States the US Embassy in Moscow said The medallion disappeared from the collection of State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg and was spotted on an online auction site by Russian investigators who notified US officials the embassy said AFP reported Based on this information Special Agents of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement were able to locate and recover the medallion the embassy said in a statement without providing other details of the operation The small medallion decorated with a portrait of th century tsar Peter the Great had belonged to the family of Russia s last monarch Nicholas II who was murdered by Bolshevik revolutionaries in It was one of items that were discovered to have been pilfered from the Hermitage during a audit of its collections Only a small number of those items have been recovered according to Russian media reports In a St Petersburg court sentenced a man for stealing artifacts from the museum worth over half a million dollars The man had colluded with his wife a Hermitage curator who died in to steal the items Carpet Designers Society Kermanshah Carpet Designers Society was formed and aims to facilitate interactions between carpet weavers and merchants in the province