UNESCO World Heritage for Iran

UNESCO World Heritage Sites represent some of the best natural, cultural and historic attractions in world travel. Below are details of the 21 cultural, natural and mixed sites inscribed for Iran to date (a red World Heritage symbol denotes a site currently regarded as endangered). For more details of these properties, click on the links to the UNESCO website and the photographic galleries of these sites from OurPlace (where available) or see our highlights of Iran for descriptions. Also, check out UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage for Iran below.


1979 - Tchogha Zanbil Cultural site
1979 - Persepolis Cultural site
1979 - Meidan Emam, Esfahan Cultural site
2003 - Takht-e Soleyman Cultural site
2004 - Bam and its Cultural Landscape Cultural site
2004 - Pasargadae Cultural site
2005 - Soltaniyeh Cultural site
2006 - Bisotun Cultural site
2008 - Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran Cultural site
2009 - Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System Cultural site
2010 - Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex Cultural site
2010 - Sheikh Safi al-din Khanegah and Shrine Ensemble in Ardabil Cultural site
2011 - The Persian Garden Cultural site
2012 - Masjed-e J?mé of Isfahan Cultural site
2012 - Gonbad-e Q?bus Cultural site
2013 - Golestan Palace Cultural site
2014 - Shahr-i Sokhta Cultural site
2015 - Susa Cultural site
2015 - Cultural Landscape of Maymand Cultural site
2016 - The Persian Qanat Cultural site
2016 - Lut Desert Natural site


Intangible Cultural Heritage

Recently UNESCO has begun to document the world's Intangible Cultural Heritage which includes "traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts". The current listings for Iran are shown below - click on the links for more details.


Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

2009 - Radif of Iranian music
2009 - Novruz, Nowrouz, Nooruz, Navruz, Nauroz, Nevruz
2010 - Ritual dramatic art of Ta‘ziye
2010 - Traditional skills of carpet weaving in Kashan
2010 - Pahlevani and Zoorkhanei rituals
2010 - Traditional skills of carpet weaving in Fars
2010 - Music of the Bakhshis of Khorasan
2012 - Qališuyan rituals of Mašhad-e Ardehal in Kašan

List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding

2011 - Traditional skills of building and sailing Iranian Lenj boats in the Persian Gulf
2011 - Naqqali, Iranian dramatic story-telling