The glory of Iranian civilization in Baladshapur Caravanserai

Bladshapur Caravanserai is a valuable relic of the national identity and a mirror of Iran’s civilization in ancient times, which can be a capacity for the globalization of the tourism industry in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad province. The life and style of ancient architecture of Iran is considered to be the land whose existence began in ancient Iran and developed and evolved over many centuries for various reasons such as military, commercial and religious.

Because our country, Iran, due to its location on the east-west trade highway, that is, from China to the Mediterranean Sea, has long played a prominent role in the creation and construction of military, commercial and related buildings, and every year a large number of travelers to this They were traveling in the land, a large number of structures called caravanserais have been built in Iran, whose function was to serve travelers, and one of these caravanserais was built in the historical city of Dehdasht, known as Balad Shapur.

Balad Shapur Caravanserai is located on the west side of the city and next to the bathhouse of Kahiyar, Imamzadeh Ibrahim (AS) and Imamzadeh Jaber (AS), this structure, which was registered in the list of national monuments in 1379, is today one of the most important historical tourist destinations of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad. is considered..

This historical structure is built with stone bricks and has a courtyard and other parts are arranged around it. The plan of Balad Shapur Caravanserai is a quadrangular building and 37 rooms and 30 verandas are placed around the courtyard.

Balad Shapur Caravanserai is built in such a way that some of the cells are connected to each other and you can go back and forth between them, and inside the porches there are niches for placing things and also a chimney, the floor of the yard is made of rubble stones. It is paved with stone and its surface is slightly lower than the floor of the cells, and a water well can be seen in the yard, which seems to have been used to provide water for the caravans, to access the roof of the spiral staircase and There is a narrow on its northern side.

Taking the first steps for the global registration of Dehdasht Caravanserai

The deputy of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism, Kohgiluyeh and Boyar Ahmad, pointing out that the caravanserai of the historic context of Dehdasht has been visited by UNESCO experts and according to their point of view, this historical building will be registered as a world monument, he said: This historical structure is an attraction that In addition to Iranian tourists, it can also attract world tourists.

Rahim Dadinejad stated: UNESCO experts traveled to the province to study and evaluate the registration of this work along with a group of experts from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and declared this building as one of the most unique historical structures left from ancient Iran.

He stated: Considering the historical background and the presence of a market, school, mosque and bath in the caravanserai area of ​​Dehdasht historical context in Kohgiluyeh and Boyar Ahmad province, there are all the necessary capacities for the global registration of this historical building.

56 caravanserais in 25 provinces of the country are being examined and certified for world registration by the evaluators of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

The file of this number of caravanserais in 2018 has been sent to the UNESCO organization to review the steps of global registration, but because this summit is going to be held in Russia and this country is engaged in a war with Ukraine, the registration of these caravanserais has been postponed.

The deputy of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism of Kohgiluyeh and Boyar Ahmad said: Balad Shapur Caravanserai has been noticed by experts due to its location in Dehdasht city and the stability of its structure.

Pointing out that the global registration of this work helps to promote tourism and the development of Kohgiluyeh city, he emphasized: Several restorations have been carried out in this caravanserai in recent years, and 2 billion and 500 million tomans have been spent this year with the help of the private sector to restore this structure. The date is predicted.

Anticipated measures for the restoration of the Shapur complex

Considering that the restoration of the historical complex of Balad Shapur, of which the mentioned caravanserai is a part, helps to attract tourists to this area, the 13th government has taken good steps to help restore this structure, so that this building becomes a place for gathering. Addicts have become a point for investment.

Director General of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad said: With the support of the government, 6 billion Tomans were allocated this year for the development and reconstruction of the historical fabric of Dehdasht (Bladshapur).

Saeed Talebipour stated: This credit has been spent for the development and improvement of a large part of the cells of the historical fabric.

He stated: So far, 35 cells of the historical fabric of Dehdasht have been renovated to create employment and development.

Talebipour clarified: These cells will be handed over to the applicants for the creation of a handicraft bazaar with the investment of the private sector to promote employment and generate income.

He considered organizing, revitalizing and restoring the historical fabric of Dehdasht as one of the important programs of the government and said: Besides generating income, the restoration and restoration of this historical fabric will also play an important role in the development of Kohgiluyeh city.

Talebipour said: “The historical context of Dehdasht has a lot of capacity in the field of income generation and employment, which was accelerated in the 13th government.”

He said: Fortunately, great steps have been taken to organize the historical fabric of Dehdasht and it can be said that this historical city has come back to life.

Talebipour added: The historical market of Dehdasht city will be handed over to the private sector with the aim of promoting and creating jobs in the tourism industry.

He said: We hope to witness the further prosperity of this historical complex with the complete restoration and paving of the historical market.

The old structure of Balad Shapur, with an area of ​​45 hectares, was considered one of the largest historical structures in the country, but this structure was destroyed due to the development of urbanization, and even now 37 hectares of this old city remain, based on the historical evidence of the geographical location of this city as one of From the centers of Safavid settlement and trade with southern ports, it played an important role in the economy and trade of its time.

The existence of more than two thousand houses, mosques, baths, caravanserais and large bazaars in this old structure shows its high importance. In the western side of the historical structure of Dehdash there is a caravanserais left from the Safavid golden age. This building has 37 rooms and 30 porches. It was in front of the cells that were built all around the yard.

There are four large porches in its four corners in a symmetrical shape, each porch leads to three or four rooms, and this caravanserai was the place of residence for merchants of that time.

Kohgiluyeh and Boyar Ahmad were a part of Elam civilization and in the period after Islam and also after the arrival of Aryans, it was part of the soil of all Iranian governments.

With more than 760 movable and immovable works registered in the national monuments, this province has good capacities to create a museum.
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad were known in different historical periods with names such as Balad Shapur, Jabal Giluyeh and Kohgiluyeh.
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad province consists of eight counties, 17 cities and 1,700 inhabited villages with a population of 720,000 in the southwest of the country.