TEHRAN – Restoration projects have commenced on 15 aging mansions in the ancient town of Shushtar, the town’s tourism chief has said.The projects are being carried out in collaboration with the private sector, CHTN quoted Ali-Mohammad Chaharmahali as saying on Monday.The restoration of some of the mansions are expected to be completed by the end of the current Iranian year (ends on March 21, 2023), the official added. Last December, the official announced that nearly all historical sites and monuments in the city and its outskirts needed restoration work. Situated in southwest Iran, Shushtar is home to numerous sites dating from prehistorical times onwards, he noted.Since last summer, more than eight monuments, including houses and sabats, have been restored using government funds, the official said, adding some others are also being overhauled by private investors.The town is also famed for being home to the UNESCO-registered Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System, known as a “masterpiece of creative genius”.

The ensemble comprises bridges, weirs, tunnels, canals, and a series of ancient watermills powered by human-made waterfalls.

It is named after an ancient city of the same name with its history dating back to the time of Darius the Great, the Achaemenid king.Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2009, the Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System may testify to the heritage and the synthesis of earlier Elamite and Mesopotamian knowhow.

According to UNESCO, the ensemble was probably influenced by the Petra dam and tunnel and by Roman civil engineering.ABU/MG