By
Maryam Tabeshian
In a recent visit to Isfahan, president of Iran’s
Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization announce that the subway will for
sure not pass underneath the historic Chahar Bagh Street.
Isfahan’s historic Chahar Bagh
St.
Tehran, 28 January 2007 (CHN) -- After
examining the path of Isfahan’s underground urban railway line, Esfandiyar Rahim
Mashayi, President of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO),
said that there is no chance for Isfahan’s Subway to pass under the historic
Chahar Bagh Street.
According to the initial plan, the subway is to
pass right underneath the historic Chahar Bagh Street, a fact which has provoked
oppositions from the Iranian cultural heritage experts and UNESCO as the train
movement is believed to be creating shocks equivalent to a tremor of two degrees
on the Richter scale which can potentially destroy the historic monuments of the
region.
Mashayi, who went to Isfahan yesterday to observe
the process of modification of Jahan Nama Tower based on UNESCO’s earlier
demand, also visited the city’s metro infrastructures. During his visit, Mashayi
said that ICHTO has devised strict regulations for any kind of construction
activity near Iran’s historic heritage and added: “Considering the pressure
imposed by city authorities regarding huge financial loss that any change in the
path of Isfahan’s underground railway line or postponement in construction
activities would bring, we created an expert committee to examine the case and
finally prohibited the railway authorities from installing tracks under Chahar
Bagh Street.”
Chahar-Bagh, literary meaning ‘four gardens,’ is
the name of a street in Isfahan designed by Isfahani architects under Shah Abbas
the Great of Safavid dynasty in the year 1597 in three flanks with stone
pavement and rivers passing by. This contributed to the magnificent surroundings
of the historical site.
