The Achaemenid city of Pasargadae, which is home to the tomb of Cyrus the Great and many other ancient sites, is being threatened by an industrial park project.

Despite an objection to the project raised by the Fars Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department (FCHTHD), the Company of Fars Industrial Parks (CFIP), the owner of the project, said on Tuesday that the project would not be stopped, the Persian service of ISNA reported.

CFIP Deputy Director for Industrial Parks and Areas Regions Affairs Mohammad-Kazem Etemad said that the FCHTHD had previously agreed with construction of an industrial park in the third perimeter of Pasargadae in January 2011.

However, FCHTHD Deputy Director Abdorreza Nasiri rejected Etemad’s remarks and said that CFIP has broken last year’s agreement on the construction project.
FCHTHD had chosen a site and two other optional extras for the project, but CFIP has ignored all options and has chosen another location that is not one of the original three agreed upon, he added.

“The place we chose for the project was in a low-lying area and construction of the project at this site would lessen the damage to the horizontal view of Pasargadae,” Nasiri stated.

The spot, which has been chosen by the CFIP, is 500 meters closer to Pasargadae than the spots offered by the FCHTHD.

Nasiri said that the FCHTHD has sent a letter to the Fars Governor’s Office, asking the governor to intervene in the dispute. However, there has been no response to the plea so far.

Tomb of Cyrus the Great by Georg Gertster (see high resolution)

Groups of the Iranian cultural heritage enthusiasts have expressed concern over the disruption the industrial park would cause in the region.

They also warned the cultural officials that UNESCO might revise the registration of Pasargadae on the World Heritage List.

Located in Fars Province, Pasargadae was registered on UNESCO World Heritage List in 2004.

It was the first dynastic capital of the Achaemenid Empire in northeast of Persepolis.

Cyrus the Great (reigned 559-c. 529 BC) chose the site because it laid near the scene of his victory over Astyages the Mede in 550 BC.
Source: Tehran Times