Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization
(ICHO)
announced here on Wednesday that the first industrial unit
of Abbasabad Historical Complex in Behshahr was unearthed
in recent archaeological excavations. Archaeological
research on Abbas-aabad, which got underway recently, aims
to determine the sites of historical complex of the
Safavid era.
The complex, which is already registered
as a national monument, is located 9kms to the southeast
of Behshahr, Mazandaran province on the Alborz heights
among a dense forest.
According to a report released by ICHO
media department, the complex served as the private refuge
for Shah-Abbas ther Great of the Safavid dynasty.
The historical complex originally
consisted of a palace, a villa surrounded by water, a
bathhouse, a mosque, a bridge, a dam, watchtowers and a
paved road; out of which a floating framework, the
watchtowers and parts of the bathhouse remain.
According to an archaeologist from
Mazandaran province Cultural Heritage Department,
Abdolvahab Mousavi, the industrial unit consists of a
water mill and its associated elements such as water
channel and related installations.
The report added that the water mill,
which is located two kms to the southeast of Abbasabad
historical garden, was possibly constructed simultaneously
with the establishment of the city known as
Ashraf-ol-Belad, the present Behshahr by Iranian
architects in 16th century. "Abbasabad monument
consists of two stories, the first of which was used to
pump water to the bathhouse. The second story served as
the palace, repose and recreation center of Safavid
emperors," concluded the report.
