As
a result of recent destruction of a staircase in the
“Holy Area” of Pasargadae, and pressure from international
community concerned about safety of the ancient site,
tighter security measures were implemented. The officials
have doubled the number of security guards, totalling
12, while Pasargadae historical site requires over 500 security guards.
Recently, some illegal diggers destructed parts of a
staircase in the “Holy Area” of Pasargadae to find a
treasure hidden in that place. For an unknown reason, this
ancient area of Pasargadae was not built inside the
Complex; thus safeguarding it was not taken seriously by
the officials until the smugglers destroyed part of this
historic site.
Mehdi Safari, deputy director of the Cultural Heritage
Police Department of Fars province said: “After what
happened, the police department added six security guards
to protect this ancient site day and night.”
The “Holy Area” is as important as the Tomb of Cyrus
the Great in Persepolis and the destruction of its
staircase is as worse as the damage to one of the pillars
of Persepolis. This area has been constructed during
Achaemenid era by the order of Cyrus himself.
“Since such damage was unprecedented in Pasargadae, we
don’t have a clear idea who might be responsible for it,
but the police forces are searching for the suspects,”
said Safari.
Regarding the inability of the police department in
protecting those historical monuments outside of the Parse
and Pasargadae area, Mohammad Hassan Talebian, head of
Parse and Pasargadae Foundation said, “Outside of the
protected area of Parse and Pasargadae, there are so many
historical monuments, including the “Holy Area”, that
it would require some 500 security guards to protect them
all. Therefore, the best way to protect this ancient area
is to awaken the people about their responsibilities
toward their cultural heritage.”
Pasargadae is the most important ancient site of Iran
which is located in Fars province. This unique site was
constructed by the order of Cyrus the Great, the founder
of Achaemenid Dynasty, and was registered in UNESCO’s
List of World Heritage Sites last year.
Lack
of fund, inattentiveness and despitefulness of the top-officials
towards pre-Islamic Iranian heritage are the main causes
of these illegal activities.
