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Italians in Bam Citadel

Three teams of Italian archaeologists and restoration experts will work on one of Bam Citadel towers.

Tehran, 21 September 2005 (CHN)

Three teams of Italian archaeologists and restoration experts under the supervision of Giuseppe Proietti, head of the research, innovation, and organization department of Minstero per i Beni e le Attivita Culturali will do research and excavations in the tower one of the Bam Citadel.

After the inscription of Bam Citadel on the World Heritage List of UNESCO, this historical site attracted the world attention to itself and a lot of efforts both technically and financially have been made so far for restoration and salvation of this unique adobe monument in the world, 80% of which was destroyed in the earth quake that hit the area in 2003.

“The first group of the Italian teams under the supervision of Giuseppe Proietti arrived in Iran this week. The team consists of four persons, who have provided several plans from the first tower of Bam Citadel with laser scanning instruments to study the structure and design of this tower,” says Eskandar Mokhtari, head of Bam Salvation Project.

According to Mokhtari, this group leaves Iran today and on 26 of September, another team of Italian archaeologists will arrive in Bam for stratigraphy of the tower, which will last a week. After the initial studies the third team will start the restoration according to the provided plans and previous excavations.

In the 29th session of UNESCO World Heritage committee which was held in Durban in South Africa, UNESCO praised the so-far attempts of Iranian officials and countries helping in the project including Japan and Italy. The earthen city of Bam is one for the most important historical and cultural cities in the world which dates back to 2000 years ago.