President Ahmadinejad Praises UNESCO for the World Heritage Inscription of the Bazaar of Tabriz

• President Ahmadinejad receives the World Cultural Heritage's certificate of Tabriz Bazaar

President Ahmadinejad Praises UNESCO for the World Heritage Inscription of the Bazaar of Tabriz

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has expressed his gratitude to UNESCO for the official inscription of the grand bazaar or big market of Iran’s northwestern city of Tabriz as one of the UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage sites. During a ceremony to commemorate the first anniversary of the Tabriz Bazaar becoming UNESCO’s cultural heritage site that took place inside the Bazaar on Sunday morning, 1 August 2011, he mentioned about the importance of the Bazaar as a symbol of culture, strength and glory of the Iranian nation in the history of the world. The Bazaar had also played a crucial role during the country’s revolutionary movements.

Before delivering his remarks in front of around 400 guests, President Ahmadinejad officially received the certificate of World Heritage inscription, handed over by Mr. Arya Gunawan Usis, Officer in-Charge of UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office. Secretary-General of Iranian National Commission for UNESCO, Dr Mohammad Reza Saeidabadi was also joining the handing over of the certificate.

The decision to inscribe Tabriz Bazaar under UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage was made in the 34th meeting of the World Heritage Committee, that took place in Brasilia, Brazil, July 2010. It was for the first time that a bazaar was selected as a valuable cultural heritage.

Tabriz Bazaar is located in the centre of the city, and is one of the oldest bazaars of the Middle East, the largest covered bazaar in the world and one of the most significant commercial centers on the Silk Road. With its spectacular structure, the Bazaar consists of several sub-bazaars such as Amir Bazaar (for gold and jewelry), Mozzafarieh (a carpet bazaar), and a shoe bazaar. It also has different economic and cultural spaces. Like other bazaars in the Middle East, there are several mosques constructed behind the bazaar of Tabriz.


The brick covered Bazaar has been one of the most important international trade and cultural centres in not only Asia but also the world between the 12th and the 18th centuries. The place became particularly famous in the 13th century, when Tabriz, located in Eastern Azerbaijan, became the capital city of the Safavid kingdom. Over the last thirty years, a number of restoration projects have been carried out on this commercial structure.

Contact: Ms. Narin Kashani, Programme Assistant of Culture Unit, UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office. n.kashani@unesco.org

• Source:UNESCO Tehran
• 03-08-2011

Visitors of Tabriz Bazaar seeing the map of the Bazaar on the site