Jame' Seyed Mosque in Zanjan

Historical buildings from the Qajar era have become the main attraction for tourists visiting the western province of Zanjan.
Zanjan’s old marketplace (Bazaar), Zolfaqari Palace, Jame’ Seyed Mosque, Lady (Khanom) Mosque, Mir Bahaeddin Bridge, Sardar Bridge are among the examples of Qajar architecture in the city.
Though several ancient buildings are threatened with destruction, the splendor of the ancient architecture has won the admiration of every visitor.
The construction of the traditional marketplace (Bazaar) began in 1834 under the Qajari king, Agha Mohammad Khan and ended under Fath-Ali Shah Qajar.
Several mosques, guesthouses and public baths were added to the compound in 1945.
The marketplace is built in a straight line--upward and downward--and divided into the eastern and western wings.
Corridors separate the areas according to craftsmanship. For example, the sections reserved for goldsmiths, cloth merchant, hat makers, tinsmith and other crafts are separate from each other.
There are five ancient mosques--Chehelsotoon (40 pillars), Agha Seyed Fathollah, Hojjatoleslam, Jame’ Mosque and Molla Mosque--which have added to the splendid architecture of Zanjan’s marketplace.
An Iran Daily reporter visiting the city cited Zolfaqari Palace as another heritage of Qajar architecture which contributed to the historical identity of Zanjan.
The palace has interior and exterior departments which include administrative sections. It was built in Qajar era before the construction of Zolfaqari Street (modern Taleqani).
Sections of the palace are currently in ruins. Of course, the exterior part of the building remained durable. Zolfaqari Palace was built in two stories. The underground part of the building has water storage facilities and the entire design is based on European Gothic architecture.
Zolfaqari Palace was built in the late Qajar era.
Jame’ Seyed Mosque, which is situated in the heart of the city, is yet another edifice of cultural heritage. It is linked to Qeisarieh market from the west, to an alley from the east to Imam Street from north and Sabze Meidan from south.
Prior to the construction of the modern Imam Street, the Mosque was linked to a square in front of Darol-Hokoumeh (Administrative Building).
The mosque was built by Mirza, the eleventh son of Fath Ali Shah of Qajar when he was the governor of Zanjan.
Lady (Khanom) Mosque was also constructed during the Qajar reign. It is located at Fakhim-oddoleh on present-day Imam Street. It has interesting interior decorations of tiles and brick works.
It has a minaret for Azan (call to prayers at mosque three times a day). There is spiral stairway through which the muezzin, the person who calls people to prayers, goes up to the minaret.
The mosque enjoys unique interior decoration.
Another historical structure, Mir Bahaeddin Bridge, called Pol-e Kohneh (old bridge), was built in the southern part of Zanjan over Zanjan-Roud (river). It has helped villages living on the other side of the river have access to Zanjan.
It is 100 meter long, 6.7 meters wide and 12 high from the surface of the river.
Of course, modern bridge has been built linking Zanjan to cities in Kurdestan province.
Pol-e-Kohneh has decorative arches and was built under Nasser-eddin Shah of Qajar.
In addition Zanjan also boasts of the famous Soltanieh Dome, a cultural heritage structure in the suburbs of Zanjan, which is on UNESCO’s global heritage list.

TEHRAN, Aug. 24--Some 1,550 short films have been submitted to the secretariat of the 10th Tehran International Festival of Short Films showing a 16.1-percent increase in the production of this genre of films compared to the figure for last year.
According to a press release issued by the Public Relations Department of the festival, the entries to the event, which is the 22nd National Festival, include narratives, documentaries and animations.
The Selection Board of the Iranian Cinema section at the festival, which comprises Mahmoud Arbabi, Morteza Razzaq-Karimi, Azizollah Hamidnejad, Kaveh Bahrami-Moqaddam and Nadereh Torkamani are evaluating the entries and it is expected the task will continue until late September.
A number of well-known artists in the fields of narrative, documentary, animation short film including Pirouz Kalantari, Ali Mohamamd Qasemi, Mohammad Shirvani, Mehrdad Oskouei, Farshad Fadaeian, Mohammad Moqaddam, Mahmoud Yar-Mohammadlou and Keivan Ali Mohammadi have submitted their works to the festival.
The 22nd National and 10th International Festival of Short Films will be held in the three halls of Felestin Cinema in Tehran from November 15-20, and simultaneously in Sari, Yasouj and Bushehr.

TEHRAN, Aug. 24--If Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization delays signing the accord on compiling a charter on the restoration of historical monuments, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) will undertake the project itself with the assistance of cultural heritage lovers.
Announcing this, an Iranian member of the council, Kourosh Rashidi told CHN that the Iranian chapter of ICOMOS considers drawing up the charter as one of its recognized duties and will seriously pursue the matter.
“Therefore if the organization responsible for Iranian cultural heritage affairs does not cooperate with ICOMOS in this respect and further delays the implementation of the project, the council will intervene to draw up the charter with the assistance of non-governmental organizations and cultural heritage enthusiasts,“ he noted.
Rashidi urged the ICHTO as the major institute handling the country’s cultural heritage and tourism issues to pay more attention to the subject.
Although all the conditions for signing the contract between the ICHTO and ICOMOS have been prepared and all officials agree that compiling a restoration charter is currently one of the priorities, the project is still in limbo, he complained.
The official further said that ICOMOS has estimated the cost of the project at 900 million rials, which if provided, will not only coordinate the regulations with international and indigenous standards but will also enable peripheral activities such as holding national seminar on restoration of movable and immovable objects and publication of up-dated information in the field to take place.

TEHRAN, Aug. 24--Statues by the renowned veteran artist and sculptor, Ali Akbar Sanati are being maintained in poor condition at the 13 Aban Museum and are on the verge of destruction.
Announcing this, Sohrab Hadi, a painter, who collected the maestro’s works from Kerman Industrial Museum and 13 Aban Museum affiliated to Red Crescent Society for an exhibition in honor of the artist, told CHN that the statues displayed at 13 Aban Museum are made of plaster and will be destroyed beyond repair due to the humid conditions in the old building.
Noting that no moulds have been made for the statues, Hadi further said that plaster statues are much more vulnerable. “For this reason bronze moulds are more common worldwide for preserving such statues,“ he pointed out.
“However nothing has so far been done in this respect and if they are damaged, no model will be available for restoring them,“ he cautioned.
Hadi further stated that since the statues are fixed, it is difficult to transfer them to a suitable location.
Sanati was recently hospitalized due to his critical condition. He lost his speech after he had a stroke in 2003.
Ali Akbar Sanati was born in Kerman in 1916 and learned sculpture and painting from maestros Hossein Behzad and Abolhassan Seddiqi.
Several paintings and sculptures by maestro Sanati which were on display in a museum in Tehran’s Railway Square were destroyed in two separate periods of political turmoil.

Aidin Aghdashloo

TEHRAN, Aug. 22--Internationally-celebrated Iranian painter Aidin Aghdashloo will publish two books featuring collection of his essays about ’Iranian Calligraphy’ and ’Interviews of Artist’.
According to ISNA, Farzaneh Publishing House has undertaken the publication of the two books.
His book on ’calligraphy’ and the other which is an interview conducted by Hasheminejad will be available by autumn.
The second book is a collection of essays he has written since 2002 under title of ’I Wrote These Two Letters’.

TEHRAN, Aug. 24--An Iranian theatrical group led by Amir Kouhestani will embark on the latest stage of its foreign tour from August 26, according to ISNA.
The group will perform in a theater festival in Switzerland on August 26-30 with drama plays ’Dance on Mug’ and ’Within the Clouds’ in Zurich, Switzerland. It will be accompanied by a team of dramatists led by Atila Pesyani.
In Zurich, Kouhestani will perform ’Within the Clouds’ from August 31 to September 5 before moving on to Geneva on September 7-9 to stage ’Dance on Mug’.
It will leave Switzerland for France to give a performance of ’Dance on Mug’ on September 16-24.
The group will then stage plays in Rome, Italy from September 24 to September 29.
From Europe, it will go on to Brazil to stage ’Dance on Mug’ on October 8-9.
Finally, Kouhestani and his ensemble will return to Europe to perform in Lisbon on November 2-5.