Gallery
Description
Property Name: Tabriz Grand Bazaar
Inventory No: 98-411-3
Date of infill of the inventory form: 2009-12-08
Country (State party): Iran
Province: Tabriz
Town:
Geographic coordinates: 38° 4′ 50″ N
46° 17′ 32″ E
Historic Period: 8th century, 1st half, 19th century, 1st half
Year of Construction: 8th century-19th century
Style: Zandiyeh
Original Use: Commercial
Current Use: Commercial
Architect: Unknown
Significance
The Bazaar of Tabriz is one of the oldest and largest bazaars in the Middle East; it is also one of the unique brick architectural textures and the largest closed roofed and attached brick structure in the world.
Selection Criteria
ii. to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design
iii. to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared
vi. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance
State of Preservation
First restoration work of the bazaar complex had started after earthquake in 1780, by Nadjaf Gholi Khan-e Beyghlarbeyghi. Restoration work had been in progress from Zand dynasty to the Qajar. During this period, new parts like Mozaffarariyeh Timche, Amir Sara, and Hadj Sheikh Bazaar were added to the complex.
After 1980s, the restorations were continued by Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization.
The Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex was officially protected in 1975 and has been covered by special stewardship measures until 2010, when it was added to the World Heritage List .
References
Dibadj, I., Athar-i Bastani wa Abniya-i Tarikh-i Azarbaydjan (Historical Buildings and Heritages of Azerbaijan), Tahran: Shura-yi Markazi Djashan Shahinsha, Iran, 1966.
Kiyani, M.Y., Memari wa Shahrsazi Iran: Be Riwayat Taswir (Iranian Architecture and Town planning: A Pictorial Record), Hawza-i Hunari Sazman-i Tablighat-i Islami-i Iran, Tahran, 1993.
Kiyani, M.Y., Memari-i Iran dar doreh Islami (Iranian architecture in Islamic period), Iran, Samt, 2000
Soltanzade, H., Tabriz A Solid Cornerstone of Iranian Architecture, Cultural Research Bureau Tehran, 1997.
Pirniya, M. K., Mimariyan, G. H., Sabkshinasi-i Mimari-i Irani (Stylistics of Persian Architecture) Pajuhandeh, Tehran, 2004.
Pope, Arthur Upham, Persian Architecture, Soroush Press, Tehran, 1976.
Purhussein Khuniq, I., Tabriz be Riwayat Taswir (Tabriz Pictorial Introduction), Tahran, Danial, 2001.
Wilber, Donald N., The Architecture of Islamic Iran: The Ilkhanid Period, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1955.
Archnet Website: http://www.archnet.org
Unesco World Heritage Website, http://whc.unesco.org