Recent airstrikes (reputedly Israeli) have caused damage to several, historically significant, UNESCO-listed sites in Isfahan, Iran, including the Shah Mosque (Imam Mosque), located at the edge of Naqsh-e Jahan Square. The Ali Qapu Palace also sustained damage, as did the Chehel Sotoun Palace, Rakeb-Khaneh pavilion, Ashraf Hall, and the Grand Bazaar. The blasts caused tiles to collapse, windows to shatter, and structural damage. You can read about the airstrikes in The New York Times and in The Art Newspaper, which also has a couple of gorgeous photos.
When news reports mention damage to cultural sites in Iran, it is easy to overlook what is actually being lost. Isfahan’s eye-catching beauty is not accidental. In 1598, when Shah Abbas I established his domicile there, he initiated ambitious construction projects, intent on establishing a metropolis to rival the splendor of Constantinople, the famed jewel of the Ottoman Empire. The result: a turquoise domed capital that is devastatingly beautiful. Crowned by a Royal Square seven times the size of the Piazza San Marco in Venice, tourists and residents alike applauded its beauty, whispering Esfahn Nesfe Jahan – “Isfahan is half the world.”
UNESCO Begins Technical Advisory Work in Iran
UNESCO’s heritage preservation and technical advisory work in Iran began in the 1950s and 1960s, years before the organization began inscribing World Heritage Sites. At the time that the group started advising, the country attracted relatively few international tourists, and business leaders were encouraging the government to develop the tourism industry. In the context of the White Revolution, the tourist industry became a supportive factor, working in parallel with a broader economic development agenda aimed at rapid modernization.
In the 1960s, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) joined UNESCO in assisting the tourism effort. Working cooperatively, it was determined that a good starting point would be the creation of a “tourism corridor” stretching from Shiraz through Isfahan to Tabriz and ending in Qazvin-Tehran. Thus, while UNESCO was not inscribing sites in the 1960s, the groundwork was laid for future listings, with a focus on the preservation of heritage locations.
UNESCO World Heritage in Isfahan
While the World Heritage Convention was adopted in 1972, the first inscriptions were in 1978. Three Iranian sites were inscribed in 1979: Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire, located near Shiraz in Fars Province; Tchogha Zanbil, an ancient Elamite ziggurat and temple complex in Khuzestan Province; and Naqsh-e Jahan Square (Meidan Naghshe Jahan), a major Safavid-era urban square and ensemble of monuments in Isfahan. Despite Iran’s rich heritage, these were Iran’s only three UNESCO World Heritage listings until 2003.
Isfahan’s Maidan-e Shah (Naqsh-e Jahan Square) was integral to the corridor. Four principal buildings on the Square had been collectively inscribed as part of the Maidan’s 1979 UNESCO designation process: the Shah Mosque (now the Imam Mosque); the Sheikh Lotfullah (Ladies) Mosque; the Ali Qapu Palace; and the Portal of the Qaisariyeh or Royal Bazaar.
The Ali Qapu Palace is named after Abbas’ hero, Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet. The structure has six floors, each serving a specific ceremonial or administrative purpose. The upper levels are accessed by way of a winding spiral staircase, and there’s a terrace at the top that provides a bird’s-eye view of the Royal Square and the town beyond. Here, Shah Abbas and members of his court watched polo matches, military parades, and public ceremonies. Many paintings and sculptures are displayed on the climb to the top. Della Valle, a 17th-century visitor from Italy, describes them this way: “All these pictures,” he writes, “show men and women in lascivious postures. Some stand with flagons of wine and cups in their hands; others lie asleep in a drunken stupor . . . “
I could never figure out how these sensual images could coexist with the religiosity of the Royal (Shah) Mosque directly across the way. Surely there must have been a clash between the sacred and the secular, especially since they were in such close proximity. I’ve read that traditionally the sacred and the secular were intertwined, and the art was seen as part of a continuum with Islam providing the framework. Sacred practices like prayer and pilgrimages dominated social life, while the secular sphere was primary in the royal courts, in poetry, in literature, and in art. Shah Abbas ruled during an era of Shi’a Islamic reform as well as grand imperial ambition, with a clear distinction between religious space and royal-court space. There was a great deal of acceptance and tolerance toward both.
Cultural Heritage is Protected Under International Law
“In a statement last week, UNESCO said ‘cultural property is protected under international law.’ In fact, the 1954 Hague Convention (and its two Protocols) is the primary treaty, mandating that parties respect these sites, prevent theft/vandalism, and avoid using them for military purposes. https://www.unesco.org/en/heritage-armed-conflicts
UNESCO said it had contacted all parties in the Iran conflict and shared the geographical coordinates for sites on its world heritage list, along with national symbols. The New York Times reports that “Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Heritage said it had installed blue flags, in keeping with international wartime protocol, on all of its cultural and heritage sites to signal to Israeli and American jets that they were protected. But to no avail.
Israel’s military said it did not target these cultural sites directly. But it did not respond to questions about cultural sites being damaged as a result of strikes on nearby targets.”
In a city like Isfahan, heritage damage is never only architectural. It disrupts an urban memory built over centuries, one in which sacred and secular life have long existed in careful balance. In a Shi’ite city such as Isfahan, that balance matters profoundly, linking royal ambition, religious devotion, and public life within a shared civic landscape.
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Featured Photograph and the Shah Mosque are by Ninar. The Ali Qapu artwork is by Peter Chou Kee Lee. You can find both on Flickr.
