Iran (IMNA) - Seyyed Rouhollah Seyyed al-Asgari, deputy for cultural heritage at the department, said the first batch of approximately 2,000 documents and other records had been transferred to the Isfahan branch of the National Library and Archives of Iran for digitization.
The initiative aims to protect valuable information in the records from potential damage while making the materials more accessible to researchers, he said, according to Iran’s IRIB news agency.
Seyyed al-Asgari described the cultural heritage documentation center and Library of Isfahan as a major documentary repository for cultural heritage, containing extensive records of restoration projects, conservation measures and studies conducted over past decades.
Some of the materials were prepared by international companies and groups that worked in Iran during different periods, he added.
The first phase has prioritized restoration-related materials, including documentation of conservation work, historical photographs and architectural drawings. Some maps and documents date back to the 1970s and 1980s and contain information about restoration projects and interventions carried out on Isfahan’s historic buildings.
The center also holds extensive records on restoration projects at historic sites. Documentation covering different restoration phases of sites such as Chehel Sotoun is available to contractors, supervisors, specialists and researchers involved in conservation projects.
According to the official, the records provide valuable information about previous restoration methods and the treatment of wooden structures, architectural decorations and other components of historic buildings, making them useful references for future conservation studies and interventions.
“The center’s library also contains about 7,540 books, some of which are rare and have been published in very limited numbers in Iran. Students and researchers regularly consult the library and documentation center for specialized studies,” Seyyed al-Asgari said.
He also pointed to an earlier digitization initiative conducted in cooperation with the Isfahan Municipality’s Organization for Renovation and Urban Improvement. During that project, nearly 8,000 photographic records related to previous restoration projects were scanned and digitized over several months.
The current initiative will eventually expand to other groups of documents, including studies and records produced by international teams that worked in Isfahan. Later phases will focus particularly on documenting studies conducted by Italian groups active in the city and transferring the materials to the National Library and Archives Organization for digital preservation.
Expanding researchers’ access to the documentary resources is one of the main objectives of the cooperation, Seyyed al-Asgari said. Currently, researchers often need to travel to Isfahan to examine many of the records, while making digitized materials available through a national platform could enable researchers across Iran to access them remotely.
Isfahan, capital of the central Iranian province of the same name, has long been one of Iran’s major centers of cultural heritage. The city flourished particularly between the 9th and 18th centuries and became the capital of Safavid Iran under Shah Abbas I in the late 16th century.
Known for the Persian expression “Isfahan nesf-e-jahan,” or “Isfahan is half the world,” the city is renowned for its historic mosques, bazaars, gardens, bridges and other architectural monuments.
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