Shahzadeh Mahan Garden is located 6 kilometers away from Mahan County and 35 kilometers far from the city of Kerman, at the foot of the mountains of Hazar in Kerman province, Iran.
The garden is 5.5 hectares with a rectangular shape and surrounded by a wall, consisting of an entrance gate and a residential building. The distance between the two structures is ornamented with water fountains.
The Shahzadeh Mahan Garden is a good sample of Persian gardens, which was built for Mohammad Hassan Khan Sardari Iravani about 1850 and was completely remodeled around 1870 by Abdolhamid Mirza Naserodolleh in Qajar era.
The garden is the ninth Iranian garden, which was inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List in 2009.
Manager of the World Heritage Site Foozieh Farahbakhsh explained that water resources played key role in human civilization and man-made structures in Mahan city, which created everlasting heritage such as unique architecture and lifestyle.
Gohar-riz Jopar qanat (a system for transporting water from an aquifer or water well to the surface) is one of the significant qanats in the region, which was built by ancient people in order to bring water to the surface and use it for creating residential areas, she noted.
The Iranian authorities involved in cultural heritage have put on agenda registration of Gohar-riz Jopar qanat on national and international heritage lists, the official said.
In an arid and hot area in Kerman, a garden was built based on existence of water, she said, adding that many are of the opinion that resorting to qanat technology can help Iranians of the current time to continue life in arid areas, while the country is suffering from aftermaths of global warming.
Water helped ancient Iranians to set up cities like Kerman and they resorted to qanat technology to irrigate farming fields, Farahbakhsh argued.
People built Mahan city on the basis of path of qanats, the slope of the ground and the path of water; so, the most historical and glorious buildings have been constructed in vicinity of water resources, which shows cultural heritage and civilization is based on water, she noted.
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