With work to restore the ruins of Anjireh caravanserai in Ardakan – located in the Yazd province of Iran – nearing completion, Tehran is hoping that it will be registered on the UNESCO World Heritage list soon.

According to Aria Heritage News Agency, Iran's specialized press service for publishing news of the country's Ministry of Heritage, restoration work on the rooftops, waterproofing, downpipes, and traditional plaster of clay and straw is in the final stages of completion at one of the oldest stone inns in the region.  

Dating back to the Ilkhanid era (1256–1353) and located in Ardakan county, the traditional stone inn has an irregular octagonal plan and it is the 'oldest caravanserai' within Yazd province.

Caravanserai is a compound word combining 'caravan' with 'serai'. The first stands for a group of travellers and serai (or sara) stands for building. They often had massive portals supported by elevated load-bearing walls. Guest rooms were constructed around the courtyard and stables behind them with doors in the corners of the yard.

"Iran’s earliest caravanserais were built during the Achaemenid era (550 -330 BC). Centuries later, when Shah Abbas I assumed power from 1588 – to 1629, he ordered the construction of network caravanserais across the country," said a Tehran Times report.

It said that such roadside inns were originally built in various epochs along ancient caravan routes in the Muslim world to shelter people, their goods, and animals. The former Silk Roads may be the most famous example dotted by caravanserais.

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