{"id":1819246,"date":"2026-03-09T20:17:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T17:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1819246"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:17:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T17:17:41","slug":"chehel-sotoun-unesco-listed-palace-damaged-in-iran-state-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1819246","title":{"rendered":"Chehel Sotoun, UNESCO-Listed Palace, Damaged in Iran: State Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/iran-insta.png?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\tChehel Sotoun, part of a UNESCO World Heritage landmark in the Iranian city of\u00a0Isfahan, was damaged following airstrikes in the area, according to Iranian state media. The report comes one week after\u00a0Golestan Palace\u00a0in\u00a0Tehran\u00a0suffered significant damage from aerial bombardment linked to US-Israeli strikes on Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tA roughly minute-long video posted to X by Iranian state media appears to show doors blasted open. The grand windows of the 17th-century\u00a0Chehel Sotoun Palace\u00a0seem to have shattered. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe report noted that the office of\u00a0Isfahan provincial government, located approximately 100 meters from the palace, was targeted by a strike on March 9.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe entire palace complex was inscribed on the\u00a0UNESCO\u00a0World Heritage list as part of the Persian Garden in 2011. The serial listing encompasses nine historic gardens across Iran that collectively illustrate the evolution and diversity of the Persian garden tradition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tChehel Sotoun Palace, known as the \u201cForty Column Palace,\u201d is a relic of the\u00a0Safavid Empire, celebrated for its splendid architecture and well-preserved murals. It was built during the reign of\u00a0Shah Abbas I, also known as Abbas the Great, when\u00a0Isfahan\u00a0served as the empire\u2019s capital. According to legend, the palace derives its name from the 20 columns supporting its main pavilion, which are doubled in the reflection of the pool before it, creating the illusion of 40 columns.<\/p>\n

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Video published by Iranian outlets shows the damage to Chehel Sotoon Palace, a 17th-century historical landmark in central Isfahan.<\/p>\n

These outlets had reported that the office of Isfahan\u2019s provincial government, located around 110 meters from it was targeted by a strike today. https:\/\/t.co\/bJnJw3yRB8 pic.twitter.com\/zZTZ7SXmer<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ghoncheh Habibiazad | \u063a\u0646\u0686\u0647 (@GhonchehAzad) March 9, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

\n\tThe building\u2019s interior\u2014a vast complex of soaring halls, lush courtyards, and winding corridors\u2014is adorned with paintings attributed to the famed Safavid-era artist\u00a0Reza Abbasi, whose works depict episodes in the history of the Safavid dynasty in sweeping panoramas. Some of these compositions were repainted in later centuries. One mural depicting a battle between\u00a0Shah Ismail I\u00a0and the Uzbeks, for instance, was altered over time, lending the palace walls deeper resonance as a kind of evolving historical palimpsest.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe report comes just one week after\u00a0UNESCO, the cultural arm of the\u00a0United Nations, confirmed that\u00a0Golestan Palace\u00a0in\u00a0Tehran\u00a0was damaged during the recent US-Israeli bombing of\u00a0Iran. Images shared from the site\u2014reminiscent of those circulated from\u00a0Chehel Sotoun Palace\u00a0in\u00a0Isfahan\u2014appear to show the historic complex battered by debris and blast shockwaves from a nearby strike at\u00a0Arg Square.<\/p>\n

\n\tIran\u2019s cultural heritage minister,\u00a0Reza Salehi-Amiri, described the incident as an attack on \u201cIran\u2019s cultural and national identity\u201d and said a formal report would be submitted to UNESCO. The 16th-century Golestan Palace, also known as the \u201cPalace of Roses,\u201d was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013. The complex is celebrated for its masterful integration of traditional Persian craftsmanship and architecture with Western aesthetic elements, including intricate tile-work, mirrored mosaics, and a formal garden punctuated by sunken pools.<\/p>\n

\n\tInscription on the\u00a0UNESCO\u00a0World Heritage List is intended to afford cultural sites additional protections in times of armed conflict, as well as access to international preservation support.\u00a0ARTnews<\/em>\u00a0has contacted UNESCO for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/iran-insta.png?w=1024″] Chehel Sotoun, part of a UNESCO World Heritage landmark in the Iranian city of\u00a0Isfahan, was damaged following airstrikes in the area, according to Iranian state media. The report comes one week after\u00a0Golestan Palace\u00a0in\u00a0Tehran\u00a0suffered significant damage from aerial bombardment linked to US-Israeli strikes on Iran.\u00a0 A roughly minute-long video posted to X by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-1819246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1819246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1819246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1819246\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1819246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1819246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1819246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}