Bam is a city and capital of Bam County located about 185 km southeast of the city of Kerman. It is long famed for its large fortress and the ancient citadel Arg-e Bam located on the Silk Road. The Citadel of Bam (Arg-e Bam), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is considered as the largest extant mud-brick complex of its type in the world which has kept its traditional architecture and town planning undisturbed by incompatible elements until now.
The origin of this enormous citadel can be traced back to the Achaemenid Empire. The popularity of the citadel was from the seventh to eleventh centuries, when it was at the crossroads of important trade routes and known for the production of silk and cotton garments. Due to a couple of invasions during the Iranian dynastic disputes of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Bam citadel was largely abandoned. By the early 20th century its inhabitant had gradually started to move outside its walls and the modern city of Bam has gradually developed as an agricultural and industrial center in recent decades. The city is particularly known for its dates and Citrus fruit irrigated by a substantial network of qanats.
Bam and its cultural landscape have been inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger between 2004-2013 after the enormous earthquake struck the city and its cultural heritage masterpieces in 2003. However, the city and the citadel of Bam have always been among the most visited sites in Iran.
Area: 54 km2
Population: 157,396
Province: Kerman
Other ethnicities: Persian
Language: Persian
Tourist attractions:
– Arg-e Bam
– Naderi Tower, Fahraj
– Fahraj Village
– Bam Qaleh Dokhtar
– Deh Bakri Village
– New Bam Citadel Tourism-Industrial Town
– Seyed Mosque and Bath of Bam
– Hazrat-e Rasool Mosque of Bam Darestan Fire – Mound of Bam
– Qasem Abad & Akbar Abad Qanats
– Bam Palm-Grove
– Bi Soukhteh Mountain
– Tang Tahran Waterfall
– Aduri River
– Hezar Mountain
– Sang-e Mes Protected Area
UNESCO World Heritage sites: Bam and its Cultural Landscape, Qasem Abad & Akbar Abad Qanats (Persian Qanats)
