A team of Italian archaeologists has travelled to Iran to begin a year-long restoration of portions of the 2,000 year-old mud-brick citadel of Bam in the south east of the country. Eighty per cent of Bam, which is listed as a world heritage site, was destroyed by an earthquake in December 2003. The Italian government is providing funding for the E529,000 scheme. Around 15 Italian and Iranian conservation experts, led by Giuseppe Proietti of the Italian ministry of culture, are focusing on the principal tower at the top of the fortress and its surrounding walls. The team is reinforcing cracked walls and using laser scanning instruments to study the structure of the tower.
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as 'Italians in Iran '