TEHRAN – Six historical buildings in the city of Gorgan, northern Golestan province, will be repurposed into guest houses, director-general of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department of Golestan said.

“Following the process of restoring the city’s historical buildings, six buildings measuring 1,795 square meters in area with 1,108 square meters of superstructure are being renovated with an investment of 148 billion rials (about $3.5 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials),” ILNA quoted Ahmad Tajarri as saying on Sunday.

The official underlined: “These buildings include the historical houses of Ahmad Doost (Nonhal), Asyaban and Mirzaei with residential and reception use, Sefidian historical house with reception use, Taghavi historical house with recreation and entertainment center use and also the ancestral historical house with residential use and according to the planning done this year will be operational.”

Tajarri pointed out that in order to protect, and restore historical monuments and create sustainable employment in the historic city of Astarabad (Gorgan) to this number of projects, 45 billion rials in loans have been paid from technical and credit assistance, noting: “After the launch with the use of tourism, these units provide employment for 31 people directly in Gorgan city.”

In the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 19), four historical monuments of the historical city of Astarabad (Gorgan) including the endowment of Mollasanam (Khalili House) with accommodation and catering use, Gorgan Bagheris historical house with accommodation and catering use, Reza Gholinejad historical house of Gorgan with catering use, and Shafiee of Gorgan with accommodation use were put into operation with an investment 198 billion and 700 million rials, he concluded.