Cultural Landscape of Maymand

World Heritage

Islamic Republic of Iran

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Maimand is a self-sufficient semi-arid region at the end of a valley in the southern end of the mountains of central Iran. The villagers are semi-nomadic agro-pastoralists. They raise livestock on mountain pastures and live in temporary settlements in the spring and autumn. In the winter they live in cave dwellings hewn out of soft rock (kamar) below the valley, an unusual form of housing in a dry desert environment. This cultural landscape is an example of a system that seems to have been more common in the past and involved the movement of people rather than animals.

# Central Iran Mountains

# Semi-nomadic farmers

# Soft Rock Cave Dwellings

# Self-sufficiency

# Mountain Ranch

# Dry desert environment