Persepolis, Iran’s most iconic ancient site, is facing a unique threat – tiny yet persistent lichens that are slowly eroding the millennia-old monuments. Conservationists are working tirelessly to preserve this UNESCO World Heritage Site, using innovative techniques to combat the lichen infestation and protect the site’s intricate carvings and sculptures from deterioration.
Persepolis’ Lichen Invasion
The ancient capital of the Persian Empire, Persepolis withstood time and survived destruction, looting, earthquake damage and harsh weather. Now the place is being destroyed by tiny yet persistent lichens, lock by slow lock on the site’s beautiful structures and fine carvings.
Living among the stone surfaces of Persepolis is a symbiotic pair of algae and fungi known as lichens, which burrow deep into mineral layers over 1.5 centimeters below the surface. Industrialization, acid rain and the severe desert climate of the site will ensure that these organisms disperse. At Persepolis, conservationists are in a race against time as they fear unchecked growth of the lichens could turn the site’s relics into dust within 50-100 years.
Creative Ways to Help Preserve
Shahram Rahbar and a team of conservators at Persepolis are now using innovative techniques to fight lichen. The specialists mask the infested areas with a certain substance, and repeat the process until simply blowing them away using suction devices. Furthermore, the lichens are rained in with a few modern methods – lasering and antibiotics mimicking chemical substances to kill them.
This meticulous work is needed because the fine motifs and ornaments of the site are otherwise severely damaged by lichen activity. Beside Persepolis and else where in Iran, sites previously listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as the Bisotun inscription have not escape from harm which comes with those stone-eating entities.
That being said, the preservation of Persepolis does not come without obstacles. There are monetary issues, one being the annual budget for each monument 130 million rials ($750); this barely covers the conservation of any historical site in Iran. Those costs are miles apart from current federal allocations towad its registered historical monuments: Majorleaving it so that maintaining all of them as-registered would cost nearly $84 million a year, far above the ash kiln hilted levels.
Conclusion
A symbol of Iran’s rich cultural heritage, Persepolis, the ruined capital of Persia’s Achaemenid monarchs, is under attack — from tiny lichens that eat away at its ancient monuments and carvings. Conservationists resorted to fighting this infestation through novel methods of control and long hours, in order to protect the UNESCO World Heritage Site for posterity. For the Iranians, and people all over the world, who have begun to appreciate Persepolis’ huge historical and cultural legacy this act goes down as some evidence of mankind’s ongoing struggle to defend itself against a stone-eating nemesis and preserve some part of its past.
