Cultural Landscape of Maymand

The Meymand village is located 38 kilometers far from Shahr-e Babak in Kerman province. The village and its carved houses date at least back to three thousand years ago. However, discovered 6,000-year-old potteries and 10,000-year-old stone engravings are testimonies to the existence of much older dwellers in the region. To adapt to their immediate dry environment, the people of Meymand have created an innovative style of architecture which has still been in use. Harsh Cold winters besides hot and dry summers compel its residents to migrate three times every year. Semi-nomads of Meymand reside in their caves during winters, move with their herds to the pasture plains in springs and higher and cooler plains during the summer. The prominent structures of the village include a fire temple that is currently converted to a museum, a ḥosayniya (congregation hall for Shi’i commemoration) for Shi’a religious ceremonies, a school, a hammam (traditional bath), and a mosque with Minbar and stone finished Mihrab.

Cave Dwellings: The only permanent houses of Meymand are cave dwellings which are occupied between autumn to spring. Located at the heart of hills, the village is not perceptible unless closely approaching the village. Some 400 kichehs with the square of 16 to 20 square meters are the permanent houses of the village. Kichehs have low ceilings of around two meters high that convey the sense of a cave to visitors. During the winter, residents warm their cave dwellings up while making handicrafts.

Sar Aghols: Aghol in Persian is a place for keeping livestock underground. Sar Aghols are located in the south of the Meymand village showing human-livestock synergy and symbiosis. Having occupied the caves and lived in spring near their livestock, the cave dwellers manage the livestock offspring and their dairy products. Each tribe in the Meymand village owns one Sar Aghol totaling about twenty. Sar Aghol architecture consists of livestock and human designated spaces that is made of stone and wood. Half of Sar Aghols are constructed above the ground and the other half below the ground to protect against heavy winds.

Abadies: Around 35 Abadies each belonging to a tribe of one to few families exist on higher parts of the region dominating the river. During summer, the Meymand village dwellers live in Abadies to practice their agriculture and gardening. Stone made stairs connect the village to these summer residential places along the mountain slopes. The living spaces of Abadies are Kapars which are cone-shaped structures with the skeleton of palm tree wood covered with straw. This structure circulates air and cools the inner space. In 2005, Meymand village was awarded by the UNESCO prize of Melina Mercouri as a cultural landscape for exceptional landscape preservation.