Nournews: On Friday, Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on his account on the social media platform X:
“From the heart of the desert to the slopes of Alborz and the turquoise shores of the Persian Gulf, the three villages of Shafiabad in Kerman, Kandolus in Mazandaran, and Soheili in Qeshm have once again made the name of Iran shine on the global tourism map. Iran, the land of bravery and art, which holds a great destiny in its embrace. For Iran, for a global Iran, for a great Iran.”
The UN World Tourism Organization’s Committee for the Evaluation of Best Tourism Villages on Friday selected Kandolus Village as one of the world’s top tourism villages during its fifth meeting to choose the Best Tourism Villages Worldwide.
The official ceremony announcing the Best Tourism Villages of 2025 was held today in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China. During the event, the results of the evaluation of the nominated villages were announced, and Kandolus Village from Mazandaran Province was included among the selected destinations.
Over the past three decades, Kandolus Village has gained international fame for its unique and beautiful ethnographic museum, its well-preserved and revitalized rural architecture, pristine nature, rich cultural and historical background, and strong local social fabric. These characteristics led the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts of Iran to nominate Kandolus for inclusion in the UNWTO’s Best Tourism Villages list.
In addition to the efforts made over the past thirty years by local residents and cultural activists to preserve Kandolus’s rural heritage, the Mazandaran Department of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts has, over the past year, undertaken various initiatives to strengthen the village’s nomination. These include creating and activating a literary tourism route based on the local legend “Mina and the Leopard,” designing and unveiling a doll inspired by that story, organizing training workshops on tourism and tour guiding, and implementing several other cultural and digital initiatives.
As one of Iran’s first model tourism villages, Kandolus attracted serious attention from tourists starting in the 1990s after the establishment of the Kandolus Historical and Museum Complex. Infrastructure development projects such as the expansion of medicinal plant cultivation and the restoration of the village based on local architectural styles—initiated by Dr. Ali-Asghar Jahangiri, a native of the village—further enhanced its appeal. Over time, through various cultural, traditional, and infrastructural efforts to preserve its authenticity, Kandolus has become an independent destination for historical, natural, and cultural tourism in western Mazandaran.
NOURNEWS