Programs Marking Shiraz, Youth Capital of Muslim World, to Be Launched on Jan. 8
Representatives of 58 Muslim countries will be present at the opening ceremony in Shiraz.
Iranian Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Masoud Soltanifar will address the event.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has declared Shiraz as the 2017 Youth Capital for the Muslim world.
In this capacity, the city will host youths from Muslim countries and events related to Islamic issues.
The events will include a series of exhibitions and workshops on Islamic arts as well as cultural and sports programs.
For more than 2000 years Shiraz has been celebrated as the heartland of Persian culture and has become synonymous with education, nightingales and poetry.
It was one of the most important cities in the medieval Islamic world and was the Iranian capital during the Zand dynasty (AD 1747–79), when many of its most beautiful buildings were built or restored. Shiraz is home to the mausoleum of Shah Cheragh, son of Imam Musa Kazem (AS), which is a major pilgrimage site for Iranians and Shias from around the world.
The city is also home to the tombs of Hafez and Saadi, two of the most prominent Iranian poets, as well as splendid gardens, exquisite mosques and historical monuments.
