Hawraman (Uramanat)

Quick Facts

• Type: Cultural mountain landscape
• Range: Zagros Mountains
• Location: Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces, Iran
• UNESCO: World Heritage Cultural Landscape (2021)

Overview

Hawraman (Uramanat) is a rugged highland landscape in the central Zagros where villages are built into steep slopes and fields are carved into dry-stone terraces. UNESCO recognizes the area as a living cultural landscape shaped by the Hawrami people and their long-standing agropastoral practices.

The landscape preserves evidence of human life stretching back millennia, from caves and rock shelters to terraced agriculture and seasonal migration routes that connect winter villages with high summer pastures.

Landscape and Culture

Stone architecture, stacked-roof villages, and terraced gardens are defining features of Hawraman. Seasonal transhumance, traditional orchards, and local festivals continue to connect community life to the surrounding mountains.

Notes

The cultural landscape includes multiple valleys, with settlements such as Hawraman Takht and nearby villages that sit along the upper Sirwan River basin.