Won't Miss #29: The Deterioration of Persepolis

As I mentioned in "Won't Miss #28: Cyrus the Great's (Under-preserved) Palaces - http://100thingsaboutiran.blogspot.com/2013/12/wont-miss-28-cyrus-greats-under.html), there are some things, like war, mother nature, and thieves, which interfere with the preservation of historical architecture.

Like Cyrus the Great's palaces, Persepolis has also suffered. Here is a really good (albeit long) paper on the bio-deterioration of this historical site: http://oops.uni-oldenburg.de/35/43/mohroc07.pdf.

This is what the Gate of All Nations looked like in 2010 (if the time on the Wiki Commons, which is where I got the photo from, is correct - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:20101229_Gates_of_the_nations_Persepolis_Iran.jpg):

Here is what it looked like when I visited during August 2013: 

As you can see, the faces on the Lamassus have withered away. 

This is truly upsetting. Something needs to be done about this major, major issue, because Persepolis is one of THE most important sites of Iran. As one of my uncles once told me, you don't know the true meaning of what it means to be Iranian until you've been to Persepolis. Persepolis needs to be preserved using the best methods possible. 

Sure, there can be beauty in ruins, but only up to a certain point - eventually, how can a site which no longer exists be beautiful?

I will not miss seeing the deterioration of Persepolis before my eyes.