Underground canals had provided Kish Island with fresh water for hundreds of years. In the last few decades, however, they were overtaken by modern supply methods. The early aqueducts were eventually completely abandoned.

A short visit to Kish by an Iranian living abroad, however, changed that. When Mansour Haj Hosseini watched a 15 minute programme about Kish on a satellite channel from Iran, he was so impressed by the natural beauty of the island that he had a supplementary one day trip there upon his next visit to Iran. It was quickly followed by more visits with longer stays, during which he discovered Kish’s ancient aqueduct system and its enchanting world of passageways encrusted with coral and fossil.

All this inspired him to embark upon an ambitious project to turn these historic canals into a cultural resort. The complex would consist of restaurants, coffee shops, handicraft displays, a museum, and sound and light shows. This was to be with visitors riding boats through the canals listening to Ferdowsi’s epic poems.

Now, ten years on, three kilometres of canals have been excavated and rebuilt in a traditional local style. In this multimedia adventure, we go on a guided tour of this amazing underground town.

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