Publish Date: 8 August 2011 - 18:16

TEHRAN, Aug. 8 (MNA) -- The tomb of Iranian physician and philosopher Avicenna (980-1037 CE) is currently being restored in two phases at the heart of the west-central Iranian city of Hamedan.

The first phase of the restoration project has been completed, Hamedan Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department Director Asadollah Bayat told the Persian service of IRNA on Sunday.

Canals have been created beneath the tomb to gather the water damaging the tomb and the walls around the structure have been dried out of moisture in the first phase, he said.

In addition, the concrete cover has been removed from the courtyard floor in this phase.

Bayat said that the floor will be covered with granite and the surrounding area will be reconstructed in the second phase.

Construction of today’s structure of the tomb, which is the symbol of Hamedan, began in 1949 based on plan that was designed by Hushang Seyhun. It was completed in 1952. The early structure had been constructed during the Qajar era.

Avicenna is the author of “The Kitab al-Shifa” (“Book of Healing”), a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopedia, and “Al-Qanun fi at-Tibb” (“The Canon of Medicine”), which is among the most famous books in the history of medicine.

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MNA