Historical Texture as a Museum of Visual Arts for Historical Tourism: A Case Study of Shiraz

The historical texture is known as a part of the city consisting of a historical body and a heritage site. Many tourists travel to the historical texture of cities every year. In developing countries such as Iran, the old texture can attract a lot of tourists. The term, the old texture, found its way to the documents of urban development and the protection of national monuments during the reign of Reza Shah. Now It is known as the historical area. Since then, fundamental changes in the structure of traditional cities have led to the erosion of the urban texture. As an example, people living in the old part of Shiraz migrated to the surrounding texture. According to the definitions of UNESCO, the impetus behind traveling cultural tourists to tourist destinations is to get to know the culture of the host community. The question is if the intangible cultural heritage of the texture continues to live regardless of changes in the social structure of the old texture. The results of the research indicate that from Reza Shah onwards, the measures which are taken in the old texture of Shiraz, including protection and development, have transformed the demographic structure of the old texture, and this has resulted in changes in the intangible cultural heritage. Except for the bazaar, the old texture of Shiraz does not represent the culture of Shiraz despite its potential for cultural tourism. It serves as a museum of visual arts where tourists visit only a part of the tangible heritage left from the past.