A world-famous destroyed Iranian citadel is set to be restored, courtesy of an Italian development.

The Bam Citadel, located in southern Iran's Kerman Province will undergo extensive work, starting later this month.

The decision to restore the citadel originates from a conference held in Rome in 2005, where more than 70 projects regarding the preservation of historical sites of Bam city were debated over by officials from UNESCO.

Covering an area of about 180,000 metres, the spectacular Bam Citadel was the world's largest adobe structure before it was levelled by an earthquake in late 2003.

It is unknown exactly when the citadel was originally constructed, but it is thought that it was first built sometime between 224 and 651 AD, although much of what remains of the structure was erected during the Safavid era from 1502 to 1722.

Bam city and its surrounding landscape were awarded the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, with the area currently occupying the organisation's World Heritage in Danger list.

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