Assessing the Authenticity in Historical Urban Areas based on the Pathological Study of the Paghapan Neighborhood of Kashan

The Paghapan neighborhood has been considered over the years due to its connection with the Bazaar of Kashan, Mir Neshaneh tomb, and Mohtasham-e Kashan's tomb. Today, this neighborhood, like other historic neighborhoods, has transformations. These changes have occurred for various reasons, such as the construction of Mohtasham Street, new buildings, and its development. This article seeks to find the answers to the questions of what changes these events have caused in the Paghapan neighborhood; and how these changes have damaged this neighborhood's fabric and function and ultimately affected its Authenticity. The present study method is descriptive-analytical, and library resources and field studies have been used to obtain information. This study aims to identify the Paghapan neighborhood's characteristics and show the destructive effects of unplanned urban developments on this neighborhood's originality. The studies conducted in this article to identify the Paghapan neighborhood characteristics are based on the Washington Charter and show what changes and damages this neighborhood's characteristics, which can be identified from its last original form, have suffered compared to the current situation. On the other hand, to evaluate the Paghapan neighborhood's Authenticity, this neighborhood's characteristics have been judged based on the Nara document and the declaration of San Antonio. The results of this study show that the originality of Paghapan neighborhood is mostly damaged in the northern part of this neighborhood, and also the study on the area of ​​destruction of this neighborhood shows that today about half of its original body has been destroyed. This has also affected the neighborhood's functioning, and parts of it have been left in ruins and without use. Continuation of this harmful process will lead to the complete disappearance of the original features of the Paghapan neighborhood, and it will be impossible to recognize and read its original form from the existing conditions.