Part of a famed arch that was part of an ancient Persian palace in Iraq collapsed around the beginning of the year, and Iran has expressed its readiness to help rebuild it.

Iran’s minister of cultural heritage, Ali Asghar Mounesan, said Iranian archaeologists are ready to help rebuild the ancient Taq Kasra arch following the collapse of a section of it. He said, “The problems Iraq has been going through are impeding the protection of artifacts and historical monuments.” He added, “We are looking forward to paving the way for Iran to help restore Taq Kasra and save this historic building from collapse.”

The Taq Kasra was built from between the third and sixth centuries and was in use during the reign of Persian King Khosrow I in the capital, Ctesiphon, or al-Madaein in Arabic. Also known as the Arch of Ctesiphon, the pre-Islamic structure is said to be the largest single-span, unreinforced brick vault arch in the world. The arch is 37 meters (121 feet) high and 26 meters wide (85 feet).

Legend holds that its wall cracked when the Prophet Muhammad was born in the sixth century, making it a sacred place for Muslims. Arabs seized it in 637 in the Battle of al-Qadisiyah against the Sasanian Empire of Persia. The structure achieved even greater status as a sacred site for Muslims after Salman the Persian, a companion of Muhammad, was buried a kilometer (half a mile) from the structure in 656. Salman the Persian ruled al-Madaein, the Arabic term for Ctesiphon, and his tomb became a large mosque. It is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of Baghdad near Salman Pak.