UNESCO World Heritage

What took you so long? Unesco will ask for Venice to be added to the Endangered Heritage Sites list

The organisation has repeatedly bowed to pressure from the Italian government not to do so

Unesconews

Worried about Chinese influence, the US agrees to rejoin Unesco

The Biden administration has agreed to pay more than $600m in arrears to the United Nation cultural agency responsible for protecting the world's most significant heritage sites

'Lost in limbo': Taliban’s application for Unesco protection of historic Kabul garden still unanswered after a year

United Nations culture organisation has not acknowledged the January 2022 request to add Afghanistan's Bagh-e Babur to the World Heritage List

Ancient Indigenous ‘Stonehenge’ of Ohio to be nominated for Unesco status after ousting of golf club

The Octagon Earthworks are being teed up for nomination for Unesco World Heritage status

First the Taliban, now local planners—Afghanistan's World Heritage site Bamiyan Valley endangered further

Unesco warns of risks of construction works in the archaeological zone where the Bamiyan Buddha statues were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001

Unesco indefinitely postpones planned world heritage meeting in Russia

The 45th annual meeting of the organisation’s World Heritage Committee was due to take place in June in the Russian city of Kazan

Unesco under pressure to pull world heritage meeting from Russia

UK culture minister, Auschwitz Memorial and Europa Nostra call for the June event to be relocated following Russian invasion of Ukraine

Ancient Chinese sites hit by flash floods this summer

Deadly rains in central Henan province threatened key Unesco World Heritage sites and hundreds of national relics. Experts warn the disaster may be a taste of future trouble

Afghanistananalysis

Afghanistan: the historical sites of key concern after the Taliban's return

From the Bamiyan Valley to an ancient spiritual centre of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, former Unesco senior official Francesco Bandarin looks at the embattled country’s most important landmarks

Sacred rock-hewn churches at risk as rebel forces take control of Ethiopia's Unesco World Heritage Site Lalibela

Historic town, a holy site for millions of Orthodox Christians, caught up in widening Tigray conflict

Ancient rock art complex Hima listed as Saudi Arabia's sixth Unesco World Heritage site

Global heritage body's decision boosts Saudi government's efforts to promote an open image of the country

Nailed it: Kizhi Pogost church is finally restored on Russian island of remarkable wooden buildings

Newly reopened 18th-century Church of the Transfiguration, topped with 22 domes, is said to have been built without a single nail

Venice comment

Now is the time for Unesco to call Venice's authorities to order

For decades, short-termism and conflicting interests have prevented a sustainable plan for Venice from being developed or enacted

Unesco warns that Stonehenge will go on its danger list unless plans to build tunnel beneath it are modified

World Heritage Site status may also be removed from Liverpool's waterfront after excessive development

Venice comment

The damnation of Venice: locals are being systematically driven out by officials who are selling off sites for tourism

Venetians are leaving the city in thousands because rents are unaffordable, while more than 11% of social housing stands empty

The splendours of the Incan Empire are coming to Boca Raton in blockbuster show

The comprehensive exhibitions features never before shown loans of ancient golden objects and a VR tour of Machu Picchu

Podcastspodcast

Stonehenge: could a road tunnel ruin the ancient site?

Plus, French museums revolt against lockdown closures and artist Crystal Fischetti on Karla Black

World Monuments Fund pleads with Peru's government to delay airport construction work in the Sacred Valley of the Incas

Organisation points out that Peru has not carried out an analysis of the heritage impact on Machu Picchu, Cusco and an Inca road network as requested by Unesco

New heritage body aims to keep Unesco in check by calling on public to report sites in danger

Our World Heritage says it is stepping in to save at-risk locations as “safeguarding has become a secondary concern” for Unesco

Turkish government on collision course with Unesco over turning Hagia Sophia into mosque

President Erdogan’s plans to convert the museum have drawn fire from Greece and the US

Google unlocks prehistoric art of France’s Chauvet cave

One of the world's oldest rock art sites is now accessible through virtual reality

Heritage on the edge: new Google project reveals climate change damage to Unesco sites

Digital visualisations gathered for online exhibit will be a “blueprint” for heritage managers planning climate adaptation in the future

Dramatic speech in Baku challenges Unesco’s support for damaging Venice cruise ship decision

The non-governmental organisation Europa Nostra recommends that the World Heritage Committee put the lagoon city on the endangered list

Another casualty of the culture wars

Damage to the Egyptian Museum is just the latest example of the politicisation of archaeology.

Construction of dams in Iran submerges crucial archaeological sites

“To see this happen breaks my heart”, says archaeologist Dr Henry Wright

Unescoarchive

“Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage”: UNESCO has identified new forms of heritage to the extension of the system of listing World Heritage Sites

28 out of 60 nominations were added to the list, raising awareness of 'masterpieces' that are under threat from modernisation

Unescoarchive

Koichiro Matsuura dubbed "saviour of Unesco"

On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, Matsuura explains his reform of Unesco and the return of the US to membership after nearly 20 years

Unescoarchive

“Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”: A new list by UNESCO

Ancient language, song, dance and performance cannot be kept alive simply in a showcase or tended by curators. This list was produced to highlight their fragility

Cambodiaarchive

The Cambodian World Heritage site, Angkor Wat, is finally being restored

An ongoing effort to restore the ancient site has international teams working altogether but using radically different approaches, resulting in unexpected order