Unesco World Heritage Site

Lost building discovered in Sicily’s ancient Valley of the Temples

Archaeologists working at a Unesco World Heritage site in Agrigento have revealed the remains of a previously unknown building

Turkey counts cost of earthquake repairs

A year after tremors devastated the south of the country, painstaking work begins to restore thousands of damaged monuments

Brazil plans museum devoted to 2023 insurrection

Authorities also began restoration work on art damaged during the ensuing riots

Venice’s €5 entry fee won’t work, expert says

Economist and tourism expert Jan van der Borg says the new daily charge will not solve the crisis of the overrun city, and outlines what should be done instead

Indian steel tycoons to launch art centre near historic site of Hampi

The billionaire Jindal family will open the exhibition venue and artist residency space in February next year

Unesco adds junta prison in Argentina to World Heritage list

As the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory in Buenos Aires gains international recognition, the history it seeks to safeguard is under attack by Argentina’s extremist frontrunner in the upcoming presidential election

Unesco’s addition of West Bank archaeological site to World Heritage list fans Israel-Palestine tensions

The ancient site of Tell es-Sultan in Jericho is one of many archaeological sites in the region whose status has been mired in political and territorial disputes

Unesco adds sites in Kyiv and Lviv to list of world heritage in danger

Amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv’s Saint Sophia Cathedral, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the historic centre of Lviv join Odesa on Unesco’s endangered list

Morocco earthquake leaves key heritage sites severely damaged

Affected sites include the Tinmel mosque in the High Atlas Mountains, which is feared to have been almost completely destroyed

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

Putin visits heritage site in Crimea on ninth anniversary of annexation

Tauric Chersonese, a Unesco World Heritage Site, will boast multiple museums—and a humanitarian centre

US supports restoration of Pakistan’s epic walled city

As country is mired in economic and political turmoil, major upgrading project forges ahead with restoration of important sites at the ancient heart of Lahore

Unesco adds Ukrainian city of Odesa to World Heritage List of endangered sites

The decision "recognises the outstanding universal value of the site and the duty of all humanity to protect it", the UN cultural organisation states

'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

Petranews

Unesco World Heritage site Petra reopens to tourists after flash flooding

Regional authority takes steps to prevent further damage to the ancient desert city

How the war in Ukraine reveals the heightened politics of Unesco

Boycotted Russia resigned as chair of the World Heritage Committee last month

Archaeologists discover mural of Aztec god of alcohol in Mexican convent

Archaeologists believe the pre-Columbian wall drawing of a god wearing a feathered headdress likely depicts Tepoztēcatl, the god of pulque

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky applies for Unesco World Heritage status for Odesa

The strategic Black Sea port city, home to a famous opera house and controversial Catherine the Great statue, has been the target of Russian bombing

Developers circle as unique industrial building in English Unesco World Heritage site faces closure

Strutt’s North Mill Museum in Derbyshire is set to close following the withdrawal of local authority funding

Amazonian cave paintings, pre-Columbian ruins and other world heritage sites identified as critically threatened

The World Monuments Fund has published its biannual report of world heritage sites facing risk due to climate change, political turmoil and other factors

Iraqnews

Sculptures vandalised by Isis return to ancient city of Hatra after restoration

Artefacts had been "smashed into pieces" by Isis militants when they occupied the Unesco World Heritage site as a training camp

Biden administration moves to block oil and gas exploitation near Pueblo cultural sites in New Mexico

Chaco Canyon, a Unesco World Heritage site since 1987, was to be opened to drilling under a Trump administration plan

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

Liverpool should not be punished for its modern vision

The UK city has been stripped of its World Heritage status. Walter Aubrey Thomas, who designed some of its most famous buildings, would have objected, says his great-grandson

Venice comment

The IPCC’s predictions of sea-level rise are why Italy should beg Unesco to put Venice on its at risk list

It would support the difficult measures the government will have to enact to save Venice from certain death. But Unesco is toothless

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

Mexican authorities halt illegal development near Teotihuacán

It is unclear who is behind the construction of the ecotourism park, which resulted in the destruction of at least three unexplored archaeological mounds