Conservation

Paris mayor gives city’s decaying churches a Hail Mary—to the tune of €80m

But heritage groups say the funds fall far short of the real cost of restoration

Lacma’s conservators discover 1960s colours in Ottoman interior

Damascene reception room is being restored before making its museum debut in Saudi Arabia in 2016

Pompeii in a fix despite cash boost

Funds for Great Pompeii Project could be withdrawn as lack of staff and red tape stifle efforts to save site

Nepal mourns and prepares to rebuild after heritage is destroyed in deadly quake

Prime minister appeals for $2bn after historic squares are reduced to rubble and ancient temples are damaged in deadly disaster

Has Russian government’s half-billion dollar pledge to save historic city of Vyborg come too late?

Experts blame local authorities in Vyborg for failing to act as architecture begins to collapse

Fears for cultural heritage as Israel sells off property

Experts say Palestinian heritage is at risk as ministry makes money from buildings seized from refugees

Palace replica opens at Chinese movie studios, despite official complaints

Authorities at the Old Summer Palace in Beijing tried to block the copy from being built

Four Seasons revamp turned down by NYC landmarks commission

Aby Rosen’s controversial plans to bring the 1958 restaurant “back to its original glory” met with opposition from architects and preservationists

Yemen’s historic sites damaged in airstrikes after ceasefire fails

Unesco chief condemns attacks, urges all side to keep heritage out of the conflict

Hi, Biennale Crowd: did you know Venice is dying for these six reasons?

What you can do despite too many cruise ships, rising sea level and with no one in charge

Napoléon drowned, beheaded and restored

Treatment of emperor’s statue may resolve conflicting accounts of its history

Backlash over claim that Egyptian geese were cooked up in 1800s

Museum director and former antiquities minister refute Italian archaeologist’s theory

Pompeian frescoes cured with antibiotics

Bacteria removed from Villa of the Mysteries frieze during restoration

Grand designs on Soane’s London home

Visitors can see the architect’s newly restored living quarters for the first time in 160 years

Leonardo’s muse keeps her secrets as portrait returns to Milan

Thinning the painting’s varnish reveals La Belle Ferronnière's fine features, but French experts unable to confirm her identity

Ancestral home of the last Knight of Glin for sale

Restored with passion by Desmond FitzGerald, co-founder of the Irish Georgian society, it is on the market at €6.5m, contents extra

Research puts Goya’s witches in right order

"Feat in forensics” finally establishes correct sequence of artist's private album

Armenian churches in Turkey and Cyprus win awards for conservation and community reconciliation

Winners of Europa Nostra prize include Stonehenge visitor centre and virtual museum of St Mark's in Venice

Cultural heritage at heart of propaganda battle in Iraq

Following vandalism at Mosul museum and Nergal Gate, Iraqi government says IS has destroyed ancient sites at Nimrud, Hatra and Khorsabad

Vatican begins final work on Raphael rooms

The work may make it possible to identify which parts of the frescoes were painted by Giulio Romano, Raphael’s most trusted apprentice

Reims repairs its war damage, a century on

Restoration of the cathedral is due to be completed in 2015

Fixing - or not fixing - the works in Berlin's sculpture collections damaged in 1945

Should they be left as a reminder of a dark past or restored to reflect the artists’ intentions?