Disasters & destruction
Environmental protection in Russia, aqua alta on the Neva
Unlike Venice, St Petersburg is building a flood barrier, but needs more money
Venice condemned by politics
Lagoon barriers rejected by the Green minister of the environment
Italian environment minister expected to reject Venice flood barriers
The report of the national commission on the project is due 21 October
International marine and climatological experts believe that Venice is dangerously unprotected
Decisive days for Venice
Historian William St Clair's account of Parthenon marbles malpractice at British Museum revives lobby calling for their return
Greeks renew demands for return of sculptures following new allegations that they were irreparably damaged in the Thirties
Dürer’s “Virgin of the Sorrows”: almost too terrible to show in Munich
Three works by the German master went on show last month following an acid attack a decade ago. Two have been restored with a new ion-exchange technique used on paintings for the first time
New site must be identified for Parthenon, as authorities deem its days on the Acropolis numbered
High levels of pollution in the area are diminishing the marble
Aulenti-Foscari partnership wins competition to rebuild Venice's Teatro La Fenice
At a projected $50.7 million, theirs was not the cheapest plan proposed, but the fastest and technically the best
Afghanistan’s historical sites devastated: An up-to-date survey
Looting, conflict and mining have caused terrible destruction
The Renaissance mystery of Sibenik’s dome
Sainsbury money is helping restore the fifteenth-century, Venetian-style masterpiece shelled in 1991
It’s official: it will be an old-style Fenice, but that’s all we know
The rubble began to be cleared from the burnt-out shell of the theatre in May, as rumours leaked from the judicial enquiry that the fire which destroyed it in January may have been arson. There is no proof, however, and investigations continue, while the mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari, tries to speed up the rebuilding by putting the town hall technical department in charge of drawing up the preliminary plan
Petra is suffering from mass tourism
UNESCO conducted and produced a report on tourist threat to raise the alarm
Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel frescoes to be restored
The solution will involve low-tech improvements to the surroundings
The Uffizi bomb: The Galleries reopen
£13 million voted by the government has yet to arrive: most of the restoration has so far been paid for by public donation. Alberto Ronchey, Minister for Culture, has declared his aim to see thirty new rooms created within three years in former storage space, tripling the size of the Uffizi
Over 150 ancient and Medieval Egyptian sites hit by October earthquake
Unesco is coordinating a restoration programme for buildings from the Pyramid of Cheops to the Blue Mosque
Bogdan Bogdanovic speaks out: War in Yugoslavia, a house attacked by demons
The architect, whose entire career has been devoted to the tragic commemoration of war victims, is one of the very few Serbians brave enough to speak out against the current Serbian aggression. Here he describes the war fever that has gripped his country and lays the blame on the intellectuals
Photographic exhibition documents the cost of the Croatian conflict
A harrowing look into the damage wreaked during the last seven months
Tug-of-war over baroque church of San Luca in Genoa as baroque gem falls into ruin
The Spinola family has created a Foundation and is looking for sponsors; the State would like to get possession of the sadly-neglected building
Damage inflicted on cultural monuments in the Yugoslav conflict
Report of the Institute for the Protection of Monuments, Croatian Ministry of Education and Culture, with information collected by 5 October 1991
War in Croatia: An open letter in protest of the devastation in Yugoslavia
Signatories include The Art Newspaper's own Anna Somers Cocks
The full text of the Hague convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict (1954)
Neither the U.S.A. nor G.B. have ratified it, despite having insisted, with Turkey, on the inclusion of an exemption clause for military necessity
The law of war: The Hague Convention as military necessity or military convenience?
The 1954 convention is the product of nearly a century’s thought about cultural property in which it is implicit that it is the heritage of all mankind
How forces invading Iraq neglected to make provisions for heritage sites
Unlike in World War II, no commission exists to advise the military