Heritage

Heritagecomment

With the Taliban’s take-over of Afghanistan, intangible cultural heritage is most at threat

The music, poetry, traditions and crafts that are kept alive by communities are especially vulnerable under the group’s ultra-conservative rule and the economic chaos of continuing conflict

Amid Taliban insurgency, culture sector fears looting as Kabul descends into chaos

British Council in Afghanistan among international heritage organisations that have suspended operations during the conflict

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

Acropolis forced to close amid unprecedented heatwave and wildfires in Greece

The birthplace of the Olympic Games is one of the many ancient sites at risk as record temperatures scorch country

Eccentric Wentworth Woodhouse estate—home to centuries-old camellias—gets set to bloom again in Yorkshire

The rambling 365-room mansion is being rescued from near collapse, starting with its tea house

Controversial Stonehenge tunnel is unlawful, High Court rules

Judge concludes that UK transport secretary failed to consider alternatives to the scheme or assessed the ‘risk of harm’ to the Unesco site

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

Craftsmen in US use medieval techniques to reconstruct Notre Dame roof support

A full-scale truss fit for the Paris cathedral will be built in Washington, DC this summer as part of a teaching project by Handshouse Studio

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

German floods damage archives, soaking historic documents in mud

A team from the Cologne City Archive has sent emergency aid to Stolberg

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

Italy bans cruise ships from the Venice lagoon from 1 August

Unesco and citizen action groups have campaigned for the move for years

Last Supper painting once adorned Shakespeare's classroom wall, new research suggests

Scholars believe the 15th-century decorative work was whitewashed in the Tudor era to obliterate the Roman Catholic imagery

Archaeologists find ruins of vast Medieval Nubian cathedral in Sudan

Polish team used remote sensing techniques to detect the building, the largest of its kind in the region, as well as a possible tomb of an archbishop

East German palaces and castles to get €400m for renovation

Move addresses "investment backlog" for upgrades to cultural sites in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia

Seven sites, including Venice, may be added to Unesco in Danger list

Of the 53 sites on the list—which will be reviewed at a committee meeting next month—only four are in the West

Visitors return to Venice—but at what cost?

The city took a big financial hit during the pandemic. But as things improve, locals are pushing for a more sustainable form of tourism

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

'Geffrye must fall': Labour MP Diane Abbott leads protests demanding slaver statue be removed from London museum

Former UK shadow home secretary led protests at the Museum of the Home in Hoxton, which reopened to the public at the weekend

Oxford professors refuse to teach undergraduate students if Cecil Rhodes statue stays in place

Oriel College said it had no plans to “begin the legal process for relocation” of the monument

Chinanews

Uyghur tribunal reveals horrific abuses inside Xinjiang detention camps

Museums who partner with China need to know about the violence, says panel investigating alleged crimes against humanity

Italynews

Mussolini family feuds over reopened crypt of fascist Italian dictator

The controversial site has become a pilgrimage for far-right supporters

Amazon's plans to build massive warehouse near Roman aqueduct in south of France cause concern

Locals say the construction will be a "wart" on the way to Pont du Gard, a Unesco world heritage site, and will harm the surrounding environment

Crime news

Number of art thefts in Italy plummets—partly thanks to drones

New report by special police force finds increase in security and surveillance technology has dissuaded dealers in stolen art

Museum chiefs—and Mick Jagger—say Venice must be saved as cruise ships are set to return to lagoon city after 18-month break

Signatories of the open letter supporting ten point-plan to save La Serenissima also include the artist Anish Kapoor and The Art Newspaper's founding editor Anna Somers Cocks

Uyghurnews

China's destruction of Uyghur cultural property evidence of 'genocidal intent', UK MPs declare

Members of Parliament send warning to China ahead of motion to acknowledge human rights abuses against minorities in Xinjiang region

Heritagefeature

Special investigation: Declassified satellite images show erasure of Armenian churches

Covert destruction of Armenian-Christian heritage in Azerbaijan’s autonomous republic of Nakhichevan has been exposed in recently surfaced Cold War spy imagery taken by the US in the 1970s, published here for the first time

Egyptnews

First the Louvre's pyramid, now the actual Pyramids—JR to create show-stopping project in Egypt

Street artist hints he might make a photo collage at the 4,500-year-old Unesco World Heritage Site as part of exhibition organised by Art D’Egypte