Heritage

Cambodian government takes over management of three Angkor archaeological sites from World Monuments Fund

The announcement coincides with the 35th anniversary of WMF's efforts at the archaeological park and a new phase of conservation at Phnom Bakheng

Rewriting history? The fraught politics behind India's new Ram temple

Plus, the challenges facing the Old Master market and a lithograph by Honoré Daumier

Diaryblog

Finnish sauna from 1948 UK Olympics is a hot heritage asset

Wooden structure in Kent could be oldest surviving purpose-built sauna in England

Striking gold: 2022 was a record year for treasure and antiquities finds, with more than 50,000 items reported

From gold coins to ivory carvings, many pieces were found by amateur metal detectorists, according to latest report by British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme

Indianews

As India erects a grand Hindu temple on site of razed mosque, more Islamic heritage faces prospect of destruction

The Ram temple in Ayodhya, consecrated next week, has been the subject of a long and deadly campaign by Hindu nationalist groups

'Shameful waste of money'? New King Charles portrait causes controversy

Official photograph by Hugo Burnand depicts monarch in full military regalia and will be offered to every UK public body in £8m scheme

Plazas and pottery: oldest Amazonian cities uncovered in major archaeological discovery in Ecuador

Lidar light detection technology helped scientists to see beneath the foliage and discover the 2500-year-old settlement

International scrap over treasure-laden Spanish galleon that sunk off the Colombian coast in 1708

Everyone wants to get their hands on the San José, a ship full of gold, silver and emeralds submerged in the Caribbean Sea—but at what archaeological cost?

Valongo Wharf—historic hub of Brazil's slave trade—opens following overdue $400,000 renovation

The Rio de Janeiro site, where one million enslaved Africans disembarked, retains its Unesco World Heritage status

Mongolia mulls restitution claims after identifying objects held abroad

Country’s culture minister calls for research into artefacts held by British institutions and also announces a Royal Academy show

Gaza City archives among heritage sites destroyed in Israel-Hamas war

Brief truce allowed International Council on Monuments and Sites and Palestinian antiquities ministry to investigate damage on the ground

Private donations save Bologna’s Garisenda tower from collapse

City had been forced to cordon off leaning 12th-century structure

Quagga-mire: Great Lakes shipwrecks slowly consumed by invasive molluscs

Preserved for centuries in pristine condition, submerged archaeological sites are now being destroyed by quagga mussels

President Macron confirms Notre Dame opening date plus plans for a new museum

While worshippers will be permitted to enter the cathedral by December 2024, a revamp of the surrounding area will continue

Nevada lithium mine threatens cultural sites

The US federal government’s manoeuvres to boost domestic lithium extraction are raising fears from tribal communities about archaeological and environmental impacts

Miami Advice: Gabriel Kilongo on Hampton House, the segregation-era refuge for Black celebrities

The gallerist celebrates the cultural hub whose visitors included Aretha Franklin, Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King Jr.

Forgotten Botticelli painting recovered by Italian police

Last checked by the authorities in over 50 years ago, the painting had been kept in a private home since the 1980s and is in extremely poor condition

China closing or repurposing mosques in northern Muslim regions, Human Rights Watch finds

Move is part of a "systematic effort to curb the practice of Islam" in the country, says the organisation's acting director

Heritagefeature

Mexico’s $28bn Maya Train puts 25,000 historic sites at risk

Many organisations, including Unesco, fear the project will negatively affect the region’s cultural heritage, natural environment and residents when it opens in December

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

The ancient villages and historic monuments destroyed in western Afghanistan earthquakes

Last month's deadly quakes affected key historic monuments in Herat and beyond

Raac and ruin: museums search for unsafe concrete—but can they afford repairs?

Institutions are scrambling to identify whether their buildings contain the potentially dangerous material

Leaked report suggests Canada may abandon prime minister's crumbling home

The historic property in Ottawa needs more than $27m worth of repairs, but creating a brand new residence could cost more

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

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair launches Moroccan earthquake relief project

Appeal brings artists and institutions together to raise funds to support survivors and long-term reconstruction

Day-trippers to Venice to be charged €5 admission fee in bid to save lagoon city

Residents, students and visitors in Airbnb properties will be exempt from the scheme, which will be implemented next spring

'Italy is an alcoholic in denial over Venice'

By 2100 the water-level will ring rise one metre, and yet it aims to block UNESCO in-danger listing