SANA
General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums participated in workshop on assisting Arab countries remove their sites inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The workshop was organized by the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) in Tunisia.
A number of Arab countries which have cultural property took part in the workshop, including Syria that has Qala’at al-Hosn (Krac des Chevaliers), Saladin Citadel, and Aleppo Old City as sites have been inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger since 2013 due the terrorist war on the country.
Head of the Buildings Department in Aleppo Old City Rasha al-Masri stressed the importance of the Old City historically and culturally, and pointed out the dangers that the city suffered due to terrorism and the earthquake occurred on February 6th which increased the danger and caused some collapses to the city.
Director of Qala’at al-Hosn Hazem Hanna, underlined the importance of both al-Hosn and Saladin Citadels as an outstanding sample of military architecture in the medieval period.
Director of Lattakia Antiquities Ibrahim Khair Beik referred to the rehabilitation works that started in 2016 for the buildings Saladin Citadels which has been affected by the terrorist war within existing capabilities, noting that the earthquake has increased the danger of collapsing many buildings of the Saladin castle as well as the fires that broke out in 2020 in the coastal area, which extended to include the castle.
The participants highlighted ALECSO’s initiative on cultural property, affirming the importance of these events in helping to implement the recommendations of UNESCO and its affiliated bodies to save these endangered sites.
The 37 session of World Heritage Committee in 2013 inscribed Syrian heritage sites on the List of Heritage in Danger, which aims to exert all possible support efforts to save these sites as they represent value for all humanity.