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France’s iconic Eiffel Tower was closed for a fourth day on Thursday as employees extended a strike over the monument’s management, unions said. The stoppage at one of the world’s best-known tourist sites is the second within two months in protest of what unions say is insufficient investment. The tower’s operator, SETE, has advised ticket holders to check its website before showing up, or to postpone their visit. E-ticket holders were asked to check their […]
JERICHO, Palestinian Territories, Sept 17, 2023 (AFP) – UNESCO inscribed the prehistoric site of Tell al-Sultan, near the Palestinian city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank, on its World Heritage List Sunday, in a move criticised by Israel. Tell al-Sultan, which predates Egypt’s pyramids, is an oval-shaped tell, or mound, in the Jordan Valley, and contains the prehistoric deposits of human activity. The decision by the United Nations cultural organisation, which it posted on […]
BRUGES, Belgium, Aug 5, 2023 (AFP) – Inhabitants of Belgium’s cobblestone-and-canal city of Bruges are clear: summertime tourism has hit capacity. “It’s really reached a red line now,” says one, 55-year-old architect Arnout Goegebuer, as he sits inside a cafe, peering out a window across a packed outside terrace. “We don’t need more tourists anymore, it’s enough — maybe a little bit less” is needed, he says. It’s a sentiment reiterated by other residents of […]
By Joris FIORITI Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The UN’s cultural agency UNESCO on Monday recommended that Venice be added to its list of world heritage in danger, saying the Italian authorities needed to step up efforts to secure the historic city and its surrounding lagoon. UNESCO said in its recommendation that Venice risked “irreversible” damage due to a string of issues ranging from climate change to mass tourism. The recommendation will now go […]
RENNES, France (AFP) — Around 40 standing stones thought to have been erected by prehistoric humans 7,000 years ago have been destroyed near a famed archaeological site in northwest France to make way for a DIY store, an angry local historian has revealed. The stones in Carnac were between 50-100 centimeters (20-40 inches) high and stood close to the main highly protected areas of one of Europe’s largest and most mysterious pre-historic tourist attractions. “The […]
By Bojan KAVCIC Agence France-Presse LIPICA, Slovenia, May 29, 2023 (AFP) — People watched in awe as the world-renowned Lipizzan horses put on a dazzling show this month in the village of Lipica in the small Alpine state of Slovenia. The home of one of the world’s most distinguished horse breeds — and seven countries in the region that once were part of the Habsburg Empire — have reason to celebrate. Their shared tradition of […]
by Maher Al Mounes Agence France-Presse ARWAD ISLAND, Syria (AFP) — Khaled Bahlawan hammers nails into a traditional wooden boat he built by hand, toiling under the scorching sun on Syria’s Mediterranean coast to preserve a disappearing ancient skill. “We are the last family that makes wooden ships and boats in Syria,” said the 39-year-old on the shores of Arwad island, near the city of Tartus. “This is the legacy of our ancestors… We are […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Climate change has become the biggest threat to UN-listed natural world heritage sites like glaciers and wetlands, and has pushed Australia’s Great Barrier Reef into “critical” condition, conservationists said Wednesday. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) revealed in a new report that shifts due to the changing climate now imperil a full third of the 252 UNESCO-listed natural sites around the globe. Overall, 94 […]
by Hashem Osseiran Agence France-Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The monster explosion that levelled Beirut’s port darkened the Lebanese capital’s future but also blasted its past into oblivion, ravaging many beloved architectural and cultural treasures. Gems of the city’s heritage, including some of the region’s most elegant Levantine villas with their triple-arch windows, were damaged beyond repair. Many of old Beirut’s remaining colonial-era and earlier landmarks had already been damaged by 15 years of civil […]
by Amaury HAUCHARD PICTURES BY JOHN WESSELS Agence France-Presse TICHITT, Mauritania (AFP) — A few centuries ago, Tichitt was a citadel of trade where Saharan merchants bearing gold, salt and cloth would stop to water their camels and haggle. Today, red-and-white signs in the sand dunes point to where this once great hub of commerce and centre of Islamic culture lies. But visitors to Tichitt, a UNESCO world heritage site, are few now, and the great […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A major fire ripped through a historic Japanese castle on the southern island of Okinawa early on Thursday morning, spreading throughout the World Heritage site’s complex, local authorities said. Shuri Castle is a key part of a complex dating back to the Ryukyu Kingdom, and is believed to have been in use from around the 1400s. The current structure is a reconstruction based on original plans and photos of the […]
(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law mandating the protection of Gabaldon school buildings in the country as part of the country’s preservation of its cultural heritage. Under Republic Act 11194 signed by the President on Jan. 18 but which was made available to the media on Thursday, Feb. 7, the Department of Education , National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, and the National Museum are tasked to implement […]
