IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.
Image: World monument

Photo

View some of the 93 sites listed as at risk by the World Monuments Fund.

/ 13 PHOTOS
Country: Afghanistan
Site: Herat
Caption: The restoration of historic homes (in this case, Akhawan house) not only generates employment but also provides opportunities for training in traditional construction techniques. 
Image Date: January 2009
Photographer: Aga Khan Trust for Culture
Provenance: Watch 2010 Nomination
Original: from Share File

Herat, Afghanistan

The ancient city of Herat, Afghanistan, was among 93 sites listed as at risk in the "2010 Watch" issued by the World Monuments Fund on Tuesday, Oct. 6. The sites range from Peru's iconic Machu Picchu to lesser known areas shown here.
In Herat, historic homes like this one are being restored, creating jobs as well as tourism, but the fund noted that "the most significant challenge...is unchecked development, made possible by the lack of urban heritage policy and infrastructure investment."
WMF President Bonnie Burnham noted that "the 2010 Watch makes it clear that cultural heritage efforts in the 21st century must recognize the critical importance of sustainable stewardship."

Aga Khan Trust For Culture
Country: Japan
Site: Kyoto Machiya Townhouses
Caption: Inside of Machiya, Zashiki main residential and reception space.The courtyard garden brings fresh air and light into the house. 
Image Date: 2008
Photographer: Katsuhiko Mizuno
Provenance: 2010 Watch Nomination
Original: from Share File

Kyoto, Japan

Traditional townhouses called machiya, dating as far back as the early 1600s, have been used in Japan as homes but also businesses. "These houses are being torn down and replaced with new, denser construction, diminishing the architectural and cultural history of the Kyoto cityscape and traditional way of life," the World Monuments Fund said.
WMF President Bonnie Burnham noted that “the sites on the 2010 Watch list make a dramatic case for the need to bring together a variety of sectors — economic, environmental, heritage preservation, and social — when we are making plans that will affect us all. Greater cooperation among these sectors would benefit humanity today, while ensuring our place as stewards of the Earth for the next generation."

Katsuhiko Mizuno
Country: Jordan
Site: Damiya Dolmen Field
Caption: At the front of the image one of the dolmens is destroyed and at the back a digging truck that is used in the quarrying activity in Damiya Field. 
Image Date: 13/March/2008
Photographer: The Jordan Museum
Provenance: 2010 Watch Nomination
Original: from Share File

Damiya, Jordan

Some 300 megalithic blocks used to create burial chambers known as dolmens 5,000 years ago rest in the lower foothills of the Jordan Valley. "Dolmen sites throughout Jordan are being lost at an alarming rate, and the unparalleled landscape of Damiya is now threatened by developmental pressures from quarrying operations," the World Monuments Funds said. A backhoe is seen in this photo mining in one dolmen area.
"Comprising products of individual imaginations, testaments to faith, and masterpieces of civil engineering, among other types of creations, the sites on the 2010 Watch are irreplaceable monuments to human culture," the World Monuments Fund said.

The Jordan Museum
Country: Romania
Site: Landscape of Fortified Churches in Southern Transylvania, Romania
Caption: Site context: fortified church in Copsa Mare
Image Date: April 2008
Photographer: Coordination Office for Fortified Churches
Provenance: 2010 Watch Nomination
Original: from Share File

Transylvania, Romania

160 of the 250 original fortified churches of southern Transylvania survive as testaments to the struggle for against Tartar and later Turkish attacks between the 12th and 14th centuries. "Emigration of Transylvanian Saxons within the last 20 years has transformed the region and contributed to the degradation of many of these churches," the World Monuments Fund said. "Insufficient funding, abandonment, and neglect have allowed the roofs, walls, and foundations to fall into disrepair."

Coordination Office For Fortifie
Country: Russian Federation
Site: The church of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign
Caption: The façade. General view.
Image Date: 03/18/2009
Photographer: Arthur Demchenko
Provenance: 2010 Watch Nomination
Original: from Share File

Church of the Icon Podolsk, Russia

The 300-year-old Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign stands above Podolsk, a Russian industrial city just south of Moscow. "Marginalized under Russian government reforms in the 1930s and subsequently closed, the church had fallen into heavy disrepair in the last 80 years," the World Monuments Fund said. "When it was finally returned to the local community in the early 1990s, extensive ground and atmospheric water damage had already exacted a heavy toll."

Arthur Demchenko
Country: Uganda
Site: Wamala King`s Tombs
Caption: Exterior damage of Wamala Tombs
Image Date: March 18, 2009
Photographer: Uganda Museums and Monuments staff     
Provenance: 2010 Watch Nomination
Original: from Share File

Wamala Tombs, Uganda

The Wamala King’s tombs are one of only two such tomb complexes left in Uganda. It remains a very important site for traditional religious practices hosted by the royal Kabaka family. "The descendants of the kings continue to provide occasional maintenance at the site, but their efforts have not been sufficient to rethatch the roofs of the tombs as frequently as necessary," the World Monuments Fund said.

Uganda Museums And Monuments Sta
Country: Uzbekistan
Site: Dzhanbas Kala
Caption: Walls with arrow slits
Image Date: July 2007
Photographer: Mahmoud Bendakir, CRAterre-ENSAG
Provenance: 2010 Watch Nomination
Original: from Share File

Desert castles, Uzbekistan

The first fortifications in central Uzbekistan's desert began to appear in the 7th century B.C., crafted from mud brick, cob, and pakhsa.
"The façades of the castles and fortifications have softened through centuries of exposure to wind and other natural elements," the World Monuments Fund said. "Today, cotton cultivation has salinized the soil surrounding the structures, eating away at the foundations and compounding the deterioration left by time and the environment."

Mahmoud Bendakir
Country: Republic of Armenia
Site: Aghjots Monastery
Caption:The western facade of Sts. Paul and Peter Church with the famous bas reliefs of Apostles Paul and Peter
Image Date: 2004
Photographer: Samvel Karapetian
Provenance: 2010 Watch Nomination
Original: from Share File

Aghjots Monastery, Armenia

Only a few walls remain of this 13th-century monastery and two churches for St. Peter and St. Paul, but they depict an elaborate narrative of the site -- including two full-length 14th-century reliefs of apostles Peter and Paul that flank a portal seen here. The monastery endured invasions and an earthquake but is now "in dire condition," the World Monuments Fund said.

Samvel Karapetian
Country: Spain
Site: Numancia
Caption: Reconstruction of a Celtiberian house
Image Date: 29/02/2008
Photographer: Javier Cabrero
Provenance: 2010 Watch Nomination
Original: from Share File

Numancia, Spain

This region saw one of the bloodiest and longest wars waged by Rome, known as the Celtiberian Wars. The local Celtiberians were overtaken by Roman legions between 153 and 133 B.C. that built seven encampments connected by a 5.5-mile-long wall. That structure is still visible today, along with the nearly intact countryside that the Celtiberians beheld during those years.
"However, plans to construct an industrial park, an urban complex, and a housing development will irreversibly alter this highly significant yet undervalued landscape," the World Monuments Fund said. Reconstruction of a Celtiberian house

Javier Cabrero

Sagrada Familia Barcelona, Spain

Begun in 1882 by architect Antoni Gaudí, this church is threatened by a planned train tunnel that would run right below a still-to-be-completed façade, with protective pylons six feet from the façade foundations. "Given the proximity of the pylons, the tremendous weight of this portion of the church, the future structural settlement of the completed façade, and the vibrations caused by the train and its construction, there are concerns about whether Sagrada Família will be adequately protected from potential damage." the World Monuments Fund said. Temple supporters have suggested rerouting the train line.

Country: United States
Site: Sunderland Massachusetts
Caption: Mount Sugarloaf view of Connecticut River Scenic Byway
Image Date: October 2008
Photographer: Chris Curtis
Provenance: 2010 Watch Nomination
Original: from Share File

Open field farming Hadley, Mass.

The area in and around Hadley, Mass., boasts a 350-year history of continuous, "open field" farming on land along the Connecticut River. "A floodplain zone protects a portion of the 350-acre Great Meadow" used by locals, "but 165 acres are zoned for residential and commercial use, providing no long-term protection for the historic landscape and land use," the World Monuments Fund said.

Country: United States of America
Site: Commodore Ralph Middleton Munroe Miami Marine Stadium
Caption: Graffiti that covers much of reachable stadium surfaces
Image Date: 02/2009
Photographer: Leah Adams
Provenance: 2010 Watch Nomination
Original: from Share File

Miami Marine Stadium Miami, Florida

Closed since 1992, the Miami Marine Stadium sits above the waters of Biscayne Bay after hosting years of boat races, concerts, political rallies and even religious services. The stadium has received "little maintenance or protection from vandalism and decay and has been threatened by demolition on several occasions," the World Monuments Fund said. "Recent historic designation and revisions to the City’s plan for the stadium and its environs have greatly improved the outlook for the structure. Yet, as long as the site remains vacant, this beloved landmark is at risk."

Leah Adams
Country: South Africa
Site: Wonderwerk Cave
Caption: Rock paintings on the wall of the cave near the entrance. These had been covered by graffiti, removed in 1993.
Image Date: April 2 2006
Photographer: David Morris
Provenance: 2010 Watch Nomination
Original: from Share File

Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa

This cave is one of just a handful worldwide with evidence of human occupation nearly 2 million years old. The rock paintings seen here had been covered by graffiti but were cleaned up in 1993. "Partial erosion and threats of imminent collapse in certain areas have forced the cave to be closed to visitors," the World Monuments Fund said. "Additionally, continued research into the geology and archaeology of the site has not only slowed, but is severely threatened by the prospect of collapse."

David Morris
1/13