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Historic Centre of Sighişoara

Romania
Factors affecting the property in 2007*
  • Financial resources
  • Impacts of tourism / visitor / recreation
  • Management systems/ management plan
  • Other Threats:

    General deterioration of the monuments, and especially the fortifications

Factors* affecting the property identified in previous reports

a) Dracula Park project;

b) General deterioration of the monuments, and especially the fortifications;

c) Lack of protection measures and maintenance, local responsibility and funding strategies.

International Assistance: requests for the property until 2007
Requests approved: 1 (from 2004-2004)
Total amount approved : 20,000 USD
2004 Revitalisation du Centre Historique de Sighisoara (Approved)   20,000 USD
Missions to the property until 2007**

UNESCO/ICOMOS mission in 2002

Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 2007

The State Party report, received on 23 March 2007, provided information regarding projects and actions undertaken by the Romanian National Institute for Historic Monuments and the municipality of the City of Sighisoara since the 29th session of the World Heritage Committee, as follows :

a) Rehabilitation, restoration, construction

Rehabilitation works of the facades of the streets of Bastionului, rue Şcolii, Place de la Citadelle have been completed. During 2006, the Mayor of Sighisoara granted construction permits up to a budget of 3.63 mio Euros (3.0 mio Euros private funding and 0.63 mil. Euros State funding). The feasibility study for the infrastructure works was approved in December 2006 by the National Commission for Historic Monuments, Bucharest. For the years 2007 and 2008 work has been authorized for the public drainage network. Works for the strengthening and restoration of the surrounding wall of the Citadelle on a part located in front of the Town hall were financed with 355,000 Euros (273,500 Euros from the budget of the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Tourism and local administration, and 81,500 Euros from the NGO sector. The work will be completed in three months’ time. The conservation and restoration project of this wall in the eastern part, located north of the Blacksmith Tower, is ongoing. The feasibility study for the development of the public and green areas, as well as the project for the paving of the streets and the public squares, are being elaborated and will be submitted for approval to the National Commission for Historic Monuments, Bucharest, in2007.

b) Reuse

The report mentions a trend to reuse dwellings by transforming them into hotels, guest houses, restaurants. The different living areas of these houses are adapted for new functions. Numerous projects for the conservation, restoration and transformation of historic monuments have been elaborated.

c) Protection and management of the site

In accordance with the activity-financing contract signed with UNESCO under the World Heritage Fund on 16 March 2007, the National Institute for Historic Monuments informed the World Heritage Centre that the Protection and Management Plan for the site should be drafted by the departmental and local administration during 2007. Under the same assistance, an updated topographical plan and the summary of the town planning, historic and architectural studies were transmitted to the World Heritage Centre in December 2006.

The Institute plans to elaborate this Plan, and also to organize the inspection of the site (activity included in the work plan of the Institute for 2007), in cooperation with the Departmental Direction for Culture, Cults and National Cultural Heritage.

Currently, the management is ensured under the Development Plan - Agenda 21 - which comprises three parts:

(i) Strategy for sustainable development;

(ii)  Local action plan, and

(iii) priority projects. The objectives of this Plan aim at updating the Town Plan for the protected area, a detailed Town Plan for the Lower City, as well as identifying funding sources and deciding upon priorities for intervention.

Furthermore, a Sustainable Development Plan for Tourism has been elaborated by the municipality and the Sighisoara Tourism Association. Also, the Tourism Management Plan should be drafted shortly.

d) Promotional activities

A press conference was organized in Sighisoara to inform the local population about specific and urgent problems for the protection of the World Heritage property of the Historic Centre of Sighisoara.

The Ministry for Culture and Cults took the initiative in 2007 of publishing an album dedicated to the historic monuments of Romania inscribed on the World Heritage List. A chapter of the album will be reserved for the Historic Centre of Sighisoara.

In 2006, the Mayor and the Sighisoara Tourism Association created a Tourist Information Centre. World Heritage property signs have been installed at each entrance to the city.

The World Heritage Centre noted the absence in the State Party report of detailed information on the state of conservation of the property, as well as details relating to completed projects. Based solely on photographic documents received together with the report, the World Heritage Centre noted the following:

(i) the surrounding wall at the entrance to the Evangelical cemetery showed an alarming state of conservation, structural instability and lack of maintenance;

(ii) part of the surrounding wall reposes on unstable ground; the causes and consequences of this landslide are not studied nor taken into account in the report;

(iii) dwellings with stability problems;

(iv) the use of unsuitable building materials not appropriate for restoration work, notably for the surrounding wall of the Citadelle on the eastern side located to the north of the Blacksmith Tower (part of the wall is repaired with concrete);

(v) the replacement of original roofs by roofs of inappropriate materials, as well as the installation of components that did not exist before, considerably transforming the original aspect of the dwellings;

(vi) it is difficult to judge the quality of the new paving by photographs alone ; the signposts should correspond to the standards described in the Operational Guidelines, and notably the World Heritage logo should not be separated from the UNESCO logo.

The World Heritage Centre recalls the need to prepare a detailed report on the state of the property, including a study of the stability of the structures, an evaluation of the mobility of the ground and other information so as to evaluate its conservation. The need to urgently finalise and approve the Protection and Management Plan for the Historic Centre of Sighisoara, including the Technical Manual for Restoration, Rehabilitation and Construction to be used within this World Heritage site, should be emphasized. 

Decisions adopted by the Committee in 2007
31 COM 7B.117
Historic Centre of Sighisoara (Romania)

The World Heritage Committee,

1.       Having examined Document WHC-07/31.COM/7B,

2.       Recalling Decision 29 COM 7B.82, adopted at its 29th session (Durban, 2005),

3.       Takes note of the information from the State Party concerning the restoration and rehabilitation works accomplished, as well as the current projects and studies;

4.       Regrets the very late submission of the report and that the State Party has not provided detailed information on the state of conservation of the property as a whole;

5.       Urges the State Party to finalise and establish the Protection and Management Plan for the property, including the Technical Manual for Restoration, Rehabilitation and Construction;

6.       Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre by 1 February 2008 an updated and detailed report, including the Protection and Management Plan for the site, to be examined by the World Heritage Committee at its 32nd session in 2008. 

Draft Decision: 31 COM 7B.117

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-07/31.COM/7B,

2. Recalling Decision 29 COM 7B.82, adopted at its 29th session (Durban, 2005),

3. Takes note of the information from the State Party concerning the restoration and rehabilitation works accomplished, as well as the current projects and studies;

4. Regrets the very late submission of the report and that the State Party has not provided detailed information on the state of conservation of the property as a whole;

5. Urges the State Party to finalise and establish the Protection and Management Plan for the property, including the Technical Manual for Restoration, Rehabilitation and Construction;

6. Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre before 1 February 2009 an updated and detailed report, including the Protection and Management Plan for the site, to be examined by the World Heritage Committee at its 33nd session in 2009. 

Report year: 2007
Romania
Date of Inscription: 1999
Category: Cultural
Criteria: (iii)(v)
Documents examined by the Committee
arrow_circle_right 31COM (2007)
Exports

* : The threats indicated are listed in alphabetical order; their order does not constitute a classification according to the importance of their impact on the property.
Furthermore, they are presented irrespective of the type of threat faced by the property, i.e. with specific and proven imminent danger (“ascertained danger”) or with threats which could have deleterious effects on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (“potential danger”).

** : All mission reports are not always available electronically.


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