Ancient City of Damascus

Before the conflict:

• Poor state of conservation
• Inappropriate restoration techniques
• Lack of a buffer zone
• Lack of a management plan
• Development projects threatening the significant historic fabric

Since March 2011:

• Damage due to the armed conflict

Destruction and ascertained as well as potential threats consequent to the armed conflict in Syria started in March 2011

Not yet identified

10,000 USD from the Italian Funds-in-Trust.

Total amount provided to the six Syrian World Heritage properties: 2.46 million Euros by the European Union (for World Heritage, movable and intangible heritage); USD 200 000 by the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage in Bahrain (for cultural heritage under conflict); USD 170 000 by the Flemish Government (for World Heritage, movable and intangible heritage); 63 000 Euros by the Government of Austria (for World Heritage, movable and intangible heritage)

On 5 February 2016, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report for the six Syrian World Heritage properties, which is available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/20/documents.

The State Party indicates that in addition to the damage reported in 2015, the property continues to be targeted and the roof of the Umayyad Mosque and the Sakka Amini house have suffered damage from mortar shelling in February 2015.

As regards the December 2013 Emergency Response Plan (recommended by the World Heritage Centre in cooperation with ICOMOS, ICCROM and Interpol) implemented as reported in 2015, the State Party has taken some measures such as preventing illegal buildings and unauthorized demolitions, assessing and documenting damage in cooperation with all stakeholders, raising awareness of local communities about the values of the site and role of residents in conservation, preservation and restoration works as well as the provision of expertise and support for such works. However, and despite the focus of the Emergency Response Plan on fire prevention, on 26 April 2016, a major fire broke out, owing to an electrical incident and extensively damaged the neighborhood of al-Asrooniya located at the West of the Old City where shops and warehouses contained highly inflammable items. The shops and all neighboring buildings have been completely destroyed by the fire. The “Ottoman Bank” (1895) was severely damaged; its roof collapsed and only its stone façade remains. A short report on the damage was submitted by the State Party in May 2016; a detailed report on the damage is expected from the State Party.

The State Party report also indicates that restoration works have started at the citadel (structural consolidation restoration at the eighth and eighteen towers) and that the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) has joined the Anqa project, a CyArk /ICOMOS joint initiative for Emergency recording and Archiving implemented in collaboration with UNESCO which first phase started within Damascus in January 2016. In March 2016, the State Party sent a separate report on the discovery and restoration of an important mosaic and fresco in the prayer’s hall of the Umayyad Mosque (dated between the XIth and XIIIth centuries), at the north of the axial nave.

The DGAM also reported that a DGAM staff member was killed on 18 August 2015 as the result of mortar shelling in Damascus.

See General decision 40 COM 22 of this Document on the World Heritage properties of the Syrian Arab Republic.

The World Heritage Centre’s Rapid Assessment mission of April 2016 conducted a visit to several important components of the property, including the Ummayad Mosque, the Citadel, al-Azm Palace, Khan As’ad Pasha and took a tour in the old city streets. However, the mission could not access the site affected by fire at al-Asrooniya because the fire was still not fully extinguished during the visit to the site, more than 12 hours after it broke out.

The damage to the Old City of Damascus arising from the conflict remains limited but has affected very important monuments such as the Omayyad Mosque, the Citadel and the Madrasa al-Adiliye, and parts of the urban fabric that include important historic structures and houses. The city has been subject to recent shelling and the property remains at risk.

The discovery of the mosaic in the Umayyad Mosque and its restoration is a good development. However, the rapid assessment mission noted that although the quality of the restoration seemed good, the treatment of the lacunae could benefit from improved restoration techniques.

The major fire that ravaged al-Asrooniya within the property has caused severe damage and shows that the fire-related mitigation measures taken by the DGAM and Maktab Anbar, the municipal entity in charge of the property’s management, are insufficient. The property needs to be freed from highly flammable materials; fire-prevention and extinguishing require more efficient measures. In general, the State Party needs to undertake risk prevention and mitigation measures as per the Emergency Response Plan of December 2013, and any additional measures deemed necessary. A report on these measures is to be requested from the State Party. In addition, immediate actions should be taken to save the remaining structures through adequate shoring and temporary consolidation measures.

In order to recover the social-economic life of al-Asrooniya neighborhood and other areas, there is a need to develop reconstruction guidelines for buildings in collaboration with the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre, that take into account existing documentation and surveys before and after the fire.

Recognizing the potential negative impact on the property of hasty decisions taken during the conflict, plans for conservation and restoration should be limited to emergency first aid interventions; reconstruction and restoration plans in al-Asrooniya neighbourhood should be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by ICOMOS and approval by the World Heritage Committee prior to the commencement of any works.

Pending improvement of the security situation, the property’s prominent architectural elements, such as the Suleymaniye and Umayyad Mosque Minarets, should not be used for military purposes.

A joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission to Syria to assess the state of conservation of the properties and elaborate, in consultation with the State Party, a prioritized action plan for their recovery, is currently planned for end 2016, in accordance with Committee Decision 39 COM 7A.36.

22.    General Decision on the World Heritage properties of the Syrian Arab Republic

• Current conservation issues

The armed conflict in Syria started in March 2011 and has constantly escalated leading to significant violence and degradation of humanitarian conditions. Since the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee (Bonn, 2015) the armed conflict has caused severe damage to the inscribed properties as well as to the twelve sites inscribed on the Tentative List, by shelling, street fighting, underground explosions, extensive illegal excavations, military use, construction violations, quarrying, in addition to intentional destructions and inappropriate use of archaeological sites by internally displaced populations. 

In 2015, the State Party submitted an updated report for the Ancient City of Aleppo and on 5 February 2016, a state of conservation report with detailed information on the destruction and damage at the six World Heritage properties. These reports represent an official statement from the Syrian authorities and collate available information from the branches of the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) and from the local communities and social media up to 31 December 2015. The State Party also submitted on 4 May 2016 a damage assessment report of Palmyra and one on 11 May 2016 of al-Asrooniyah neighbourhood in the Ancient City of Damascus, which was destroyed by fire; all reports are available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/sessions/40COM/documents. The State Party notes that ground access in Syria for heritage experts is limited, and the full extent of the damage to World Heritage properties cannot be assessed in detail. Therefore, the reports do not provide first-hand information on all sites, in particular the Ancient City of Aleppo and the Ancient City of Bosra and thus do not allow a full understanding of the extent of damage to the properties. For the preparation of the state of conservation reports for the World Heritage Committee, additional information was sought from civil society organizations, international organizations, local experts and the media to supplement official data.

The State Party reported on the work carried out by the DGAM, despite the difficult working conditions, to monitor the World Heritage properties and cultural heritage in general, assess damages, undertake emergency conservation and risk mitigation actions whenever possible, and inventory built and movable heritage.

On 28 March 2016, the State Party provided updated information on the conservation of the sites inscribed on the Tentative List, which indicates the following:

• The site of ‘Ebla (Tell Mardikh)’ has been occupied by armed groups and affected by the settlement of barracks and by illegal excavations;
• Other sources showing satellite imagery reported that the Tell, which is located in a strategic defensive position, suffered most damages between January 2013 and August 2014, with military movement on the ground, and looting. Images of August 2014 show the dismantlement of tents and abandonment of military berms, as well as natural erosion throughout the site;
• The site of ‘Mari (Tell Hariri)’ is looted extensively with heavy machinery, notably at the southern gate of the Royal Palace. In addition to the damages reported last year, the report indicates the destruction of the Dagon temple, the Ishtar temple’s walls and some of the walls of the Royal Palace, as well as the Goddess of the Spring Statue’s platform (the red structure);
• Other sources showing satellite imagery report 165 pits that were dug until March 2014 and 1 268 pits observed six months after the armed groups took control of the site in 2014. The site of ‘Dura Europos’ has been subject to renewed illegal after several months’ respite. The site being under the control of armed groups who encouraged local communities to make profit out of looting. Thousands of pits are reported as well as the destruction of archaeological remains. Illicit excavations in the cemetery area outside the city walls intensified. Armed groups of looters used heavy machinery to undertake deep digs that revealed archaeological remains. The site’s fortification walls are threatened by collapse. Illegal constructions increased in the sanctuary, at the south of the neighboring al-Safsafa village;
• Other sources showing satellite imagery reported that 76% of the walled-city had been extensively damaged. The area beyond the city walls is reported to be less severely damaged. Nonetheless, approximately 3 750 looting pits have been observed in this area;
• At the site of ‘Maaloula’, the DGAM, in cooperation with the Municipality of Rural Damascus and local communities, has undertaken to assess and document damage, and has initiated restoration works such as cleaning, sorting of fragments and materials to be reused, and restoring movable artifacts such as icons;
• The site of ‘Raqqa-Rafiqa: the Abassid City’ is under the control of armed groups. In addition to the damages reported last year, vandalism to the city wall is reported. Its natural degradation is also causing collapse of bricks;
• Other sources report damages in the city, next to the Raqqa Museum;
• The site of ‘Apamea (Afamia)’ has been extensively looted since the beginning of the conflict, which caused the destruction of walls, floors and mosaics, archaeological landmarks, and the ancient sewage network. Pristine archeological layers, the Roman theatre and the cemetery at the east of the Museum, were damaged; a large number of artifacts and mosaics have been looted. Qalaat al-Madiq has been damaged at its southern and northern facades, and the Apamea Ottoman Mosque damaged by shelling, which caused a hole in its southern façade;
• No further damage is reported at the sites of the ‘Noreas of Hama’, ‘Ugrarit (Tell Shamra)’, ‘Tartus: the Crusaders Citadel-City’, ‘Arwad Island’, and ‘Qasr al-Hayr ach-Charqi, a desert Castle’ (occupied by armed groups since 2013);
• Other sources showing satellite images confirm that there is no visible damage at the sites of the ‘Noreas of Hama’ and ‘Ugrarit (Tell Shamra)’.

Activities undertaken by UNESCO

Since the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee (Bonn, 2015), UNESCO has pursued its actions to assist the State Party in its continuous and sustained efforts to safeguard cultural heritage.

At the international level, UNESCO continues to raise the awareness of the international community on the destruction of cultural heritage in Syria, notably through the #Unite4Heritage campaign and in the framework of the implementation of the United Nations Security Council of Resolution (UNSC) 2199, adopted on 12 February 2015.

At the national level, UNESCO has pursued its activities to monitor the situation of Syrian cultural heritage, raise awareness on its protection, undertake short, medium and long-term actions to safeguard it, and coordinate the work of national and international entities working on its safeguarding.

In the framework of the European Union-funded “Emergency Safeguarding of Syrian Cultural Heritage” project (2.46 million Euros), co-financed by Flanders and Austria, started in March 2014, and implemented in partnership with ICOMOS and ICCROM, the following activities were undertaken:

• The second training course on “First Aid to Built Cultural Heritage in Syria” was organised by the UNESCO Beirut Project team, with ICCROM ATHAR and co-funding by the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), in June 2015 with the aim to establish national teams capable of undertaking emergency response interventions to secure endangered built cultural heritage, as well as training other teams within the country;
• A workshop with the DGAM and the German Archaeological Institute Berlin was held in Berlin on 30 July 2015 for the harmonization of inventory and database systems, for Syrian built and movable heritage;
• Awareness-raising video clips on the destruction and loss of cultural heritage and the dangers of the illicit trafficking of Syrian cultural property, will be available by end of July 2016 and disseminated at the national and international levels;
• A game dedicated conceived to raise the awareness of children and reconnect them with their built and intangible cultural heritage is foreseen before end of June 2016;
• Other activities involve the safeguarding of traditional music addressed at the Expert meeting held at UNESCO Headquarters on 13 May 2016, as well as the digitization of Armenian manuscripts, and the Digitization of the maps, surveys, photos and documents of the French Institute of the Near East (Institut français du proche orient, IFPO).

The World Heritage Centre organized a technical meeting with a group of multidisciplinary experts to reflect on the issue of post-conflict reconstruction in the Middle-East context, and in the Ancient City of Aleppo in particular, at UNESCO’s Headquarters on 18-19 June 2015. The meeting set out basic recommendations and operational recommendations in the framework of an action plan.

UNESCO undertook a Rapid Assessment mission to Palmyra on 25 April 2016, during which a visit to the Ancient City of Damascus also took place. The mission allowed discussing damage assessment, documentation and first-aid measures in Palmyra and in the Palmyra Museum, and proposed short-, medium- and long-term actions.

UNESCO organized, with the support of the German Government, the second meeting for the Emergency Safeguarding of Syria’s Cultural Heritage in Berlin from 2 to 4 June 2016. The meeting aimed at taking stock of the progress made on the implementation of the UNESCO Action Plan adopted by the International Expert Meeting entitled “Rallying the International Community to Safeguard Syria’s Cultural Heritage” which took place at UNESCO Headquarters in May 2014. The meeting also aimed at bringing together all stakeholders, in order to identify the gaps in the safeguarding of the Syrian built, movable and intangible heritage, coordinate ongoing national and international documentation, damage assessment, and capacity building efforts and define the next steps focusing on future emergency and protection plans.

• Analysis and Conclusions of the World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS and ICCROM

The armed conflict situation in Syria and its continued escalation has affected the six World Heritage properties and has substantially limited the capacities to adequately sustain and protect their Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). The properties are increasingly threatened by a specific and proven imminent danger, in particular the Ancient City of Aleppo, which has been extensively and increasingly destroyed, and which runs the risk of further irreversible destructions. Moreover, Palmyra was under the control of armed groups from 21 May 2015 until 27 March 2016, who inflicted unbearable violence to the population and invaluable losses to the property, and assassinated the former director of the site, Dr Khaled al-Assaad.

The illegal excavations across archaeological sites and tells in Syria are a major source for the illicit trafficking of cultural objects and are causing extensive and irreversible damages to those sites, many of which are on Syria’s Tentative List, as well as providing looted artifacts for sale in regional and international black markets.

It is recommended to commend the DGAM and all heritage professionals in Syria and local communities who have made sustained efforts to protect cultural heritage and to monitor it closely.

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies will continue to support the State Party in the identification of the necessary corrective measures and in the development of Desired states of conservation for the removal of the properties from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR), as soon as the situation allows. A joint World Heritage Centre/ICCROM/ICOMOS mission will be carried out to Damascus end of 2016, and will include other properties that would be accessible under the United Nations security and safety rules.

Furthermore, it is recommended that systematic documentation of all damage incurred at the World Heritage properties be duly pursued whenever the situation allows, and that the World Heritage Committee reiterate its call to the State Party to safeguard damaged property through minimal first aid interventions to prevent theft, further collapse and natural degradation, and refrain from undertaking other measures until the situation allows for the development of a comprehensive strategy and action plan that respond to international standards and high-quality scientific methods.

With regard to post-conflict interventions, it is recommended that the Committee call on the State Party to plan for the future of World Heritage properties, in full consultation with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies.

It is to be noted that the DGAM is following the World Heritage Committee decisions and recommendations and has engaged in a direct and transparent dialogue with regard to Palmyra’s future interventions notably. It is recommended to call for international and national heritage professionals continue to unite for the safeguarding of Syria’s cultural heritage.

Until conditions improve, it is also recommended that the World Heritage Committee call upon all parties associated with the conflict in Syria to refrain from any action that can further damage the heritage of the country, in particular World Heritage properties and all sites included on the Tentative List, and to fulfill their obligations under international law by taking all possible measures to protect such heritage including the evacuation of World Heritage properties used for military purposes, and the halting of all damages that result from targeting World Heritage properties. It is further recommended that the World Heritage Committee call upon all parties associated with the conflict in Syria and the international community, in particular the neighbouring countries to Syria, to ensure effective measures for the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural objects, in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 2199.