Historic Areas of Istanbul

• Commercial development
• Ground/underground transport infrastructure
• Low impact research/monitoring activities
• Management systems/management plan (including need to identify attributes which support the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property)
• Loss of integrity and authenticity: decay and loss of Ottoman/vernacular architecture
• Need for Heritage Impact Assessments for large-scale projects
• Need for referral in conformity with paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines
• Impact of change of status of the Hagia Sophia and the Chora Museum
• Lack of roadmap for projects which may impact the OUV of the property

Total amount granted: USD 211,900 (Conservation of Hagia Sophia); USD 36,686.30 (Convention France-UNESCO); USD 155,000 (in the framework of the International Safeguarding Campaign for Istanbul and Göreme)

On 1 February 2024, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, the executive summary of which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/356/documents/. The report provides information on the measures implemented by the State Party in response to Decision 45 COM 7B.58, as follows:

• The process of updating the Management Plan has been initiated, as well as the study to define the attributes that convey the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), and the work to prepare a strategic plan for the conservation of timber structures, which will aim to define different approaches and recommendations according to the level of conservation, conditions and functions of the structures. Their results will be incorporated into the revised draft Management Plan that will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review;
• The Süleymaniye Conservation Strategy has been revised based on scientific contributions. Registered and unregistered cultural assets have been recorded, a database now contains 38,066 documents and, following a situation analysis, it was decided that conservation would be based on a ‘holistic approach’ perspective, defining short-, medium- and long-term measures and protection strategies;
• Basic maintenance and repair work on wooden civil architecture sample buildings is carried out free of charge, allowing residents to continue to live in the repaired buildings, thus preserving their original function, traditional architecture, building texture coherence and continuity of the street fabric. A project for immediate intervention in derelict buildings has been launched and an urgent action plan has been drawn up to initiate documentation work for 384 derelict buildings without accessible data. A survey of 224 derelict civil structures has been prepared and remaining buildings will be prioritised in 2024;
• A furnishing project for the opening of Hagia Sophia as a mosque included covering the mosaics with retractable curtains and the Harim (Naos) with a carpet and installing a sound system. An Administrative Board will decide on matters relating to the protection, maintenance and management of Hagia Sophia. A Scientific Board will oversee the preparation of holistic projects such as the Visitors Plan, the study of the building’s structural movements, the creation of an archaeological garden and the 3D-documentation of all the buildings in the complex and their immediate surroundings. Once these projects have been completed, a Master Plan will be drawn up, including a landscaping plan. Ongoing restoration work at Hagia Sophia includes the restoration of the tombs, the primary school and the muvakkithane. The second phase of the restoration work includes work on the facade, minaret, lead upper cover and marble joinery. Simple repairs are being undertaken to prevent further deterioration of the wooden elements, plaster and marble surfaces. Barriers, safety warnings and transparent and lightweight materials are used to prevent potential contact with the surfaces. Carpet humidity is being checked, ventilation has been installed, electrical installations have been upgraded and a security unit within the Hagia Sophia complex monitors the building 24 hours a day. The number of toilets has been increased and a fountain has been installed. A Visitor Management Plan has been drawn up, entrances to the ground and gallery floors have been separated and a ticket office and a visitor entrance tunnel with a ramp were built to provide paid access to the gallery floor for tourists;
• The projects at the Chora include a restoration work on the roof, installation of a drainage system and covering of the remains of the eastern facade with lead. The third phase of restoration of the Chora is underway. In the Harim (Naos), restoration works include the outer and inner narthexes, the parecclesion, the annex, the draconicon and the prosthesis, the application of colours, the conservation of mosaic surfaces, the replacement of existing cement floors with bricks, and work on the salt intake. The construction of foundations for other buildings is in progress. Documentation studies of the mosaics and frescoes are continuing;
• Restoration and conservation work is being carried out at the Yedikule Fortress (for which a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) was submitted to the World Heritage Centre and is under review), at the Grand Bazaar, and for the Land Walls, (for which a new tourist route of about 1 km is planned when the work is completed), the Yedikule Gas House and the Landwalls Nation Garden;
• Other conservation and restoration work is being carried out at Istanbul’s archaeological museums, the Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum, the Great Palace Mosaics Museum, the former French Prison in Istanbul, numerous cisterns, mosques, madrasas, complexes, fountains and tombs;
• Excavations are planned at Sultanahmet Archaeopark, Yenikapı, Saraçhane, Theodosius Harbour, and an urban design project for the Land Walls will create a continuous green area;
• Major infrastructure projects are continuing. The design for Yenikapi Cruise Port includes eight berths, and the process for its Urban Development Plan is underway, with an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) conducted and an HIA being prepared, which will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre. A final HIA is being prepared for the Kazlıçeşme Marina project, following an ICOMOS Technical Review. An HIA is being prepared for the Basketball Development Centre project;
• Earthquake studies are continuing for Istanbul province, and a comprehensive programming study has been initiated to strengthen 32 educational institutions in the Istanbul Historical peninsula.

On 27 December 2023, the State Party of Türkiye transmitted to the World Heritage Centre an information note on the Visitor Management Plan for Hagia Sophia, informing that the entrances to the ground and gallery floors would be separated and that from mid-January 2024, the gallery floor would be open to visitors with an entrance fee. Visitors would have a mobile application to receive information about the building in 16 languages, to avoid guided tours that could disrupt the worship. On 29 February 2024, the UNESCO Secretariat wrote to the Minister of Culture and Tourism, noting that the reported statements attributed to the Minister by the press linked this decision by the Turkish authorities to a UNESCO recommendation and that UNESCO had not recommended any specific visitor management measure linked to the payment of an entrance fee, nor was such a measure part of the recommendations of the last UNESCO Advisory missions held in 2020 and 2021. The letter reiterated UNESCO’s request to receive the full Visitor Management Plan for review by the World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS. At the time of writing this report, the Plan has not been received.

The World Heritage Centre learned through the media about the reopening of the Museum of the Chora as a mosque on 6 May 2024, after four years of restoration work. In accordance with Paragraph 174 of the Operational Guidelines, the World Heritage Centre requested detailed information from the authorities on the restoration works as well as on the implementation of relevant decisions of the Committee and recommendations of previous Advisory missions. Updated information on the restoration work carried out since November 2023 has been received from the State Party and is currently being reviewed by the Advisory Bodies. Information received during and after the June 2024 World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission is not included in the current report.

The initiation of the Management Plan update, which will include the definition of the attributes that convey the OUV of the property, and a strategic plan for the conservation of timber structures is welcome. The revised Management Plan should be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies prior to its formal adoption. Since 2017, the Committee has repeatedly requested the State Party to prepare a long-term conservation strategy for timber structures and may wish to invite the State Party to provide regular updates on the progress of its elaboration. The maintenance and repair of wooden civil architecture buildings, emergency interventions and preventive conservation measures for buildings using timber and rubble masonry techniques, and the initiation of a project for interventions in derelict structures are also welcome.

The State Party has reported on work undertaken following the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Despite the reference to the use of retractable curtains, the State Party has not provided confirmation that the mosaics on the ground floor are visible to visitors outside prayer times. The second phase of the restoration, the simple repair interventions and the barrier and safety measures to prevent possible contact with surfaces are welcome. The State Party reports that it has established an Administrative Board with decision-making powers and a Scientific Board to technically oversee the planned holistic projects, following which a Master Plan will be prepared. However, no information has been provided on these ‘holistic plans’, other than the establishment of these two bodies. The Committee may therefore wish to request the State Party to provide further information and to ensure that HIAs are carried out for these projects in accordance with Paragraph 118bis of the Operational Guidelines and on the basis of the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context. On 27 December 2023, the State Party informed the World Heritage Centre of an already-developed Visitor Management Plan, which provides for tourist access through the gallery floor and with an entrance fee. On 29 February 2024, UNESCO requested submission of the full Visitor Management Plan. The State Party also reports that a ticket office and an entrance tunnel with ramps for entry and exit have been constructed, neither of which has been subject to an HIA or prior notification to the World Heritage Centre. The Committee may therefore wish to request that the State Party submit the full Visitor Management Plan to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines.

The third phase of the restoration of the Chora continues, but no timeline has been specified for its completion. At the request of the World Heritage Centre, prompted by the reopening of the Chora as a mosque on 6 May 2024, and as part of the preparations for the joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission in June 2024, the State Party provided updated information on the restoration work carried out since November 2023, which is currently under review by the Advisory Bodies. However, in view of the extensive programme of works reported, it would also be appropriate to request the State Party to submit a comprehensive account of completed, ongoing and planned works and projects at the Chora, as well as relevant information and technical details.

While it is welcomed that the State Party has prepared and submitted HIAs for the Kazlıçeşme Yacht Marina and the Yedikule Fortress, it is regrettable that, despite the Committee’s repeated requests, some projects have been implemented without HIAs or proceeded without submitting HIAs and other documentation to the World Heritage Centre in accordance with paragraphs 118bis and 172 of the Operational Guidelines. The State Party should be requested to ensure that HIAs reportedly under preparation (e.g. Kazlıçeşme Marina project, the Yenikapı Cruise Port and the Basketball Development Centre) are submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies as soon as they are available. It would also be appropriate to request the State Party to submit information on planned excavations at Sultanahmet Archaeopark, Yenikapı, Saraçhane and Theodosius Harbour. More generally, it would be appropriate to remind the State Party of the need to undertake HIAs for all large-scale infrastructure and restoration projects and to submit them to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before irreversible decisions are taken.

Works at the Grand Bazaar, the Land Walls, the Yedikule Gas House and the Landwalls Nation Garden are proceeding without an HIA, which should have been submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by ICOMOS prior to the commencement of work, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines and a previous request by the Committee. It is also noted that other restoration and conservation works are being undertaken in museums, cisterns, mosques, madrasas, complexes, fountains and tombs. The absence of a strategic roadmap for all types of projects, and of a Master Plan for the entire Hagia Sophia area and for the Chora area remains, despite the Committee’s previous repeated requests since 2019. The Committee may therefore wish to urge the State Party to submit the requested strategic planning documents to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies.

Overall, the processes that contribute to the effective management of World Heritage properties, as set out in the Operational Guidelines, are not being followed for many of the interventions and works carried out by the State Party. The lack of submission of complete technical documentation and the delay in reporting restoration, conservation and development works on the property’s components, which in a number of cases have been submitted to the World Heritage Centre after the works have commenced, is regrettable. The Committee may wish to request the State Party to consistently implement the Operational Guidelines, in particular paragraphs 118bis and 172, for all major restorations or new constructions that may affect the OUV of the property and to do so before making any decisions that would be difficult to reverse, so that the Committee, through the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, may assist in seeking appropriate solutions to ensure that the OUV of the property is fully preserved through appropriate dialogue, consultation and review.

Following Committee Decision 45 COM 7B.58 calling on the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property, the World Heritage Centre proposed to the State Party to conduct the mission in November 2023 and then again in April 2024. The State Party invited the mission to visit the property from 24 to 27 June 2024. The present analysis is not informed by the recommendations of this mission, which will be examined by the Committee at its 47th session.