The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York–based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) that is dedicated to preserving the historic, artistic, and architectural heritage around the world.[1]

Selection process

Every two years, it publishes a select list known as the Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites that is in urgent need of preservation funding and protection. It is a call to action on behalf of threatened cultural heritage monuments worldwide. The sites are nominated by governments, conservation professionals, site caretakers, non-government organizations (NGOs), concerned individuals, and others working in the field.[2] An independent panel of international experts then select 100 candidates from these entries to be part of the Watch List, based on the significance of the sites, the urgency of the threat, and the viability of both advocacy and conservation solutions.[1] A site’s inclusion on the Watch List attracts international attention, helping to raise funds needed for its rescue and spurring local governments and communities to take an active role in protecting the cultural landmark.

2004 Watch List

The 2004 World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites was launched on 24 September 2003 by WMF President Bonnie Burnham and WMF partner American Express.[3] For the first time, a site from Antarctica was included, ensuring that the Watch List geographically covers every continent.[3]

By working to preserve these treasures, WMF and its partners are helping to save for future generations the structures and places that tell us who we are. Be it a palace, a cave painting, an archaeological site, or a town, the sites on the Watch list speak of human aspirations and achievements. To lose any one of them would diminish us all.

— Bonnie Burnham, WMF president, launch of 2004 Watch List[4]

List by country/territory

The ruins of São Miguel das Missões in the south of Brazil is one of the elements of the Jesuit Guaraní Missions serial site.
The Beijing portion of the Great Wall has suffered from vandalism and erosion by tourists.[4]
The Timotesubani Virgin Church was constructed during the Golden Age of medieval Georgia in the early 13th century.
Punjab's Quila Mubarak, Patiala has been declared a Historical National Monument of India.
The Bandiagara Escarpment, home of the Dogon people, was declared as Mali's third World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1989.[5]
Kuelap Fortress is one of the four Peruvian sites on the 2004 Watch List.
The ancient city of Bosra in Syria served as the capital of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea in the early 2nd century AD.
The Turkish archaeological site of Ephesus was once the site of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
London's Battersea Power Station is the largest brick building in Europe, and is notable for its original, lavish Art Deco interior fittings and decor.[6]
Number[A] Country/Territory Site[B] Location[C]
1 Afghanistan Ghazni Minarets Ghazni
2 Albania Voskopojë Churches Korcë
3 Antarctica Sir Ernest Shackleton's Expedition Hut Cape Royds, Ross Island
4 Argentina, Brazil & Paraguay Jesuit Guaraní Missions
5 Australia Dampier Rock Art Complex Dampier, Dampier Archipelago
6 Bolivia Vallegrande Area Rock Art Sites Vallegrande and Saipina
7 Brazil San Francisco Convent Olinda
8 Bulgaria Vidin Synagogue Vidin
9 Canada St. John's Anglican Church Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
10 Chile Humberstone & Santa Laura Industrial complex Iquique
11 China Ohel Rachel Synagogue Shanghai
12 China Great Wall of China Cultural Landscape (Beijing) Beijing
13 China Cockcrow Postal Town Cockrow Post, Huailai County, Hebei
14 China Puning Temple Statues Chengde City, Hebei Province
15 China Tianshui Traditional Houses Tianshui City, Gansu Province
16 Cuba Calzada del Cerro Havana
17 Czech Republic Saint Anne's Church Prague
18 Czech Republic Chotesov Monastery Chotesov
19 Ecuador Las Peñas Guayaquil – Guayas
20 Ecuador Bolivar Theater Quito
21 Egypt Khasekhemwy at Hierakonpolis Edfu, El Muissat, Kom el Ahmar
22 Egypt Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III Luxor, West Bank
23 Egypt Sabil Ruqayya Dudu Cairo
24 El Salvador San Miguel Arcangel and Santa Cruz de Roma churches Panchimalco & Huizucar
25 Finland Helsinki-Malmi Airport Helsinki
26 Georgia Timotesubani Virgin Church Timotesubani village, Borjomi Region
27 Greece Palaikastro Archaeological site Palaikastro
28 Greece Helike Archaeological Site Rizomylos & Eliki, Achaia
29 Guatemala Usumacinta River Cultural Landscape Chiapas, Mexico/Peten, Guatemala
30 Hungary Túrony Church Túrony
31 India Osmania University College for Women Hyderabad, Telangana
32 India Quila Mubarak Patiala, Punjab
33 India Dalhousie Square Calcutta
34 India Bhuj Darbargadh Bhuj, Gujarat
35 Indonesia Omo Hada Nias, Teluk Dalam, Hilinawalo Mazingo
36 Indonesia Tamansari Water Castle Yogyakarta
37 Iraq Nineveh and Nimrud Palaces near Mosul
38 Iraq Citadel of Arbil Erbil, Kurdistan Region
39 Ireland Headfort House Kells
40 Ireland Athassel abbey Athassel
41 Israel Apollonia-Arsuf Herzliya
42 Italy Port of Trajan Archaeological Park Fiumicino (Rome-Lazio Region)
43 Italy Tuff-Towns and Vie Cave Pitigliano, Sorano, Manciano, Tuscany
44 Jamaica Falmouth Historic Town Falmouth, Parish of Trelawny
45 Japan Tomo Port Town Fukuyama
46 Jordan 'Ain Ghazal Amman
47 Kenya Mtwapa Heritage Site Kilifi, Mtwapa
48 Lebanon Iskandarouna – Naqoura Cultural Landscape Iskandarouna, Naqoura, Tyre
49 Mali Bandiagara Escarpment Cultural Landscape Bandiagara, Mopti
50 Mexico San Francisco de Tzintzuntzan Convent Tzintzuntzan, Michoacan
51 Mexico Quetzalcoatl Temple Teotihuacan, Mexico State
52 Mexico La Tercena Metztitlan
53 Mexico Oxtotitlan Paintings Guerrero, Chilapa
54 Mexico Pimeria Alta Missions Sonora
55 Mongolia Geser Sum Monastery Ulaanbaatar
56 Morocco Sahrij & Sbaiyin Madrassa Complex Fez
57 Nigeria Benin City Earthworks Benin City, Edo State
58 Palestinian Territories Tell Balatah (Shechem or Ancient Nablus) Nablus/West Bank
59 Palestinian Territories Al-Qasem Palace Beit Wazan
60 Panama Panama Canal Area Panama and Colon Provinces
61 Paraguay Paraguay Railway System Asuncion to Sapucay
62 Peru Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery Guadalupe, La Libertad
63 Peru Angasmarca Temple Angasmarca/Santiago de Chuco/La Libertad
64 Peru Kuelap Fortress Kuelap, Amazonas
65 Peru Tucume Archaeological Complex Tucume
66 Poland Old Lublin Theater Lublin
67 Portugal Roman Villa of Rabaçal Rabaçal, Penela, Coimbra
68 Russia The Chinese Palace at Oranienbaum Lomonosov
69 Russia Narcomfin Building Moscow
70 Russia Perm-36 Perm Region
71 Slovakia Three Greek Catholic churches Bodruzal, Lukov-Venecia, Topola
72 Slovenia Lanthieri Manor Vipava
73 South Africa Richtersveld Cultural Landscape Richtersveld, Northern Cape Province
74 Spain Pazo de San Miguel das Peñas Monterroso, Lugo, Galicia
75 Syria Bosra Ancient City Bosra, governorate of Deraa
76 Syria Amrit Archaeological Site Amrit
77 Taiwan Jungshe Village [zh] Penghu, Wangan
78 Trinidad and Tobago Banwari Trace Archaeological Site Ward of Siparia
79 Turkey Temple of Augustus Ankara
80 Turkey Little Hagia Sophia Mosque (Kucuk Ayasofya Camii) Istanbul
81 Turkey Central İzmir Synagogues Konak, İzmir
82 Turkey Ephesus Archaeological Site Selçuk, İzmir
83 Turkey Kariye Museum Istanbul
84 Turkmenistan Old Nisa Bagir settlement
85 Uganda Kampala Historic Buildings Kampala
86 Ukraine Tyras-Belgorod Fortress Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Odesa
87 Ukraine Panticapaeum Ancient City Kerch, Crimea
88 United Kingdom Stowe House Stowe, Buckingham, Buckinghamshire
89 United Kingdom Battersea Power Station London
90 United Kingdom Strawberry Hill London
91 United Kingdom Saint Vincent’s Street Church Glasgow, Scotland
92 United States of America St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church Brooklyn Heights, New York
93 United States of America Historic Lower Manhattan New York, New York
94 United States of America Ennis Brown House Los Angeles, California
95 United States of America North Family Shaker Site New Lebanon, New York
96 United States of America Iglesia San Jose San Juan, Puerto Rico
97 United States of America Plum Orchard Historic District Cumberland Island, Georgia
98 Venezuela Real Fuerza de Santiago de Arroyo Araya
99 Venezuela La Guaira Historic City Vargas
100 Yugoslavia Prizren Historic Center Kosovo, Prizren

Statistics by country/territory

The following countries/territories have multiple sites entered on the 2004 Watch List, listed by the number of sites:

Number of sites Country/Territory
6 United States of America
5 China, Mexico and Turkey
4 India, Peru and United Kingdom
3 Egypt and Russia
2 Argentina[D], Brazil[D], Czech Republic, Ecuador, Greece, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Palestine, Paraguay[D], Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela

Notes

^ A. Numbers list only meant as a guide on this article. No official reference numbers have been designated for the sites on the Watch List.
^ B. Names and spellings used for the sites were based on the official 2004 Watch List as published.
^ C. The references to the sites' locations were based on the official 2004 Watch List as published.
^ D. Tally includes the transfrontier site of Jesuit Guaraní Missions.

References

  1. ^ a b Holly Evarts (21 June 2005). "World Monuments Fund Announces 2006 World Monuments Watch List Of 100 Most Endangered Sites" (PDF). World Monuments Fund. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  2. ^ Holly Evarts (6 June 2007). "World Monuments Fund Announces 2008 World Monuments Watch List Of 100 Most Endangered Sites" (PDF). World Monuments Fund. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  3. ^ a b "2004 List of 100 Most Endangered Sites Announced". World Monuments Fund. 24 September 2003. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  4. ^ a b "2004 World Monuments Watch List Of 100 Most Endangered Sites Announced". World Monuments Fund. 24 September 2003. Archived from the original on 10 October 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  5. ^ "Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons)". World Heritage Center. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  6. ^ "History of the Construction". Battersea Power Station Community Group Website. Archived from the original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2009.

External links

World Monuments Watch
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