Ukraine announced on Tuesday its decision to request the inscription on the World Heritage List of the historic center of Odessa, renowned for its architecture – but which has already been “affected by bombardments” and which is “located only ‘a few tens of kilometers from the front line’ with the Russian army, according to a UNESCO press release.
Ukrainian Culture and Information Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko was received on Tuesday by the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Audrey Azoulay, at the Paris headquarters organisation.
He announced that kyiv would apply for the inscription of the historic center of Odessa, already “nationally recognized and classified”. “Odessa is in danger right now; we see frequent shelling,” Tkachenko told AFP.
“If you close your eyes and imagine neighborhoods in Paris, Nice or Marseille, then you can imagine Odessa, which is also a coastal city, and whose architects were mainly from France and Italy. The plan of the historic center is really unique and very European, with many boulevards surrounded by trees and many monuments in homage to the history of Ukraine”, continued the Minister.
A strategic point
The Black Sea port city, notably famous for its monumental staircases, is a strategic point in the Ukrainian conflict and has been bombarded several times by Russian forces.
“On July 24, 2022, part of the large glass roof and windows of the Museum of Fine Arts, inaugurated in 1899, was destroyed,” UNESCO said in a statement. “UNESCO has already mobilized international experts providing technical support to Ukraine for this nomination to be examined urgently by the Member States of the World Heritage Committee, with a view to inscription on the List World Heritage Site and on the List of World Heritage in Danger. »
“It will also be recommended to the World Heritage Committee to include the World Heritage sites located in Kyiv and Lviv, which are also under threat, on the List of World Heritage in Danger,” the statement said.
Inscription on the World Heritage List “will probably make it possible to avoid more bombardments on Odessa,” Minister Tkachenko told AFP on Tuesday. “It is an important gesture and a recognition of the importance of the historic center of Odessa”, which is part “not only of Ukrainian heritage, but also of world heritage”.
Mme Azoulay announced that UNESCO would strengthen its support system for the city of Odessa, in particular the “funding of the repair of the damage inflicted since the beginning of the war at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Modern Art”. , “support for the digitization of at least 1,000 works of art present in Odessa as well as the documentary fund of the Odessa State Archives”, and the delivery of new equipment for the in situ protection of cultural property.
As part of its mandate, UNESCO deployed emergency measures in Ukraine and mobilized “nearly $7 million, provided in-kind aid and made its experts available to advise professionals in the field”. , according to the press release.