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]
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. 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] [3] For the succeeding two-year period until a new Watch List is published, these 100 sites can avail grants and funds from the WMF, as well as from other foundations, private donors, and corporations by capitalizing on the publicity and attention gained from the inclusion on the Watch List. [1]
The 2006 World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites was launched on June 21, 2005, by WMF President Bonnie Burnham. [1] [4] [5] It marked the first time that an entire country was placed on the Watch List. Iraq, long considered as the "cradle of human civilization" and within whose borders lie an estimated 10,000 archaeological sites, has been left vulnerable to widespread looting, vandalism, and other acts of violence in the wake of the 2003 military invasion. [1]
The World Monuments Watch provides a valuable barometer of the state of heritage preservation worldwide… The biennial Watch list tells us not only which sites are in peril, but also what kinds of threats—natural disaster, war, pollution, neglect, or other issues—are endangering the world's heritage.
— Bonnie Burnham, WMF president, launch of 2006 Watch List [1]
On October 6, 2005, nearly four months after the publication of the 2006 Watch List and more than a month after the significant devastation brought about by Hurricane Katrina on America's Gulf Coast, the WMF, together with partners American Express Foundation and National Trust for Historic Preservation, decided to place the Gulf Coast and New Orleans as the 101st endangered site on the 2006 Watch List. [6] [7]
Number [A] | Country/Territory | Site [B] | Location [C] | Period [C] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Afghanistan | Haji Piyada Mosque | Balkh | 9th century |
2 | Antarctica | Sir Ernest Shackleton's Expedition Hut | Cape Royds, Ross Island | 1908 |
3 | Australia | Dampier Rock Art Complex | Dampier, Burrup Peninsula | 10,000 BC–present |
4 | Bangladesh | Sonargaon-Panam City | Sonargaon | 15th–19th centuries |
5 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Mehmed-Pasha Sokolovic Bridge | Višegrad | 1571–1577 |
6 | Brazil | Convent of San Francisco and Historic Olinda | Olinda, Pernambuco | 1535–1827 |
7 | Cameroon | Bafut Palace | Bafut | 1907–1910 |
8 | Cape Verde | Tarrafal Concentration Camp | Tarrafal | 1930s |
9 | Chile | Tulor Village | Antofagasta | 500 BC–AD 300 |
10 | Chile | Cerros Pintados | Tarapacá | 500–1450 |
11 | China | Cockcrow Post Town | Cockrow Post, Huailai | 1420 |
12 | China | Lu Mansion | Dong Yang | 15th–19th centuries |
13 | China | Qikou Town | Shanxi Province | 18th–19th centuries |
14 | China | Stone Towers of Southwest China | Various Locations | ca. 1000–1500 |
15 | China | Tianshui Traditional Houses | Tianshui, Qincheng, Gansu | 1644–1929 |
16 | China | Tuanshan Historical Village | Yunnan Province | 15th–19th centuries |
17 | Croatia | Novi Dvori Castle | Zaprešić | Mid–19th century |
18 | Croatia | Saint Blaise Church | Dubrovnik | 1707–1717 |
19 | Cuba | Finca Vigia (Hemingway's House) | San Francisco de Paula | 1886 |
20 | Egypt | Sabil Ruqayya Dudu | Cairo | 1761 |
21 | Egypt | Tarabay al-Sharify | Cairo | 16th century |
22 | Egypt | West Bank | Luxor | 1540–1075 BC |
23 | El Salvador | San Miguel Arcangel and Santa Cruz de Roma | Panchimalco & Huizucar | 1730–1740 |
24 | Eritrea | Asmara Historic City Center | Asmara | 1916–1941 |
25 | Eritrea | Kidane-Mehret Church | Senafe | 12th century |
26 | Eritrea | Massawa Historic Town | Massawa | 16th–19th centuries |
27 | Finland | Helsinki-Malmi Airport | Helsinki | 1930–1938 |
28 | Georgia | Jvari Monastery | Mtshekta | ca. 600 |
29 | Greece | Helike Archaeological Site | Achaia | BC 2500–500 |
30 | Guatemala | Naranjo | El Petén | 600–900 |
31 | India | Dalhousie Square | Kolkata | 1600–1699; 1900 |
32 | India | Dhangkar Gompa | Himachal Pradesh | 15th–16th centuries |
33 | India | Guru Lhakhang and Sumda Chung Temples | Sumda Chung | 11th–14th centuries |
34 | India | Watson's Hotel | Mumbai | 1867–1871 |
35 | Indonesia | Omo Hada | Nias Island | 1715 |
36 | Iran | Bam | Bam | 10th–18th centuries |
37 | Iraq | Iraq Cultural Heritage Sites | Country-wide | Prehistoric–present |
38 | Ireland | Wonderful Barn | Kildare | 1743 |
39 | Italy | Academy of Hadrian's Villa | Tivoli | 2nd century |
40 | Italy | Cimitero Acattolico | Rome | 1776 first burial |
41 | Italy | Civita di Bagnoregio | Bagnoregio | 12th–15th centuries |
42 | Italy | Murgia dei Trulli | Murgia dei Trulli | ca. 800 |
43 | Italy | Portici Royal Palace | Naples | 1740–19th century |
44 | Italy | Santa Maria in Stelle Hypogeum | Verona | 3rd–5th centuries |
45 | Italy | Temple of Portunus | Rome | Late 2nd–1st centuries BC |
46 | Kenya | Mtwapa Heritage Site | Kilifi, Mtwapa | 1100–1199 |
47 | Laos | Chom Phet Cultural Landscape | Luang Prabang | 19th century |
48 | Latvia | Riga Cathedral | Riga | 13th–19th centuries |
49 | Lebanon | Chehabi Citadel | Hasbaya | 12th century |
50 | Lebanon | International Fairground at Tripoli | Tripoli | 1963 |
51 | Macedonia | Treskavec Monastery and Church | Treskavec | 12th–15th centuries |
52 | Mauritania | Chinguetti Mosque | Chinguetti | 13th century |
53 | Mexico | Chalcatzingo | Morelos | 800 BC |
54 | Mexico | Mexico City Historic Center | Mexico City | 15th–20th centuries |
55 | Mexico | Pimería Alta Missions | Sonora | 1700–1799 |
56 | Mexico | San Juan Bautista Cuauhtinchan | Puebla | 1528–1544 |
57 | Mexico | San Nicolás Obispo | Morelia, Michoacán | 16th–18th centuries |
58 | Nepal | Patan Royal Palace Complex | Patan | 17th–19th centuries |
59 | Nigeria | Benin City Earthworks | Edo State | 1240–1460 |
60 | Norway | Sandviken Bay | Bergen | 18th–19th centuries |
61 | Pakistan | Mian Nasir Mohammed Graveyard | Dadu District | 18th century |
62 | Pakistan | Thatta Monuments | Thatta | 14th–18th centuries |
63 | Palestinian Territories | Tell Balatah (Shechem or Ancient Nablus) | Nablus, West Bank | BC 1699–AD 1600 |
64 | Panama | Panama Canal Area | Panama City, Chagres River | 1882–1914 |
65 | Peru | Cajamarquilla | Lima | 500–1200 |
66 | Peru | Presbítero Maestro Cemetery | Lima | 1805–1808 |
67 | Peru | Quinta Heeren | Lima | 1888–1930 |
68 | Peru | Revash Funerary Complex | Santo Tomás | 10th century |
69 | Peru | Túcume Archaeological Site | Lambayeque | 9th–15th centuries |
70 | Poland | Jerusalem Hospital of the Teutonic Order | Malborka | 14th century; 17th century |
71 | Poland | Mausoleum of Karol Scheibler | Łódź | 1885–1888 |
72 | Portugal | Teatro Capitólio | Lisbon | 1925–1931 |
73 | Romania | Oradea Fortress | Oradea | 17th–18th centuries |
74 | Russia | Melnikov's House Studio | Moscow | 1929 |
75 | Russia | Narkomfin Building | Moscow | 1928–1930 |
76 | Russia | Semenovskoe-Otrada | Moscow Region | 1774–1850s |
77 | Samoa | Pulemelei Mound | Palauli, Letolo Plantation | ca. 1000–1500 |
78 | Serbia and Montenegro | Prizren Historic Center | Prizren | 1200–present |
79 | Serbia and Montenegro | Subotica Synagogue | Subotica | 1902 |
80 | Sierra Leone | Old Fourah Bay College Building | Freetown | Mid–19th century |
81 | Slovakia | Lednické-Rovne Historical Park | Lednické-Rovne | 18th century |
82 | South Africa | Richtersveld Cultural Landscape | Northern Cape Province | Prehistoric–present |
83 | Spain | Segovia Aqueduct | Segovia | 1st century |
84 | Sudan | Suakin | Suakin Island | 17th–18th centuries |
85 | Syria | Amrit Archaeological Site | Amrit | 300–230 BC |
86 | Syria | Shayzar Castle | Shaizar | 12th century |
87 | Syria | Tell Mozan (Ancient Urkesh) | Tell Mozan | ca. 2200–1500 BC |
88 | Turkey | Aphrodisias | Aphrodisias | 150 BC–AD 1200 |
89 | Turkey | Little Hagia Sophia | Istanbul | 527–536 |
90 | United Kingdom | Saint Mary's Stow Church | Stow, Lincolnshire | 975 AD; 11th–15th centuries |
91 | United Kingdom | St. Vincent Street Church | Glasgow, Scotland | 1857/59–1904 |
92 | United States of America | 2 Columbus Circle | New York City | 1964 |
93 | United States of America | Bluegrass Cultural Landscape of Kentucky | Central Kentucky | Late 18th–Early 19th centuries |
94 | United States of America | Cyclorama Center | Gettysburg, Pennsylvania | 1958–1961 |
95 | United States of America | Dutch Reformed Church | Newburgh, New York | 1830 |
96 | United States of America | Ellis Island Baggage and Dormitory Building | New York, New York | 1908–1913 |
97 | United States of America | Ennis Brown House | Los Angeles, California | 1924 |
98 | United States of America | Hanging Flume | Montrose County, Colorado | 1887–1890 |
99 | United States of America | Mount Lebanon Shaker Village | New Lebanon, New York | 1860 |
100 | Venezuela | La Guaira Historic City | Vargas | 1589 |
101 [D] | United States of America | Gulf Coast and New Orleans | Mississippi and Louisiana | 18th–20th centuries |
The following countries/territories have multiple sites entered on the 2006 Watch List, listed by the number of sites:
Number of sites | Country/Territory |
---|---|
9 | United States of America [E] |
7 | Italy |
6 | China |
5 | Mexico and Peru |
4 | India |
3 | Egypt, Eritrea, Russia and Syria |
2 | Chile, Croatia, Lebanon, Pakistan, Poland, Serbia & Montenegro, Turkey and United Kingdom |
^ A. 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 2006 Watch List as published.
^ C. The references to the sites' locations and periods of construction were based on the official 2006 Watch List as published.
^ D. On October 6, 2005, the WMF added the historic and cultural assets of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans to the 2006 Watch List as its 101st site, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina significantly damaging and destroying numerous historic structures across the region.
^ E. Tally includes the Gulf Coast and New Orleans site.
Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities are both designated as seats of Harrison County. The population of Biloxi was 49,449 at the 2020 census, making it the state's 4th most populous city. It is a principal city of the Gulfport–Biloxi metropolitan area, home to 416,259 residents in 2020. The area's first European settlers were French colonists.
Gulfport is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi after the state capital, Jackson. Along with Biloxi, Gulfport is the co-county seat of Harrison County and part of the Gulfport–Biloxi metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, Gulfport has a population of 72,926; the metro area has a population of 416,259. Gulfport lies along the gulf coast of the United States in southern Mississippi, taking its name from its port on the Gulf Coast on the Mississippi Sound. It is home to the U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Seabees.
World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training.
Hurricane Katrina was a powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. Katrina was the twelfth tropical cyclone, the fifth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was also the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States, gauged by barometric pressure.
Hurricane preparedness in New Orleans has been an issue since the city's early settlement because of its location.
The disaster recovery response to Hurricane Katrina in late 2005 included U.S. federal government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), state and local-level agencies, federal and National Guard soldiers, non-governmental organizations, charities, and private individuals. Tens of thousands of volunteers and troops responded or were deployed to the disaster; most in the affected area but also throughout the U.S. at shelters set up in at least 19 states.
Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the top ten most intense Atlantic hurricanes in terms of barometric pressure ever recorded, Rita was the seventeenth named storm, tenth hurricane, and fifth major hurricane of the 2005 season. It was also the earliest-forming 17th named storm in the Atlantic until Tropical Storm Rene in 2020. Rita formed near The Bahamas from a tropical wave on September 18, 2005 that originally developed off the coast of West Africa. It moved westward, and after passing through the Florida Straits, Rita entered an environment of abnormally warm waters. Moving west-northwest, it rapidly intensified to reach peak winds of 180 mph (285 km/h), achieving Category 5 status on September 21. However, it weakened to a Category 3 hurricane before making landfall in Johnson's Bayou, Louisiana, between Sabine Pass, Texas and Holly Beach, Louisiana, with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h). Rapidly weakening over land, Rita degenerated into a large low-pressure area over the lower Mississippi Valley by September 26.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) that calls international attention to cultural heritage around the world that is threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict, or disaster.
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.
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 and safeguarding the historic, artistic, and architectural heritage of humankind.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York–based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) and American Express to call upon every government in the world, preservation organizations, and other groups and individuals to nominate sites and monuments that are particularly endangered. At the same time, the nominators commit themselves to participate in a carefully planned preservation project.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York–based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) and American Express to call to action and challenge government authorities responsible for important cultural resources to identify sites immediately at risk, and to stimulate public awareness of the tremendous need to preserve and create sustainable uses for significant heritage made by man.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York–based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) and American Express aimed at identifying and preserving the world’s most important endangered cultural landmarks. It targets selected sites for immediate action, to call attention to the need for innovative approaches to protect threatened sites throughout the world.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York–based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) that calls international attention to cultural heritage around the world that is threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict, or disaster.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) that calls international attention to cultural heritage around the world that is threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict, or disaster.
In 1870, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad was constructed through the southernmost section of Harrison County, Mississippi, connecting New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A northern transportation route into south Mississippi was provided by the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad at the turn of the 20th century. These railroads provided an inexpensive means for moving passengers as well as goods, and opened south Mississippi to both industrial and recreational development. Rapidly progressing lumber and seafood industries transformed the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the 1920s, and people arrived from throughout the United States to take advantage of the economic boom. Northern tourists were attracted to the Mississippi Gulf Coast because of mild winters and cool sea breezes in summer, before the introduction of air conditioning. Besides the weather, other tourist attractions included seafood restaurants, swimming, golf, schooner races, sailing to offshore islands, and recreational fishing. During this period of economic expansion, grand hotels were constructed along the Mississippi Gulf Coast to accommodate businessmen, tourists, and transient workers. Most of these grand hotels no longer exist; and of the two structures that were still standing after the first decade of the 21st century, neither served as a lodging establishment. Together, these grand hotels represented an important era in the history of the Mississippi Gulf Coast throughout the 20th century.
Bonnie Burnham is an American art historian who is a former head of World Monuments Fund (WMF). She joined the organization as executive director in 1985, and was named president in 1996.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) that calls international attention to cultural heritage around the world that is threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict, or disaster.
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York–based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) that calls international attention to cultural heritage around the world that is threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict, or disaster.