Unesco Adds Ancient Greek City Tauric Chersonese In Crimea To World Heritage In Danger List The Art Newspaper International Art News And Events

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Unesco adds Tauric Chersonese in Crimea to endangered list

Unesco has placed Tauric Chersonese, the ancient Greek city in Russian-occupied Crimea, on its World Heritage in Danger list, sharpening an already fraught debate over who controls the preservation of Ukraine's cultural past. The decision was taken on July 22 at the 48th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan, South Korea, which opened on July 19 and runs through July 29.

The site, formally listed as the Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora, was inscribed on Unesco's World Heritage List in 2013 as a Ukrainian site, just months before Russia illegally annexed Crimea in March 2014. Since then, Ukraine has repeatedly warned that the monument is under pressure from occupation, unauthorized digging, construction, and the loss of its archaeological setting.

Ukrainian culture minister Tetyana Berezhna called the ruling“an extremely important international decision” that confirms the threats posed by the“temporary Russian occupation of Crimea,” including illegal excavations, destruction, and the removal of cultural values. The site has also become a symbol of a broader struggle over heritage governance in Crimea, where Ukrainian officials say preservation has been displaced by political and religious control.

According to Ukraine's National Commission to Unesco, activities at the site are being directed by the foundation of Tikhon Shevkunov, a senior Russian Orthodox cleric appointed by Vladimir Putin, and by the Russian Orthodox Church rather than by archaeologists or conservators. In July 2024, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's parliament commissioner for human rights, urged the United Nations to intervene, saying the Russians had“completely destroyed the authentic monument” and were effectively building a new city in the form of a so-called historical and archaeological park.

The dispute has also reached the courts and the diplomatic arena. Ukraine previously fought Russia in Dutch courts over Scythian gold artefacts from Crimea that had been on loan to the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam when the annexation occurred; the works were ultimately returned to Kyiv. Ukraine has also pursued cases involving alleged illegal Russian archaeological digs in Crimea.

The committee's decision comes amid wider attention to endangered heritage in conflict zones. Three Ukrainian sites are already on Unesco's endangered list: Saint Sophia Cathedral and Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, along with the historic centres of Lviv and Odesa. This week, the committee resolved to keep them there because of the“imminent threat” posed by the“ongoing armed aggression of the Russian Federation.”

For Unesco, Tauric Chersonese underscores a difficult reality: in wartime, the danger to heritage may come not from the state where a site is located, but from the force controlling it.

Unesco WorldHeritage Crimea Ukraine Archaeology CulturalHeritage

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