The center and the port of Odessa they have been included among the UNESCO sites to be protected thanks to an accelerated procedure. Already in recent months, Ukraine had asked to protect the city on the Black Sea, already a candidate for some time, which was one of Moscow’s objectives and whose historical and architectural heritage could be destroyed by bombing.
President Volodymyr Zelensky he said he was grateful for the decision to include the city in the universal cultural heritage and also because the fact that it is considered in danger provides for further protections. The UN agency for Education, Science and Culture explained that the Odessa dossier was prepared by international and Ukrainian experts, with the support of Italy and Greece. Much of central Odessa has Western traits and characteristics for the cultural and economic ties that have always existed between Italy, Genoa in particular, and the city on the Black Sea.
The mayor of the city, Gennady Trukhanov, already in March said about the acceleration of the process: “It would be a good sign, it could be our best defense against Russian attacks: we are already on the pre-list, the documentation was completed years ago”. President Zelensky elected Odessa as a symbol: «We must give a clear signal that the world will not close its eyes to the destruction of our common history, our culture, our common heritage».
There Russia it is the only country that objected in the extraordinary session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris saying that the accelerated procedure did not meet UNESCO standards. Six out of 21 countries voted in favor and 14 abstained.
“Odessa, a free city, a city of the world, a legendary port that has marked cinema, literature and the arts, is placed under the enhanced protection of the international community. As the war continues, this inclusion embodies our collective determination to ensure that this city, which has always weathered global upheavals, is preserved from further destruction,” explained Unesco Director-General Audrey Azoulay.
Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List recognizes the universal value of the site and commits the world community to preserve it. According to the criteria of the 1972 Convention, it falls under a form of protection: it is forbidden to implement any measure that could directly or indirectly damage the cultural or natural heritage. In Ukraine, the cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Kiev and the historic center of Lviv are already UNESCO heritage sites.
Odessa is historically one of the most important ports on the Black Sea. She was when she was Russian and Soviet and she is since Ukraine. Her flowering took place under Empress Catherine the Great whose statue was removed in recent weeks, like any other link with the Russian past. For months, the historic stairway and the promenade along the sea have been protected, like the monuments of the city. As in other Ukrainian cities, blackouts and air raid alarms continue.
– The spouses of Kharkiv, love among the rubble
– Uk, Maria and Vitalij, who fled the war in Ukraine, get married surrounded by photos of their loved ones
Source: Vanity Fair
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