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Machu Picchu, Barcelona church on threatened list

Posted October 05, 2009 11:00 pm

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Peru's Machu Picchu ancient ruins, Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona and a New Orleans elementary school are among the cultural heritage sites threatened by neglect or overdevelopment, a preservationist group said Tuesday.

The World Monuments Fund's watch list for 2010 includes 93 sites in 47 countries, ranging from Phajoding, a remote monastery in Bhutan, to the bridges along Connecticut's scenic Merritt Parkway.

"The 2010 watch makes it clear that cultural heritage efforts in the 21st century must recognize the critical importance of sustainable stewardship and that we must work closely with local partners to create viable and appropriate opportunities to advance this," World Monuments Fund President Bonnie Burnham said.

The monuments fund, dedicated to saving important landmarks around the world, said a new underground rail line in Barcelona will run perilously close to Gaudi's masterpiece, which was designed as an 18-tower church telling the tale of the Holy Family and has been under construction since the 1880s.

Also threatened by new development are traditional townhouses in Kyoto, Japan, called machiya, which date from the early 1600s and are considered models of their type throughout the country. The monuments fund said the townhouses are being torn down, diminishing Kyoto's cultural history.

Machu Picchu, an important Inca site and Peru's main tourist attraction, is threatened by its high volume of visitors.

The fund said two sites in New Orleans, St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 and the Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, face continuing challenges following Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the area in 2005.

U.S. sites on the watch list also include architect Frank Lloyd Wright's home Taliesin in Spring Green, Wis., and Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Anne Maley, interim CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which operates both sites, said she could not comment on their inclusion on the watch list.

The New York-based World Monuments Fund issues its watch list every two years.

The list was initiated in the mid-1990s to call attention to sites that are threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict or disaster. It's assembled by a panel of experts in archaeology, architecture, art history and preservation.

The last list, in 2007, was the first to add global warming to the roster of forces the monuments fund says are threatening humanity's architectural and cultural heritage.

The list List of endangered world monuments Afghanistan: Old City of Herat Argentina: Buenos Aires Historic Center, Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires Armenia: Aghjots Monastery, Garni Village Austria: Wiener Werkbundsiedlung, Vienna Bahrain: Suq al-Qaysariya, Muharraq Belgium: Sanatorium Joseph Lemaire, Tombeek Bhutan: Phajoding, Thimphu Bolivia: Santa Teresa Convent Museum, Cochabamba Chile: Churches of Arica Parinacota Colombia: San Fernando and San Jose Fortresses, Cartagena; Historic Center, Santa Fe de Antioquia. Comoros: Ujumbe Palace, Mutsamudu Cyprus: Historic Walled City of Famagusta Ecuador: Todos Santos Complex, Cuenca Egypt: New Gourna Village, Luxor, West Bank; Old Mosque of Shali Fortress, Siwa Oasis France: Hotel de Monnaies, Villemagne l'Argentiere; Parish Church of Saint-Martin-des-Puits Greece: Churches of Lesvos Guatemala: Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala City Haiti: Gingerbread Houses, Port-au-Prince India: Chiktan Castle, Kargil; Dechen Namgyal Gonpa, Nyoma; Historic Civic Center of Shimla; Kothi, Qila Mahmudabad Iraq: Al-Hadba' Minaret, Mosul Ireland: Russborough, Blessington, County Wicklow Israel: Old City of Lod; Cathedral of St. James, Old City of Jerusalem Italy: Historic Center of Craco; Ponte Lucano, Tivoli; Villa of San Gilio, Oppido Lucano Japan: Kyoto machiya townhouses Jordan: Damiya Dolmen Field, Jordan Valley Kazakhstan: Vernacular Architecture of the Kazakh Steppe, Sary-Arka Laos: Hintang Archaeological Landscape, Houameuang District; Tam Ting, Nam Kong River at Ban Pak Ou Mexico: Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque, Zempoala to Otumba; Las Pozas, Xilitla; Temple of San Bartolo Soyaltepec; Temple of San Felipe Tindaco, Tlaxiaco; Temple and Convent of Los Santos Reyes, Convent of La Communidad, Metztitlan Moldova: Assumption of Our Lady Church, Causeni Morocco: Lixus, Larache Pakistan: Petroglyphs in the Diamer-Basha Dam Area, Northern Areas; Shikarpoor Historic City Center Panama: Colon Historic Center; Corozal Cemetery, Panama City; Mount Hope Cemetery, Colon Paraguay: La Santisima Trinidad del Parana, Trinidad Peru: San Rafael District, Chankillo; Jesuit Churches of San Jose and San Javier, Nazca; Pachacamac Sanctuary, Lurin; Pikillaqta, Cuzco; Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, Cuzco; Tambo Colorado, Humay; San Francisco de Asis de Marcapata; Santa Cruz de Jerusalen de Juli Philippines: Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Municipality of Santa Maria; Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, Ifugao; San Sebastian Basilica, Manila Romania: Fortified Churches of Southern Transylvania, Sibiu Russia: Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign, Podolsk District Slovakia: Lietava Castle South Africa: Wonderwerk Cave, Ga-Segonyana/Kuruman Spain: Historic Landscape of Seville; Historic Landscape of Toledo; Numancia, Soria and Garray; Old Town of Avila; Route of Santiago de Compostela; Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Sri Lanka:Dutch Fort in Batticaloa Tanzania: Pangani Historic Town Uganda: Wamala King's Tombs, Nansana, Wakiso District United Kingdom: Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church, Belfast; Edinburgh Historic Graveyards; Sheerness Dockyard; St. John the Evangelist Parish Church, Shobdon; Tecton Buildings at Dudley Zoological Gardens United States: Atlanta-Fulton Central Public Library, Atlanta; Bridges of the Merritt Parkway, Connecticut; Cultural Landscape of Hadley, Mass.; Miami Marine Stadium, Florida; Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, New Orleans; St. Louis Cemetery No. 2, New Orleans; Taliesin, Spring Green, Wis.; Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Taos Pueblo, N.M. Uzbekistan: Desert Castles of Ancient Khorezm, Republic of Karakalpakstan Venezuela: School of Architecture and Urbanism, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas; East Park, Caracas

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