During an extraordinary session on January 25, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee included the historic center of the port city of Odessa on its list.
This decision to recognize “
the exceptional universal value of the site
” comes in the face of threats of destruction made by Russia.
Unesco Director General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement:
"Odessa, a free city, a world city, a legendary port which has marked cinema, literature and the arts, is thus placed under the reinforced protection of the community. international.
As the war continues, this inscription embodies our collective determination to ensure that this city, which has always risen from the heartbreak of the world, is preserved from further destruction
.
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According to the same press release, the procedure was accelerated due to the war.
From the summer of 2022, experts from the world organization worked with Ukraine to develop the candidacy file.
This had finally been formalized by Volodymyr Zelensky on October 11 during an online speech.
On the ground, Unesco has already “
provided for the repair of the damage inflicted on the Museum of Fine Arts in Odessa and the Museum of Modern Art in Odessa.
Equipment needed to digitize almost a thousand works of art from the documentary collection of the Port City's State Archives was also provided.
Equipment has also been delivered to protect the buildings as well as the works installed in the open air, we also learn in the press release.
Unesco's global plan in Ukraine is 18 million dollars for education, science, culture and information.
At the World Heritage Committee in Paris, six countries out of 21 voted in favor, 14 abstained and Russia voted against the inscription on the World Heritage List of Odessa, a port city famous in particular for its monumental Potemkin staircase, and sometimes nicknamed
" the pearl of the Black Sea”.