Category Archives: UNESCO

Lordy Lord, Lourdes! Pilgrimage Site Suffers Record Flooding

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Nicholas Merkelson

The rainwater and snowmelt that flooded southwest France just over a week ago has finally receded.  The normally tranquil Gave de Pau river rose as much as 15 feet, spilling over its banks and pouring into medieval towns across the Pyrenees. … Continue reading →

Posted in cultural conservation, cultural sustainability, culture, endangered sites, floods, France, heritage, heritage tourism, Lourdes, pilgrimage, Roman Catholic, site conservation, Uncategorized, UNESCO, World Heritage List | Leave a comment

US/ICOMOS recognizes Cultural Heritage Center with award

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Nicholas Merkelson

Congratulations to the Cultural Heritage Center for receiving the first annual Heritage Award for International Excellence.  The award, given by the U.S. National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (US/ICOMOS), recognizes organizations, programs, projects, individuals, and publications that exemplify worldwide excellence … Continue reading →

Posted in cultural property, culture, heritage, humanity, preservation, UNESCO, US/ICOMOS | Leave a comment

Update: Pompeii’s Collapsing Archaeological Heritage

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Nicholas Merkelson

Just as I was wrapping up the previous post I learned that two more walls gave way inside Pompeii.  Despite ongoing preservation and restoration efforts at the 2,000-year-old archaeological site, this string of recent collapses was triggered by uncharacteristically heavy rains sweeping across … Continue reading →

Posted in archaeology, culture, heritage, Italy, preservation, UNESCO, World Heritage List | Leave a comment

Addendum: Istanbul’s Cultural Heritage Inventory

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Nicholas Merkelson

Another short article about Turkey’s cultural heritage preservation appeared yesterday in the Hurriyet Daily News, this one lauding the success of Europa Nostra Turkey’s advocacy and awareness campaign.  According to the article, in the past few years the Turkish branch … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, Europa Nostra, heritage, identity, preservation, Turkey, UNESCO, World Heritage List | Leave a comment

Museum Collecting Guide as Cultural Heritage

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Nicholas Merkelson

Today I was given a copy of the 1977 Guide to Field Collecting of Ethnographic Specimens, an information leaflet written by the late William C. Sturtevant, Curator of North American Ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History. For a Smithsonian publication, … Continue reading →

Posted in anthropology, collections, culture, museums, Smithsonian, UNESCO | 1 Comment