UNESCO inserts Sanaa, Shibam in List of World Heritage in Danger

SANAA, July 4 (YPA) – The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO has listed the cities of Shibam and Sanaa in the List of World Heritage in Danger, because of the war led by Saudi-UAE coalition in Yemen since March 2015.

The inclusion of the two cities in the list of endangered heritage is a clear call to save them from the devastating war ravaging the country before facing the threat of getting out of the list.

In addition to the deteriorating humanitarian situation, the war has contributed to the destruction of Yemen’s rich heritage, which gives the Yemenis a sense of identity and belonging to a civilization deep in history.

The ancient walled city of Shibam, built in the 16th century and sometimes dubbed “Manhattan of the Desert” because of its tower-like structures, is an example of urban planning. It was placed on the World Heritage List in 1982 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The UN organization had listed the old city of Sanaa, which suffered destruction due to the aggression on Yemen for nearly five years, in the World Heritage List in 1986. It is a city of great historical importance, which was a major center of Islam since the seventh and eighth centuries.

The age of the old city of Sanaa with its Great Mosque, houses built of mud bricks and colored glass windows, and markets, is about 2,500 years, and it is among the oldest inhabited cities in the world.

YPA