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UNESCO Recommends Putting Venice on Heritage Danger List

Mass tourism is one of Venice's problems, UNESCO says. ANDREA PATTARO / AFP
Mass tourism is one of Venice's problems, UNESCO says. ANDREA PATTARO / AFP
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UNESCO Recommends Putting Venice on Heritage Danger List

Mass tourism is one of Venice's problems, UNESCO says. ANDREA PATTARO / AFP
Mass tourism is one of Venice's problems, UNESCO says. ANDREA PATTARO / AFP

The UN's cultural agency UNESCO on Monday recommended that Venice be added to its list of world heritage in danger, saying the Italian authorities needed to step up efforts to secure the historic city and its surrounding lagoon.

UNESCO said in its recommendation that Venice risked "irreversible" damage due to a string of issues ranging from climate change to mass tourism. The recommendation will now go to a meeting of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in Riyadh in September for adoption, said AFP.

"The effects of the continuing deterioration due to human intervention, including continuing development, the impacts of climate change and mass tourism threaten to cause irreversible changes to the outstanding universal value of the property," said UNESCO.

"Some of these long-standing issues have already led to the deterioration of the inherent characteristics of the property and its attributes," UNESCO said, warning that developments including high rise buildings risk "having significant negative visual impact".

"Moreover, the combined effects of human induced and natural changes are causing deterioration and damage to build structures and urban areas," it added.

It said that overall, there was a "lack of significant progress" by Italy in addressing these issues and this was further "hindered by a lack of overall joint strategic vision".

'Still insufficient'
A draft resolution prepared for adoption by the World Heritage Committee said there had not been "a significant level of progress in addressing the persistent and complex issues" and added measures proposed by Italy were "still insufficient and need to be further developed".

UNESCO said it hoped inscription on the danger list "will result in greater dedication and mobilization of local, national and international stakeholders."

The World Heritage Committee, which oversees the awarding of the coveted World Heritage label to sites around the world, is due to meet in Riyadh from September 10-25.

It is due to consider 53 new candidate sites for addition to the World Heritage List.

Intense lobbying is often employed by delegations to ensure their national cites are given -- and retain -- the status.

The "in danger" label aims to encourage the better preservation of the site for the future. In exceptional circumstances a site can be stripped of its World Heritage label if the steps are deemed unsatisfactory.

Venice was included on the World Heritage List in 1987 but its state has concerned UNESCO for some years.

It avoided being named a world heritage site in danger in 2021, weeks after Italy moved to ban large cruise ships from sailing into the city center.

'We were wrong'
In the city itself as the recommendation was announced, there was agreement that the current state of the city was letting everyone down.

"It's uncontrollable," said gondolier Antonio Vertotto, of the masses of tourists who visit the city each day, adding that the government had done "nothing" for years to control it.

"I would say there are too many tourists, but the solution, that's hard to say," said tourist Valmir Reznik, 34, visiting for the day from Switzerland with his wife. "We thought it's Monday, maybe it's not so full, but we were wrong."

In a related recommendation announced Monday, UNESCO said its experts believed Australia needed more time to boost protection of the Great Barrier Reef before it was declared "in danger" due to the risk of damage from climate change.

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Culture

Les Invalides in Paris: Icon of the French Military and Napoleon’s Final Resting Place

A view of the Les Invalides complex during the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the Les Invalides complex during the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. (Reuters)
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Les Invalides in Paris: Icon of the French Military and Napoleon’s Final Resting Place

A view of the Les Invalides complex during the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the Les Invalides complex during the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. (Reuters)

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will receive on Monday Prince Minister Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, in the Cour d’Honneur, or Court of Honor, at the historic Les Invalides complex in Paris, according to a statement from the French PM’s office.

The complex houses the Army Museum and Napoleon Bonaparte’s tomb and is crowned by its famous gilded dome.

Three-and-a-half centuries of history

Les Invalides, officially known as the Hôtel National des Invalides, dates back more than three-and-a-half centuries, to 1670, when King Louis XIV ordered and financed its construction to house sick, wounded and elderly soldiers.

A site was chosen on the Grenelle plain near Paris, on the banks of the Seine. Architect Libéral Bruant carried out the project between 1671 and 1675, designing a quadrangular complex whose buildings stand behind a monumental facade leading to a central courtyard.

The complex welcomed its first residents in 1674, before construction was completed, and later housed more than 4,000 veterans. It included a hospital, care home, barracks, monastery and manufacturing workshops. Some residents made shoes, textiles, clothing and illuminated books under a system combining military discipline with religious life.

In the spring of 1676, architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart replaced Bruant and took charge of building the churches. The soldiers’ church was completed in 1679, while Louis XIV inaugurated the domed royal church in 1706.

According to official French sources, the original plans envisaged a church with a double altar, but the site today comprises two separate buildings: the Saint-Louis Cathedral and Dôme Church.

The dome rises 107 meters and remained the tallest structure in Paris until the Eiffel Tower was built. According to information from the Army Museum, it is covered with around 550,000 sheets of gold leaf weighing a total of 12.6 kilograms.

Cour d’Honneur

Located in Paris’ 7th arrondissement, the complex has a northern facade about 195 meters long, with its buildings arranged around 19 interior courtyards.

The Cour d’Honneur is the largest. It measures 102 meters by 64 meters and is surrounded by four buildings with two levels of arcaded galleries.

Used for military and national ceremonies and events, the courtyard displays a collection of 60 bronze cannons documenting 200 years of French field artillery history.

At the center of the southern gallery stands a statue of Napoleon dressed as a colonel of the Chasseurs à Cheval of the Imperial Guard. It was moved to Les Invalides in 1911 after previously standing atop the Vendôme Column.

The complex also played a role in the French Revolution. In July 1789, revolutionaries seized rifles and cannons from Les Invalides and immediately used them in the storming of the Bastille.

The institution came close to being abolished. Saint-Louis Church was closed to worship and used to display flags seized from France’s enemies, while the Dôme Church was transformed into the Temple of Mars.

In 1800, Napoleon ordered the remains of military commander Turenne transferred there, giving the building a new role as a burial place honoring France’s military figures.

Napoleon’s final resting place

After Napoleon died on the island of Saint Helena in 1821, King Louis-Philippe decided in 1840 to return his remains to Paris.

Architect Louis Visconti carried out extensive excavation work to create a tomb beneath the dome, where the emperor’s remains were placed in April 1861.

At its center stands a red quartzite sarcophagus on a green granite base. The site also contains the tomb of military engineer and commander Sébastien Vauban, as well as the graves of Napoleon II, Joseph and Jérôme Bonaparte, generals Bertrand and Duroc, and marshals Ferdinand Foch and Hubert Lyautey.

The Army Museum was established in 1905 through the merger of the Artillery Museum, which had been housed at the complex since 1871, and the Historical Museum of the Army, founded in 1896.

The museum holds around 500,000 objects, including weapons, armor, uniforms, paintings and documents, covering military history from prehistoric times to the 11th century.

Les Invalides also houses the Museum of Relief Maps and Museum of the Order of Liberation, as well as facilities belonging to the National Institution of Invalides, which continues the complex’s original mission of caring for wounded and disabled military personnel and veterans.

Culture

Riyadh to Host Security and History Dialogue Conference in September

File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
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Riyadh to Host Security and History Dialogue Conference in September

File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT

Under the patronage of Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, the Ministry of Interior will organize the Security and History Dialogue Conference in Riyadh from September 6 to 8, 2026, with the participation of experts, researchers, and academics from Saudi Arabia and abroad.

The conference organizing committee said the event serves as a national platform for exploring the Kingdom’s history through the lens of security and development, aiming to deepen awareness of the Kingdom’s journey, strengthen national identity, and produce documented knowledge for researchers and future generations, SPA reported.

The conference will feature more than 50 dialogue and interactive sessions, with over 160 experts and specialists and more than 30 partner organizations.

Discussions will cover the Saudi state’s history and its security, developmental, economic, social, and cultural dimensions, as well as national identity, international relations, the development of security institutions, and the role of security in supporting investment and quality of life.

Culture

From the Louvre to AlUla: How Culture Built a Strategic Bridge Between Riyadh and Paris

Saudi Arabia and France boosted their culture cooperation through nine executive programs signed during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the Kingdom in December 2024. (SPA)
Saudi Arabia and France boosted their culture cooperation through nine executive programs signed during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the Kingdom in December 2024. (SPA)
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From the Louvre to AlUla: How Culture Built a Strategic Bridge Between Riyadh and Paris

Saudi Arabia and France boosted their culture cooperation through nine executive programs signed during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the Kingdom in December 2024. (SPA)
Saudi Arabia and France boosted their culture cooperation through nine executive programs signed during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the Kingdom in December 2024. (SPA)

When Saudi artifacts were exhibited at the Louvre Museum, the Saudi-French relationship had not yet reached its current breadth. At the time, culture was a window through which the French could discover the Kingdom's history, while Riyadh was testing a new avenue to introduce its heritage beyond its borders.

More than a decade and a half later, the landscape has changed. Culture has become one of the foundational components of the Saudi-French relationship, and AlUla has turned into one of the clearest examples of this cooperation.

Meanwhile, cinema, museums, heritage, tourism, sports, and major events have entered the network of interests linking the two nations.

The visit by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to France comes at a time when these fields have become part of the Kingdom's new economy, rather than merely a cultural activity running parallel to political relations.

AlUla: When culture becomes an economic project

In AlUla, antiquities intersect with tourism, engineering with the environment, and arts with the economy. The Saudi-French partnership in the governorate has expanded the scope of cooperation to encompass urban planning, heritage, tourism, culture, education, training, and the arts, presenting a model that differs from the traditional relationship between an investing nation and foreign companies.

The project is not limited to developing a historical site, but is rather based on building a global destination that rests on local identity and benefits from international expertise.

This type of cooperation aligns directly with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to transform culture, tourism, and entertainment into active components of the economy.

A journey that began at the Louvre

AlUla was not the beginning; in 2010, the Louvre Museum hosted the "Roads of Arabia. Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" exhibition, marking a milestone that reflected growing French interest in Saudi history. This was preceded by another exhibition in Paris in 1986, while the UNESCO headquarters in Paris hosted the Saudi Cultural Days events in 2012.

These milestones reveal a long trajectory in which the cultural relationship has shifted from introducing Saudi Arabia abroad to building joint projects within the Kingdom itself.

Culture and the economy come together

The most significant change is that culture is no longer a sector isolated from the economy. Tourism requires transport, hospitality, and technology; museums require engineering, operation, and education; and major events require sports, media, and digital services. Consequently, culture has become part of an interconnected economic system.

This is evident in the expanding scope of potential cooperation between the two countries to include tourism, hospitality, the creative economy, electronic gaming, and sports - sectors that align with the Kingdom’s direction toward building a more diversified economy.

Sports: A new opportunity for partnership

Sports give the relationship an added dimension. France's hosting of events related to the Esports World Cup, coinciding with the Crown Prince's visit, offers an example of the shift of sports from a space of competition to a space for economic and cultural rapprochement.

Saudi sports itself has become a global industry attracting investments, talents, and events, while France possesses extensive experience in organizing tournaments and major events.

Interests intersect here just as they do in culture and tourism: Saudi Arabia provides a growing market, projects, and capital, while France provides long-standing industrial, organizational, and cultural expertise.

Education: The least visible, longest-lasting investment

The exchange is not limited to projects; cooperation between universities, research centers, and educational institutions in both countries opens a different path for knowledge transfer and human capital development.

The importance of this track is evident in the sectors where the Kingdom aims to expand, particularly science, technology, innovation, health, and engineering.

While projects can be built within a few years, the talent that manages them can create an impact that lasts for decades.

Partnership and different experiences

The Saudi experience differs from the French one in many details, but this very difference creates space for cooperation.

France possesses a long history in culture, museums, arts, and creative industries, while Saudi Arabia is experiencing a vast transformation which it is reshaping its culture, tourism, entertainment, and sports sectors.

Therefore, the new partnership is not based on transferring a ready-made model from Paris to Riyadh, but rather on blending French expertise with the new Saudi project. This is what makes culture in the relations between the two countries more than a "soft file"; it is one of the tools through which to build a new economy, introduce peoples to one another, and forge shared interests that are not easily affected by changing political files.

Past to future

For nearly a century, Saudi-French relations have progressed through multiple stages: from the initial diplomatic representation to the historic meeting between King Faisal and de Gaulle, followed by expansion into the economy and defense, culminating in a new vision for partnership during the reign of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

Today, Riyadh does not go to Paris merely to speak of the past, but rather of a future city, a new museum, a tourist destination, an advanced creative and technological industry, an energy project, and a long-term investment.

Within this transformation lies one of the clearest characteristics of the Saudi-French relationship: the bridge that began with culture now carries the economy, politics, and technology along with it.