Syrian Castle among Quake-Hit Ancient Sites at Risk

In this file photo taken on February 7, 2023, the minaret of the Ayyubid mosque inside Aleppo's ancient citadel is cracked following a deadly earthquake that shook Syria. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on February 7, 2023, the minaret of the Ayyubid mosque inside Aleppo's ancient citadel is cracked following a deadly earthquake that shook Syria. (AFP)
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Syrian Castle among Quake-Hit Ancient Sites at Risk

In this file photo taken on February 7, 2023, the minaret of the Ayyubid mosque inside Aleppo's ancient citadel is cracked following a deadly earthquake that shook Syria. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on February 7, 2023, the minaret of the Ayyubid mosque inside Aleppo's ancient citadel is cracked following a deadly earthquake that shook Syria. (AFP)

Zuhair Hassoun examines worrying cracks in a Crusader-era castle in Syria, a UNESCO World Heritage site that survived centuries of conflict only to be badly damaged by last month's deadly earthquake.

Hassoun, the custodian of the Fortress of Saladin, an architectural treasure with Byzantine roots in the 10th century rebuilt by Frankish Crusaders in the 12th century, walked carefully past fissured walls and crumbling arches.

"All of the fortress's towers are in danger," Hassoun said, warning that one had already fallen after the quake.

Other parts "will inevitably collapse", he said, adding that it was only "a question of time".

The hilltop fortress surrounded by forest was among dozens of cultural heritage sites that officials say were damaged in the devastating 7.8-magnitude quake that hit Türkiye and Syria on February 6.

More than 50,000 people were killed in the disaster, almost 6,000 of them in Syria.

Ancient sites damaged included the Syrian city of Aleppo's famed citadel and Old City.

Dozens of sites damaged

The Fortress of Saladin has been on the United Nations' World Heritage List since 2006, and on the list of World Heritage in Danger since 2013, two years after the start of Syria's civil war.

But the castle, in western Syria's mostly government-held province of Latakia, scraped through the conflict unscathed and was still open to the public -- until last month's quake.

Hassoun said he feared that aftershocks or even heavy rain could cause further damage to the site, whose main facade is now cracked from top to bottom.

"Every (stone) slab weighs at least a ton," he said. "Any part of the fortress that falls into the valley can never be retrieved."

The earthquake hit one of the longest continuously inhabited areas on the planet within the so-called Fertile Crescent home to ancient civilizations including the Sumerians and Phoenicians.

This rich history has left behind a plethora of archaeological sites, many of them thousands of years old.

At the national museum in the capital Damascus, the head of the antiquities and museums department pored over a map of quake-stricken Syrian heritage locations, including in areas outside government control.

"We have identified more than 40 damaged sites," Nazir Awad said, noting that the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia and Tartus were badly affected.

"The Citadel of Aleppo and the Old City recorded the worst damage," he added.

The day of the quake, AFP photographers saw damage in Aleppo to parts of the citadel, including to a minaret of a mosque at the World Heritage site.

UNESCO, in a preliminary assessment, cited "significant damage" to the citadel and said the western tower of the old city wall had collapsed, while several buildings in the souks had been weakened.

'Urgent intervention'

Some Syrian heritage sites "require urgent intervention so we don't lose priceless historical treasures", Awad said.

He called for "international quake experts" to assess damage across the country, citing reports of "severe damage" to several sites in rebel-held areas.

An AFP photographer saw heavy damage to the Saint Simeon Stylites monastery -- an ancient Christian pilgrimage site named after a famous hermit -- in northern Aleppo province, an area controlled by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham extremist group.

In the north of neighboring Idlib province, some of the walls and courtyard arches of a centuries-old castle in the border town of Harim had collapsed, another AFP correspondent said.

Firas Mansour, a teacher and antiquities enthusiast in Harim, one of Syria's worst-affected areas where dozens of buildings crumpled as residents slept, said he was not surprised that modern buildings had been destroyed.

"But for a castle that withstood centuries of stress to collapse, it is shocking and sad," he said.



Maldives President Holds Record 15-hour Press Conference

This handout photograph taken and released by the Maldives President Office on May 3, 2025 shows Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu speaking during a marathon press conference in Male. (Photo by Maldives President Office / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Maldives President Office on May 3, 2025 shows Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu speaking during a marathon press conference in Male. (Photo by Maldives President Office / AFP)
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Maldives President Holds Record 15-hour Press Conference

This handout photograph taken and released by the Maldives President Office on May 3, 2025 shows Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu speaking during a marathon press conference in Male. (Photo by Maldives President Office / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Maldives President Office on May 3, 2025 shows Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu speaking during a marathon press conference in Male. (Photo by Maldives President Office / AFP)

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu addressed a press conference for nearly 15 hours, his office said on Sunday, claiming it broke a previous record held by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
Muizzu, 46, began the marathon press conference at 10:00 am (0500 GMT) on Saturday, and it continued for 14 hours and 54 minutes with brief pauses for prayers, his office said in a statement.
"The conference extended past midnight -- a new world record by a president -- with President Muizzu continuously responding to questions from journalists," the statement said.
In October 2019, Ukraine's National Records Agency claimed that Zelensky's 14-hour press conference had broken an earlier record of over seven hours held by Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko, AFP said.
The government of the Indian Ocean archipelago said Muizzu's extended session was also intended to coincide with World Press Freedom Day on Saturday.
"He acknowledged the crucial role of the press in society and emphasized the importance of factual, balanced, and impartial reporting," the statement added.
During the lengthy session, Muizzu also responded to questions submitted by members of the public via journalists.
The statement said Muizzu, who came to power in 2023, was also marking his island nation's rise by two places to 104th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
During Saturday's session, he answered a wide range of questions, the statement said.
Around two dozen reporters attended and were served food.
A predecessor of Muizzu set another world record by holding the first-ever underwater cabinet meeting in 2009, to highlight the threat of rising sea levels that could swamp the low-lying nation.
Former president Mohamed Nasheed plunged into the Indian Ocean followed by his ministers, all in scuba gear, for a nationally televised meeting.
The Maldives is on the frontline of the battle against global warming, which could raise sea levels and swamp the nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered across the equator.