WMF lists quake-hit Antakya among endangered sites

WMF lists quake-hit Antakya among endangered sites

HATAY
WMF lists quake-hit Antakya among endangered sites

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has listed Hatay's Antakya district among 25 of the world’s endangered sites for 2025, citing the damage from the Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes that caused massive destruction in the country’s south as a serious danger to the preservation of cultural assets in the district.

Marking the deadliest disaster in the nation’s modern history, the twin earthquakes affected the country’s 11 southern provinces, resulting in a death toll of more than 50,000 and causing extensive damage to many culturally significant structures in the affected region.

In Hatay, an epicenter of extensive structural damage, an estimated one in two buildings either collapsed or sustained severe destruction.

A wide range of historical structures sustained extensive damage, especially in the city’s renowned and historic Antakya district, endangering its rich and vibrant cultural heritage.

These structures include a number of Christian places of worship, such as the Protestant Church and the historic Greek Orthodox St. Paul's Church, prompting most of the members of the community to leave the city and migrate to the neighboring provinces of Mersin and Adana.

As the site of civilizations, cultures and religions for centuries, the historic district’s Antakya Synagogue also sustained damage, along with the first mosque built on Anatolian land, the Habib-i Neccar Mosque.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry, however, is currently making great strides to bring the district’s various cultural assets back to life, including the iconic Hatay Archaeology Museum, though the historic town still remains at risk, as stated by WMF.

In an unconventional move, WMF’s list also included a celestial object for the first time.

Naming the Moon as one of the endangered sites, the monument conservation group cited the growing number of commercial space flights as a potential threat to Earth’s only natural satellite.