UNESCO Adds Odesa to World Heritage List
UNESCO has designated Odesa, a port city in southern Ukraine, a World Heritage site in a move that is expected to help preserve the city's cultural heritage amidst the ongoing war. Soon after adding Odesa (also spelled Odessa) to the list, UNESCO (which stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) immediately classified the site as "in danger."
"Odesa, a free city, a world city, a legendary port that has left its mark on cinema, literature and the arts, is thus placed under the reinforced protection of the international community," Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s director general, said in a statement. "While the war continues, this inscription embodies our collective determination to ensure that this city, which has always surmounted global upheavals, is preserved from further destruction."
Ukraine now has eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including cities Lviv, Kyiv, and Odesa. President Volodymyr Zelensky officially submitted Odesa in October 2022, saying the status was vital to protect the nation's cultural heritage.
"Given daily threats of Russian strikes we must provide a clear signal that the world will not turn a blind eye to the destruction of our common history, our common culture, our common heritage," Zelensky said in his video submission, asking UNESCO to fast-track the process for the designation. "One of the steps for this should be the preservation of the historical centre of Odesa —a beautiful city, an important port of the Black Sea and an important source of culture for millions of people in different countries."
UNESCO has already mobilized in Ukraine to protect heritage sites, including helping to repair the Odesa Museum of Fine Arts and the Odesa Museum of Modern Art and providing funding to help digitize the Odesa State Archives. According to the organization, at least 236 cultural sites in Ukraine have been damaged since the Russian invasion in 2022.
Since the invasion, Odesa has been trying to protect its history. "We covered all our monuments with sandbags, but it is difficult to ensure complete security. For example, a blast from a rocket that was shot down damaged an architectural monument, the Vorontsov Palace on Prymorskyi Boulevard, part of the roof was destroyed, and the windows were smashed out," Gennady Trukhanov, the Mayor of Odesa, said in an interview.
"We have a very difficult job ahead of us," Trukhanov added, "We need to create a body to monitor the preservation of our cultural heritage."
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