Venice and Budapest have so far escaped being listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in danger

Venice / Budapest – The Italian city of Venice and the Hungarian capital Budapest have so far escaped being added to the UNESCO list of endangered sites, which can be a precursor to the removal of a site from the organization's World Heritage List. This decision was made by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which is currently meeting in the Chinese city of Fuzhou, as reported today by the DPA agency. The last-minute inclusion of Venice on the endangered sites list was averted by the Italian government, which approved another decree last week banning large cruise ships from sailing through the city center.

"Thanks to the government's decision to prevent large ships from sailing near St. Mark's Square and along the Giudecca Canal, we have achieved the first but important victory," the Italian Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini was quoted by the ANSA agency today. "However, it is the duty of each of us to continue working on the protection of the (Venetian) lagoon," the minister added.

The UNESCO Committee took note of the Italian government’s decree from last week and gave Italy a deadline until December 1, 2022, to submit a further report on its actions to protect the exceptional ecosystem and historical heritage of Venice.

Starting August 1, a ban will be enforced in Venice for ships with a displacement of over 25,000 tons to sail through the Giudecca Canal, which aims to keep vessels away from the historic city center. For the time being, ships will be allowed to anchor at the nearby industrial port of Marghera, as they have been doing since last December.

Local residents, environmentalists, and heritage protectors have been protesting against the entry of large vessels into Venice for years. They point out, among other things, that the waves caused by these gigantic ships threaten the foundations of historical buildings in the city. According to environmentalists, they also damage the lagoon's ecosystem. Venice has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1987.

Budapest has also so far escaped being added to the UNESCO endangered sites list, DPA reported. The Hungarian capital faced this risk partly due to large construction projects, high buildings, inadequate development in the Jewish quarter, and increased traffic.

Being on the list of endangered sites can be a precursor to complete removal from the UNESCO sites list. This has happened three times so far. In 2007, the committee removed the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman because the local government reduced its area by 90 percent. In 2009, the Elbe Valley in Dresden was deleted due to the construction of a modern bridge, and this week the UNESCO committee delisted the city of Liverpool from the World Heritage List because of construction in the area of its historic waterfront.

There are currently around fifty items on the UNESCO list of endangered sites, including, for example, the historic center of Vienna.