during the first jewish roman war in 70 ce the roman army plundered and destroyed the second
temple in jerusalem thousands of chinese historical sites were destroyed during
mao zedong's cultural revolution and during world war ii numerous important cultural sites were
destroyed in both europe and asia in 1942 royal opera house in valletta malta was destroyed and in
1945 the united states hollowed out the prefecture industrial promotional hall in hiroshima japan
the reaction to the carnage was the 1954 hague convention on the protection of cultural property
in the event of military conflict these regulations were bolstered in 1977 by adding
additional protocols to the geneva conventions of 1949 effectively turning the targeting of
heritage sites into war crimes unfortunately that didn't stop the armed groups from intentionally
targeting them however our cultural heritage sites are threatened by much more than war
lack of resources training poverty as well as economic development are all part of a problem
10. the minaret of the great mosque of aleppo in syria in 1986 the ancient city of aleppo was
inscribed on the unesco world heritage list for its rare and authentic arab architectural style
and as a homage to the city's technological social and cultural advancements from the mamluk period
the great mosque of aleppo one of the city's foremost heritage areas was constructed
between the 8th and 13th centuries the mosque traditionally believed to hold the remains of the
father of john the baptist the prophet zechariah was one of aleppo's oldest and largest mosques
situated within the old city walls the great mosque's minareta tall tower from which cry calls
muslims to daily prayer was built in the 11th century the great mosque in the heart of aleppo's
ancient city had already been severely damaged by fire due to heavy fighting by october 2012
however the minaret was totally demolished in 2013 amid continued attacks during the syrian civil war
to date the cause of the tower's ultimate collapse is still unknown anti-government forces were
occupying the mosque at the time and syrian president bashar al-assad's regime pinned
the blame on fighters from an al-qaeda-linked faction while rebels reported that incoming
syrian army fire had destroyed the site 9. annie carls province in turkey at the turn of the 10th
century the bagratiid armenian kingdom featured one of the largest cities in the world annie also
known as the city of a thousand churches and it had such magnificent and artistic splendor that
its nickname led not only to its legendary status but ultimately also to its devastation in 1064 any
was invaded by the seljuk turco persian forces who in turn slaughtered thousands of ethnic armenians
and raised the city to the ground for the next 150 years what remained of the once glorious
city slowly limped along until 1236 when it was plundered by the mongols while little remained
of annie was obliterated by an earthquake in 1319 and eventually abandoned in 1735.
today it is a haunting mysterious city that stands alone on a plateau in northeast turkey's vastly
populated hills 45 kilometers from the turkish border despite its deterioration annie remains one
of the most important sites of armenian heritage in the world number 8. the gates of nineveh in
iraq at its peak around 700 bc nineveh was the world's largest city in one of the new assyrian
empire's most valuable capitals the spectacular city contained several temples as well as king
santa cherub's legendary 80 room palace all within a 12 kilometer long wall adorned with 15 gates
each gate is thought to have served a specific purpose the mash key gate also known as the gate
of watering places is considered to be the principal gate to lead livestock to and from
the tigris river the adad gate was named after the ancient mesopotamian weather and stormgod a
babylonian alliance sacked the city around 612 bc and for hundreds of years its remains stood
as testimony to its former glory during the 20th century the two gates finally
underwent restoration projects and were rebuilt standing once again as rare and valuable symbols
a testimony to the ancient rich heritage of mosul as part of an ongoing crusade against historical
monuments and cultural artifacts isis demolished both of these gates and a large portion of the
city's ancient fortification wall in 2016. although first reports of its destruction
could not be verified chi images and satellite imagery confirmed its destruction in a matter
of weeks number 7. temple of bell at palmyra in syria the city of palmyra in syria was one of
the most sensational cities on the ancient silk road influenced by both greco-roman culture and
mesopotamian spirituality early palmarine wealth was channeled into art monuments and architecture
including the temple of baal shamin and the temple of bell when the country erupted in civil war in
2011 historians and archaeologists alike began to fear that palmyra would become one of the war's
casualties and they were 100 correct isil fighters launched a massive attack on the ancient city in
2015 blowing up the temples of balshamin and bell in an act that unesco defined as a deliberate war
crime the temple's decimation was a devastating cultural loss the temple of bell in particular
was an incredibly important religious site in palmyra in antiquity built during the first
century and dedicated to the mesopotamian god bell or baal the temple boasted over a
thousand columns as well as a roman aqueduct and over 500 ancient tombs number six buddhas
of bamiyan in afghanistan the buddhas of bamiyan were the world's tallest buddha monuments the
biggest one carved into a mountainside during the 6th century stood over 170 feet tall the buddhas
rapidly developed a reputation as a sacred site when xuanzang a chinese traveler reported tens of
thousands of monks gathering around the monuments around 629 a.d the buddhas however were bombed
over several weeks by the taliban during 2001 after muhammad umar afghanistan's spiritual leader
ordered it demolished after the bamiyan buddha's destruction afghan authorities unesco and the
world community decided to make every effort to protect afghanistan's rich historical and cultural
heritage which bears witness to millennia of social and cultural exchanges due to the
acute frailty of the niches the shortage of a comprehensive management system and continued
reservations surrounding security and safety the cultural landscape and historic remains of the
bamiyan valley were designated on both the world heritage list and the list of world heritage in
danger in 2003. number five imperial library of constantinople in istanbul turkey constantinople
was one of the most prosperous and wealthiest capitals throughout the eastern roman empire in
fact it was so majestic that its imperial library was one of the last great libraries in the world
within ancient greek and roman manuscripts were safely preserved while it also hosted a
scriptorium to duplicate ancient texts at a time when instability and turmoil sparked
their catastrophic destruction in europe and africa although it is a lesser-known fact it is
truly devastating to note that most of the greek classics in existence today are duplicates from
the once great imperial library in 1204 during the fourth crusade most of the library was destroyed
with its last vestiges completely demolished in 1453 after constantinople fell to the ottoman
empire rumors of manuscripts said to have survived the ottoman era often make the rounds however none
of them have ever been discovered number four the monuments of timbuktu mali timbuktu was the hub
of north african trade for several centuries trading in ivory salt gold and even slaves in
addition to these and other commodities timbuktu also played a major role in scholarship and its
libraries amassed hundreds of thousands of islamic manuscripts over time in 1988 the ancient cultural
and artistic center was listed as a unesco world heritage site nonetheless as islamist radicals
gained courage and became bolder in the 1990s and 2000s they concentrated their hatred on timbuktu
condemning its shrines as shining examples of idolatry in 2012 several of the city's landmarks
were destroyed by the terrorist group ansar dain the dejingerba mosque constructed during the reign
of mansammusa in the 14th century was severely damaged and 14 mausoleums as well as numerous
residence tombs were destroyed the revered city are a mosque door which many regional residents
believed would stay sealed until the apocalypse was also demolished the terrorists returned for
timbuktu's books the following year but thanks to the valiant efforts of the librarian abdul qaeda
haidara and many others the bulk of them were safely smuggled from the city before the raid
just four thousand two hundred and two of the city's seven hundred thousand priceless
manuscripts were lost number three the palace and temple of tenochtitlan in mexico tennochitlan was
the aztec empire's capital it was the largest city in the new world and was established on an island
on lake tex coco very few cities could compare to tener chitlin at its peak in fact only
constantinople paris and venice were actually larger when looking at the european cities
existing during the same era causeways linked to the city to the mainland and all had bridges
that could be withdrawn if the city came under threat the city housed the palace of montezuma the
templo mayor temple complex an aquarium zoos and even botanical gardens the magnificent city was
devastated after a three-month-long siege in 1519 when spanish forces led by hernan cortes invaded
tenochtitlan the city was leveled by cortes men who also captured the aztec empire apart from
ruining the city the palace and the temple were also demolished after which the spanish erected
a colonial city and a cathedral on top of it today the ruins of tenochtitlan can be found
in the historic center of mexico city a world heritage site preserves the remaining geography
floating gardens vessels water of the ancient capital 2. imperial gardens in beijing china the
imperial gardens established in the 18th century served as the residences of the qing dynasties
emperors it was an 860 acre complex of halls lakes pavilions palaces and gardens approximately eight
times the size of vatican city it held one of the world's most extensive and exquisite
art collections which included unique copies of compositions and manuscripts british and french
troops were ordered to destroy the site in 1860 after two british enboys were massacred despite
the chinese government's efforts the majority of the site's remaining artifacts remain in private
collections the few buildings that did survive the 20th century were pilfered for construction
materials by locals and the communists eager to remove any sign of china's colonial history
during the cultural revolution the meeting finally ended in the 1980s when the government classified
the old summer palace as a historical site art collectors and chinese historians are currently
doing their best to reconstruct the splendor of the pillaged remains either through the purchase
of stolen artifacts at auctions or through digital renderings even so the ruins of the old
summer palace remain a sore spot on beijing's landscape and on china's collective psyche
1. the desecration of baghdad iraq the abbasid calips used baghdad as their capital from the
8th century during this period also referred to as the golden age of islam iraq had canal systems in
place to support its agriculture and baghdad had a sophisticated culture was a leading educational
hub and was home to numerous hospitals mosques palaces and libraries unfortunately in 1248
genghis khan's grandson monkey became the mongols great khan and vowed to spread his supremacy to
the middle east and if possible to syria and egypt within 10 years mesopotamia was invaded by
mongol hordes led by his brother hugu the house of wisdom and the grand library was demolished as the
mongols captured and destroyed the city according to ancient reports the survivors of the event
claimed that the tigris changed color and turned black due to the massive quantities of books that
the mongols threw into it to this day baghdad has never been restored to its former glory in
fact the mongol desecration of baghdad in 1258 is said to have marked the end of islam's golden age
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