Work at Babylon Featured in New York Times 2010 was an excellent year for World Monuments Fund's project in Babylon, Iraq. The Future of Babylon project received a boost in November when the U.S. State Department contributed an additional $2 million to the project. In early January, The New York Times ran a front-page story about the conservation efforts of WMF and the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage at the site. A video story accompanying the printed feature can be viewed on our website.
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Machiya Project Completed in Kyoto The first phase of World Monuments Fund's Kyoto Machiya Initiative was recently completed. An individual machiya--a historic wooden townhouse--in Kyoto was restored using traditional construction methods and materials. The building is now used as a community resource center for machiya owners. New machiya construction has been banned since World War II, so machiya owners can learn a great deal about sensitively restoring their own homes through this new center. The public opening of the restored structure generated a great deal of publicity, with stories running in the major regional and national newspapers.
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Subotica Synagogue's Roof Repaired Over the past decade, World Monuments Fund has supported documentation and restoration efforts at Subotica Synagogue in Serbia, an important Art Nouveau structure built in the early 20th century. The synagogue was on the 1996, 2000, 2002, and 2006 Watch lists, and since 1999 WMF has committed more than $200,000 to the conservation of the structure. In November 2010, all of the restoration work on the roof surfaces--including its water drainage system, central dome, and cupolas--was completed, rendering the structure waterproof after years of chronic leakage.
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National Park for Dolmens Created in Jordan
A new archaeological park in the Jordan Valley will save hundreds of dolmens from destruction. Intensive quarrying in the area threatened to obliterate these Early Bronze Age tombs, which led to the inclusion of the Damiya Dolmen Field on our 2010 Watch. The new Damiya Dolmen Archaeological Park, announced in December by Jordan's Department of Antiquities, will protect dozens of dolmens in situ, and 23 others within the development concession will be relocated to the new park to spare them from destruction. |