Heritage Alert – historic city of Bucharest, Romania

Paris, 18 April 2014

ICOMOS, through its International Scientific Committee on Historic Towns and Villages (CIVVIH) and its Romanian National Committee, has expressed its strong concerns about the safeguarding of the heritage of the historic city of Bucharest in a letter addressed to the highest authorities in the Romanian national government, the Romanian Ministry of Culture and the Bucharest city administration on Friday 18 April 2014, the International Day for Monuments and Sites.

Concerned about the degradation of Bucharest’s architectural and cultural heritage through demolitions, abandonment of historic buildings, unsustainable urban development and inappropriate rehabilitation measures, ICOMOS calls on the Romanian authorities, among other measures, to halt such demolitions and destructions, and offers its assistance in developing local strategies for the preservation of Bucharest’s architectural heritage through sustainable social and economic development and integrated conservation, and in cases of sensitive technical issues or difficult planning constraints that threaten the built heritage.