Latest news with #Carnac
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Malay Mail
Unesco adds mysterious Carnac menhirs and Morbihan megaliths to World Heritage list
PARIS, July 14 — The UN's cultural organisation on Saturday included the megaliths of Carnac and the banks of Morbihan, a vast area including famous alignments of menhirs in western France, on its World Heritage List. Erected over more than two millennia during the Neolithic period, they cover an area of 1,000 km² with more than 550 monuments spread across the Morbihan region. Among them are the Carnac alignments, with long straight avenues of menhirs — 'long stones' in Breton — of different sizes, whose origin and purpose remain a mystery. They are visited each year by close to 300,000 people. These megaliths 'constitute an exceptional testimony to the technical sophistication and skill of Neolithic communities, enabling them to extract, transport, and manipulate monumental stones and earth to create a complex symbolic space that reveals a specific relationship of populations with their environment,' UNESCO said. Carnac's inclusion takes the total number of French sites on the heritage list to 54. Making the UNESCO's heritage list often sparks a lucrative tourism drive, and can unlock funding for the preservation of sites. — AFP
Euronews
3 days ago
- Euronews
German castles and French megaliths become UNESCO World Heritage Sites
UNESCO has added several new sites to the World Heritage list after reviewing applications that required extensive research and presentation processes. Among them were several European sites, including the famous fairytale castles of Bavaria's King Ludwig II, the megalithic Carnac stones in northwestern France and the Minoan Palatial centres on the Greek island of Crete. Fairy tale castles At its meeting in Paris, the World Heritage Commission decided to elevate the German Neuschwanstein Castle, Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof and the royal house at Schachen to World Heritage status. The magnificent castles in Upper Bavaria have been attracting numerous tourists for over 140 years. The buildings of King Ludwig II (1845-1886) attracted over 1.7 million visitors last year alone - including many international guests, particularly from the USA and Asian countries. "The inclusion of the palaces on the World Heritage List is an outstanding honour for these impressive places," said the President of the German UNESCO Commission, Maria Böhmer. "They are all architectural masterpieces and bear witness to the artistic imagination, but also the eccentricity of the fairytale king." Germany previously had 54 UNESCO World Heritage Sites - including the old towns of Stralsund and Wismar, Cologne Cathedral, the Wadden Sea and the Roman border fortifications of the Limes. Ancient structures The French Carnac megaliths and the Greek Minoan Palatial centres are both structures from antiquity. The Carnac Stones are a dense collection of megalithic sites near the South coast of Bretagne, dating from from 4500–3300 BC. The Minoan Palatial centres, including Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Zakros, Zominthos and Kydonia, were key hubs of the Bronze Age Minoan civilisation, which flourished between 2800 and 1100 BCE. The World Heritage inscription recognises the sites' historical significance, architectural integrity and the existence of a comprehensive protection and management framework. Cultural prestige Although the World Heritage title does not bring any financial support, it does ensure further international attention and cultural prestige. World Heritage status is also accompanied by UNESCO requirements that are intended to benefit the local population in particular, who are burdened by the influx of tourists. Among other things, the organisation requires a concept for effective visitor management in order to better control mass tourism. The consequences of disregarding UNESCO guidelines were demonstrated in 2009 in Dresden's Elbe Valley, where a new bridge led to the withdrawal of World Heritage status. The construction of the so-called Waldschlösschenbrücke bridge was considered to be detrimental to the "outstanding universal value" of the cultural landscape. It was the first time that UNESCO had removed a European World Heritage site from the list. Italy has 60 listed sites, the most of any country. Some notable examples include the historic centres of Rome, Florence, and Naples, the archaeological sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the Amalfi Coast. Other sites that were added to the World Heritage list this week include three locations used by Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime as torture and execution sites 50 years ago. The inscription coincided with the 50th anniversary of the rise to power by the communist Khmer Rouge government, which caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians through starvation, torture and mass executions during a four-year reign from 1975 to 1979. UNESCO's World Heritage List lists sites considered important to humanity and includes the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India and Cambodia's Angkor archaeological complex.
Hans India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Renaming Carnac bridge as 'Sindoor Bridge' erases traces of black history: Maha CM
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday that renaming the Carnac bridge as 'Sindoor Bridge' will erase the traces of its black history as Carnac was a British governor who deceived and tortured Indians. He inaugurated an important link connecting the port area along P.D'Mello Road in the south of Mumbai city and the commercial areas of Crawford Market, Kalbadevi, Dhobi Talao from the east to the west via the railway. The bridge was known as Carnac bridge for last 150 years. Chief Minister Fadnavis in his speech said that the name of Carnac bridge was changed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the dark incidents in history should end and their traces must be erased. "After the Pahalgam attack, the Indian Army went into Pakistan and destroyed terrorist camps through Operation Sindoor. India showed that it can enter Pakistan and destroy terrorist camps. I am happy that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation named the bridge after Operation Sindoor, which is considered by everyone to be the incomparable performance of the Armed Forces," he added. The total length of this bridge is 342 metres and since it is 70 metres within the railway boundary, the bridge will be very useful for traffic in Mumbai, he remarked. CM Fadnavis congratulated the entire team of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation for the excellent construction of the historic Carnac bridge in a short time by overcoming the problems of congestion and being a bridge over the railway. The Sindoor Bridge will be dedicated to the people of Mumbai and it was opened for traffic from 3 p.m. on Thursday. "The Sindoor bridge is an important bridge for traffic between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Masjid Bunder and Mohammad Ali Marg in South Mumbai. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has reconstructed this bridge to maintain the existing route connecting the east and west areas of Masjid Bunder. The construction of the Sindoor bridge has been done as per the plan approved by the Central Railway Administration," the Chief Minister said. The reconstruction of the bridge will provide facilities for east-west traffic, which has been disrupted for about 10 years. The bridge will help reduce traffic congestion on P D'Mello Road, especially at the intersection of Walchand Hirachand Road and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road. The reconstruction of the bridge will ease traffic on Yusuf Mehar Ali Road, Mohammad Ali Road, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Road, Kazi Syed Road, the government statement said.
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
CM Devendra Fadnavis opens new Carnac Bridge, rechristened Sindoor Bridge: ‘Must wipe pages of India's black history'
Nearly three years after the old structure was razed, the new Carnac Bridge — now rechristened Sindoor Bridge after the 'Operation Sindoor' — was opened to the public by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai on Thursday. A key east-west connector linking Masjid with P D Mello Road, the Sindoor Bridge will ease vehicular congestion in South Mumbai's commercial hubs. Built in 1868, the erstwhile Carnac Bridge was amongst the oldest bridges in Mumbai and was named after Sir James Rivett-Carnac, who served as the Governor of Bombay from 1839 to 1841. CM Fadnavis, during the inauguration, said that the bridge had been renamed after the success of Operation Sindoor to erase the pages of India's black history where the then Governor Carnac had unleashed a series of atrocities against Indians. 'For many years, this bridge was known as Carnac Bridge after the then British governor Carnac. However, if we look at the history of Governor Carnac, he carried out a lot of atrocities against Indians. In the historic account of Satara written by Prabodhankar Thackeray, a chapter on Satara's Pratap Singh Raje Chhatrapati and Rango Bapu illustrates how Carnac had made multiple attempts to trap Chhatrapati in a conspiracy. We must wipe the pages of India's black history, including Carnac who has carried out atrocities against Indians. Therefore, we decided to change the name of this atrocious governor and rename it after Operation Sindoor,' he said. 'Operation Sindoor showed our strength, and Indian forces destroyed terrorist sites and air bases with precision,' he added. In 2022, the old structure was pulled down after a structural audit deemed the British-era bridge unsafe for daily traffic. Following this, the civic body commenced works on the reconstruction of a longer and wider bridge, which was completed by June 13. However, its opening had been delayed for over a month as the No Objection Certificate from Central Railway and some final works like installation of lights and signage were pending. The delay has led to a joint protest by Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on July 2. Earlier, The Indian Express had reported that the proposal to rename the bridge after Operation Sindoor was floated by Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar, who wrote a letter to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Narvekar, along with Maharashtra's Minister of Skill, Employment, Entrepreneurship, and Innovations, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, and senior officials of BMC, including civic chief Bhushan Gagrani, were also present during the inauguration ceremony. The Sindoor Bridge has a total length of 328 metres, of which nearly 70 metres is within the Railways' jurisdiction. While the old bridge catered to two-lane traffic, the new bridge will consist of four vehicular lanes, facilitating twice the vehicular flow and smoother movement. By linking the port area with commercial hubs of Crawford Market, Kalbadevi and Dhobi Talao, the connector will ease traffic along the Yusuf Mehrally road, Mohammad Ali road, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel road among others.
NDTV
6 days ago
- NDTV
Pre-Historic Caves, Forests Among Sites Vying For UNESCO Heritage Spot
France: The United Nation's cultural organisation announces its choice of sites for inclusion in its world heritage list this week, with pre-historic caves, former centres of repression, forests, marine bio-systems and others vying for the coveted spots. Making the UNESCO's heritage list often sparks a lucrative tourism drive, and can unlock funding for the preservation of sites that can face threats including pollution, war and negligence. Climate change is another growing problem for world heritage sites, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay told Monday's opening session of the body's World Heritage Committee. "Close to three quarters of world heritage sites are already faced with serious water-related risks, lack of water or floods," she said. Governments failing to ensure adequate protection of their sites risk them being added to UNESCO's endangered sites list -- which currently contains over 50 names -- or dropped from the list altogether. Armed conflict is the reason for about half of the downgrades to the endangered sites list, Azoulay said. Many of such problem areas are located in the Middle East. The current world heritage list contains 1,223 cultural, natural or mixed sites. Of the organisation's 196 member states, 27 are absent from the list, including several African nations. Two of them -- Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone -- hope this will change this year, as they pitch the Bijagos islands and Gola-Tiwai wildlife reserves, respectively, to UNESCO. UNESCO has been seeking to boost Africa's presence on the heritage list, officials say. "Since her arrival in 2018, Audrey Azoulay has made Africa not just her own priority, but one of UNESCO's overall priorities," said Lazare Eloundou Assomo, who heads up the organisation's world heritage centre. "We're starting to see very positive results." Sub-Saharan Africa's listings have risen from 93 to 108 in recent years, but the continent continues to be under-represented on a global scale. This year, Cameroon is hoping for a spot for its Mandara mountains, while Malawi is pitching Mount Mulanje. Among the candidates from elsewhere, a number of competing sites go back to pre-historic times, such as the Carnac stones in western France, and rock carvings along the Bangucheon Stream in South Korea. Among intangible sites, Cambodia hopes for an inclusion of former "centres of repression" established during the Khmer Rouge's 1970s rule, which have since become places of "peace and reflection", according to UNESCO.
