Experts call for international task force to develop Palmyra recovery plan
Heritage experts have called for the establishment of an international working group to help restore the ancient Syrian city of Palmyria, following the first comprehensive conference on the subject since the end of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2019.
As first reported by UNESCO, international heritage officials, antiquities authorities and Syrian residents gathered in Switzerland last week for a conference organized by UNESCO and the Aliph Foundation. Art Newspaper. The organization later recommended setting up an international working group of experts to work on removing Palmyra from UNESCO’s list of World Heritage in Danger.
Valery Freland, executive director of Aliph, tells us The Art Newspaper Restoration work will focus on the Palmyra Museum; restoration of artifacts currently housed in the Damascus Museum; and restoration of the pedestrian bridge leading to the site. Freland said the team hopes work will begin in January 2026, starting with a search for a museum operator.
Freland hopes to begin these tasks in January 2026, when his team will search for an operator for the museum. He added that the local community would be involved in the museum’s plans.
The Palmyra Museum and other archaeological sites have been vandalized and looted since 2014 by the terrorist group ISIS, which has also destroyed major sites in Syria, Iraq and Libya. As of 2015, at least 41 major cultural heritage and monuments have been damaged, including the Temple of Bel, the Temple of Baalshamin, the Lion of Alat, the Tower of Elabel, and the Arc de Triomphe. In March 2016, the Islamic State was temporarily expelled from Palmyra by Assad’s forces and retook the city in December 2017.
Palmyra is also considered a major source of funding for terrorist groups. Antiquities markets were flooded with artifacts stolen by the Islamic State at the height of its power; efforts to recover these artifacts are ongoing. The end of Syria’s eight-year civil war has reignited international interest in the devastated city, with countries including the United States and Russia proposing plans to aid in the restoration of its archaeological treasures, which in turn could help revive the local economy.
Aliph project manager David Sassine said: “The relationship between ancient sites and modern cities was once a dynamic and economically beneficial one.” The Art Newspaperadding that today “both the archaeological site and the nearby urban area require major restoration to restore and re-establish this connection.”
