Machu Picchu in Peru. (source: TASR)
Ancient ruins of the Peruvian town of Machu Picchu, Antonio Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia cathedral in Spain, and Lietava Castle in Slovakia are among 93 cultural heritage sites around the world marked as threatened due to neglect or needing preservation, said the World Monuments Fund (WMF) at the beginning of October.
The list of threatened monuments for 2010 prepared by WMF includes sites in 47 countries such as the remote Phajoding monastery in Bhutan, an elementary school in New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and bridges arching over the Merritt Parkway in the US state of Connecticut. Other than Austria, where a housing estate in the Vienna region of Leinz built in the 1930s made the list, none of Slovakia’s neighbouring countries were represented.
Lietava Castle lies between the municipalities of Lietava and Lietavská Svinná, near the city of Žilina. It was built in 1241 and has a beautiful view of the surrounding country. A civic association which gained ownership of the castle in 2008 is attempting conservation and a partial reconstruction of the castle.
The list was launched in the mid 1990s when preservationists wanted to draw attention to historical or unique sites endangered by neglect, vandalism, wars or natural disasters.
