Chancellerie d'Orleans Project Set to Begin

On July 12, an agreement was signed in Paris between WMF, the French Ministry of Culture, and the Banque de France to restore, reinstall, and reopen to the public the interiors of the Chancellerie d'Orleans. In storage since the early 1920s, the interiors of this famous hôtel particulier were among the celebrated in eighteenth-century Paris. Designed by Charles de Wailly and decorated by a number of famous artists--including Pajou, Fragonard, Gouthière, Durameau, and Lagrenée--these remarkable interiors will soon be visible once again. 

Conservation of Villa dei Vescovi Completed 

Work Begins to Conserve Babylon Temple

After a significant period of planning and documentation, hands-on conservation work is beginning at the 2,500-year-old Nabu-sha-Khare Temple at Babylon. Workers cleared vegetation and removed razor wire left from the military occupation of the site before erecting scaffolding at the building to begin conservation work.

On July 15, Juan Ossio, Peru's Minister of Culture, and Marcela Pérez de Cuéllar, the president of WMF's Peru committee, opened the first phase of a new tourist circuit through Huaca de la Luna, a major Moche site near Trujillo. The entire network of walkways, allowing visitors close-up looks at this extremely fragile adobe site, will be completed in 2015. WMF has been involved at Huaca de la Luna since 2002 and in 2009 provided $1 million in support of conservation, interpretation, research, training, and the development of a management plan to support the nomination of the site to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

This summer, three trainees affiliated with YouthBuild and the Abyssinian Development Corporation in Harlem, New York City, are participating in a two-month training program in the conservation of earthen architecture in Chile's Arica province. The students are working at the Church of San Pedro in Esquiña, under the supervision of professionals from the Fundación Altiplano, on the third stage of a WMF-funded restoration project at the church.

2010 Watch Update: Craco, Italy  

Two years after the historic center of Craco, Italy, was listed on the World Monuments Watch, the first stage of a new visitation route through the abandoned hill town has been implemented. In addition, cultural activities including concerts, exhibitions, and film screenings are planned for area. The municipality has secured regional and EU support for this effort, a great example of how an abandoned hill town--of which there are many in Italy--can become an attractive and vibrant cultural center.