Piotrovsky announces agreement to reconstruct monuments damaged by terrorism in Syria

The Russian Ministry of Culture is preparing an agreement with Hermitage Museum and other cultural institutes to reconstruct monuments damaged by terrorism in Syria, the director of the Russian Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg Mikhail Piotrovsky says.

Speaking in a press conference held Thursday in Moscow, Piotrovsky asserted that the recovery of antiquities stolen by terrorist organizations is a ‘matter of honor’. “Palmyra’s antiquities must be restored,”  he said.

 Last month, ISIS terrorists destroyed the façade of the Roman Theatre and the Tetrapylon in ancient Palmyra city [Tadmor]. They recaptured the city in December for the second time after it was liberated by Syrian Arab army and allied forces last March.

The ancient city fell into the hands of ISIS terrorists for the first time in 2015 where tomb towers that date back to various eras extending between 44 and 103 DC, the Temple of Bell, the Temple of Baalshamin, the Lion of al-Lat statue and eight other statues were destroyed by the terrorists.

Basma Qaddour