Syrian-Russian cooperation on the restoration of the Arch of Triumph in Palmyra

The Minister of Culture Lubana Mshawweh on Tuesday received a delegation of Russian academics to discuss Syrian-Russian cooperation in the field of urgent preservation, protection and restoration of antiquities.

The Russian delegation was led by Natalia Solovyova, Deputy Director of the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The talks were held within the framework of the Syrian-Russian joint meeting that follows up on the activities of the International Conference on the Return of Syrian Refugees.

 The two sides discussed the agreement signed between the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums and the Russian Academy of Sciences which provides for exchanging expertise, information and documents in the field of antiquities, particularly the protection and preservation of the archaeological heritage.

Mshawweh and Solovyova stressed keenness on cooperation in restoring the Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, which is a very important archaeological landmark, not only for Syria, but for all human civilization.

“This cooperation will be achieved through an enlarged committee that consists of experts from Syria and Russia as well as international experts under the supervision of UNESCO in a way that supports the file submitted by Syria about the work carried out by Syrian authorities, archaeologists and experts to remove Palmyra and the Arch of Triumph from the list of World Heritage in Danger,” Mshawweh said.

The Russian delegation talked about the importance of the Arch of Triumph for the Russian people and that it is an architectural model in many Russian churches and buildings, besides the fact that its image appears on the cover of one of their school books depicting this architectural style adopted in the Arch of Triumph.

Hamda Mustafa