by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 10:05 AM ET, Fri January 17, 2025

Climate change. Geopolitical conflicts. Chronic underfunding.?

These are just a few of the reasons the World Monuments Fund chose the 25 world monuments in its 2025 World Monuments Watch¡ªthey all face key threats to their preservation.?

The World Monuments Fund has been publishing its World Monuments Watch every two years since 1996 to build awareness and concern for endangered places. To-date, it¡¯s funded $120 million towards preserving almost 350 sites around the globe.?

The Threat of Conflict and Natural Disaster

The 5th-century Church of Saint Porphyrius is part of the Gaza Historic Urban Fabric that faces destruction from war. (Photo Credit: World Monuments Fund)

Destruction due to wars and natural disasters endanger three of the sites on the list.?

The Kyiv Teacher¡¯s House in Kyiv, Ukraine is where the nation first declared its independence in 1918; today, it¡¯s home to a museum and is a symbol of Ukrainian freedom. It has been damaged from Russian missile strikes during the war.?

The Gaza Historic Urban Fabric in Palestine is a collection of sites that recall the region¡¯s global past, with sites offering glimpses into Roman, Egyptian, Byzantine, Ottoman and other groups¡¯ impact on the region. As of March of last year, 63 percent of Gaza¡¯s historical sites had been damaged, with 31 percent completely destroyed. These include important places of worship, such as historic mosques and what is thought to be one of the oldest active churches in the world, dating back to the 400s.?

The Historic City of Antakya in Turkiye faced a devastating earthquake in 2023, in which 90 percent of it was damaged or destroyed. The city, once called Antioch, is an important historical place for both Roman and early Christian history, and was a place where people of all faiths coexisted peacefully.?

The Threat of Climate Change

The Historic Lighthouses of Maine face the threat of a growing climate crisis. (Photo Credit: World Monuments Fund)

There are two historic monuments facing real, active threats from climate change this year¡ªand one of them is right here in the United States.?

The Historic Lighthouses of Maine is a collection of 66 lighthouses dating between 1791-1910. Once necessary for mariners to guide their way safely along the region¡¯s dangerous coastlines, these so-called ¡°pillars of coastal identity¡± now face the risk of damage due to rising sea levels and storm surges, which are the effects of the warming waters of the Gulf of Maine, which are warming at triple the global rate.?

The Swahili Coast Heritage Sites, located where the Indian Ocean meets Africa, offers centuries worth of global trade history and tradition, including the Old Town of Lamu, which is the oldest Swahili settlement in East Africa. Yet increased rainfall, rising seas, storm surges and coastal erosion threaten this area¡¯s heritage sites.?

The Threat of Undertourism and Overtourism?

The Monasteries of the Drino Valley in Albania is an endangered historic site. (Photo Credit: World Monuments Fund)

There can be too much of a good thing, and also not enough of a good thing. These two endangered sites prove just that: one¡¯s struggling without enough tourists to keep its heritage preserved for the generations, while the other is facing the risk of too many tourists.?

The Monasteries of the Drino Valley in Albania are facing the threat that lack of tourism brings: these beautiful post-Byzantine Christian Orthodox sites were once vital places of healing, spirituality and education in the region, but have now fallen into disrepair following 1967, when Albania¡¯s communist government outlawed religious institutions. More funding, community preservation and a new focus on sustainable, responsible travel could help these places thrive.?

The Buddhist Grottoes of Maijishan and Yungang in China face the opposite problem: the fragile rock-cut cave temples are facing stress caused by too many visitors and environmental factors, with as many as 13,000 visiting in a single day.?

Lastly, the Moon¡ªor its over 90 historic sites that catalogue mankind¡¯s first steps in space. Yet there is currently no international agreement to preserve or protect these sites as we continue our exploration of space, something the World Monuments Fund believes necessary.?

The Full List of Endangered World Monuments

• Monasteries of the Drino Valley, Albania
• Cinema Studio Namibe, Angola?
• Qhapaq ?an, Andean Road System, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
• Buddhist Grottoes of Maijishan and Yungang, China
• Swahili Coast Heritage Sites, Comoros, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania
• Chapel of the Sorbonne, France
• Serifos Historic Mining Landscape, Greece
• Bhuj Historic Water Systems, India
• Musi River Historic Buildings, India
• Noto Peninsula Heritage Sites, Japan
• Erdene Zuu Buddhist Monastery, Mongolia
• Jewish Heritage of Debdou, Morocco
• Chief Ogiamien¡¯s House, Nigeria
• Gaza Historic Urban Fabric, Palestine
• Waru Waru Agricultural Fields, Peru
• Terracotta Sculptures of Alcoba?a Monastery, Portugal
• Ruins of Old Belchite, Spain
• Water Reservoirs of the Tunis Medina, Tunisia
• Historic City of Antakya, T¨¹rkiye
• Kyiv Teacher¡¯s House, Ukraine
• Belfast Assembly Rooms, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
• The Great Trading Path, United States
• Historic Lighthouses of Maine, United States
• Barotse Floodplain Cultural Landscape, Zambia
• The Moon

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