On Wednesday 21 July, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee announced the removal of the UK's Liverpool City of Mariners and Merchants from the World Heritage List.

The reason given is "the irreversible loss of characteristics indicative of the outstanding universal value of this object."

The corresponding decision was made during the 44th session of the committee, which is being held in Fuzhou, China, and online.

One of the tasks assigned to the members of the organization is to assess the conservation of properties from the World Heritage List, as well as the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Such monitoring is part of the implementation of the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

Liverpool - City of Mariners and Merchants was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004.

It consisted of six sections of the historic center and the docks of the Victorian era.

Significant structures are located in these areas, such as the Pier Head Wharf area with the Cunard shipping company building, the port building and the Royal Liverpool Building.

The facility also included docks - walls, warehouses, a canal system and other port infrastructure, a shopping area, its banks and stock exchanges, and the cultural center of the city - a quarter adjacent to William Brown Street and St. George's Plateau.

It houses the central library, the Peace Museum, the Walker Art Gallery and Saint George's Hall Theater.

Liverpool's heyday coincided with the military and political successes of the British Empire.

New technologies that emerged here in the 18th-20th centuries set trends in the construction and maintenance of ports and docks, as well as the organization of trade throughout the British Commonwealth.

  • Liverpool

  • AFP

  • © Paul ELLIS

When Liverpool was added to the World Heritage List, the committee put forward a number of demands to preserve its pristine appearance.

In particular, it was forbidden to build buildings that would be higher than the existing ones.

In addition, they were not supposed to disturb the general appearance of the architectural ensemble and dominate the landscape of Pir Head.

In 2012, Liverpool - City of Mariners and Merchants was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

According to experts, the historical legacy was hampered by the Liverpool Waters project, which involved transformations in the northern part of the docks.

The redevelopment should affect 2 km of the Mersey River bank.

According to The Guardian, the committee's discontent was caused, among other things, by the construction of a new stadium for the Everton football club.

City officials disagree with the organization's decision.

So, the mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson expressed hope that the committee will consider the appeal.

“Our World Heritage properties have never been in the best condition.

This is the result of an investment of hundreds of millions of pounds, spread across dozens of listed buildings and public facilities, ”Anderson quoted The Guardian as saying.

Liverpool is the third site in history to be excluded from the World Heritage List by UNESCO.

The first was the Oryx Arabian Antelope Reserve in Oman.

The Committee made such a decision in 2007 after the country's authorities arbitrarily reduced the size of the protected area by 90%.

UNESCO considered this a destruction of the outstanding universal value of the site.

The reserve was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1994.

In 1996, the population of the Arabian oryx in its territory was 450 individuals, but in subsequent years it decreased to 65.

In 2009, the Elbe Valley, located near Dresden, also lost its status as a World Heritage Site.

This was due to the construction of a four-lane bridge across the river.

Earlier, members of the Committee proposed to the German authorities to build a tunnel instead of the bridge.

  • Historic center of Dresden

  • AFP

  • © JENS SCHLUETER

The cultural landscape of the valley was formed in the 18th-19th centuries.

It stretches for 18 km between the Jubigau and Pilnitz palaces.

On its territory there are buildings of the 19th-20th centuries, numerous monuments, meadows and parks.

The valley received its status in 2004.

UNESCO noted that in the future Germany may submit a new site in Dresden for consideration by the Committee.

In total, the UNESCO World Heritage List includes more than a thousand cultural, natural and mixed sites in more than 160 countries around the world.

Italy became the leader in terms of the number of objects selected in the list.

55 cities and attractions located on the territory of the country have a special status.

The top five also includes China, Spain, France and Germany.

The List contains 29 Russian objects.

Among them are the historical center of St. Petersburg, Kizhi, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square, the historical and cultural complex of the Solovetsky Islands, Lake Baikal, the Curonian Spit, the volcanoes of Kamchatka, the Novodevichy Monastery, the historical center of Yaroslavl.