Over 600 architectural monuments close to collapse in Romania, Ministry plans “emergency fund for heritage”

Romania’s Ministry of Culture wants to set up an “emergency fund for heritage,” as many of the country’s monuments are in a very bad shape. The fund’s objective would be to finance rapid interventions in case monuments collapse and to implement safety measures so that the buildings don’t reach such a situation. According to the Ministry's data, more than 600 architectural monuments in Romania are “in a state of precollapse and collapse,” which means that they can crash at any time, Culture Minister Vlad Alexandrescu said in a Facebook post. The Ministry of Culture and the National Heritage Institute will begin a national inventory so that, in a short period, the authorities have the necessary information to allocate the funds for restoring the historical monuments. “Based on the inventory program, we’ll draw up a realistic plan for taking our monuments out of danger,” reads the Minister’s post on Facebook. Representatives of the Culture Ministry organized an emergency meeting on Sunday, February 21, to discuss two recent cases of collapse. One of them referred to the bell tower of the fortified church in Roade s (dating from the 15th century) while the second one was about the crash of the Romanesque tower of the fortified church in Rotbav (13th century). The Ministry will support the measures to be taken at the two churches, to prevent their further collapse. World Monuments Fund includes Bucharest among cultural heritage sites at risk Romanian wooden churches, among Europe’s Seven Most Endangered Monuments and Sites International council on monuments and sites asks Romanian authorities to stop patrimony demolition Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (Photo source: Vlad Alexandrescu on Facebook, Photo credit: Andreas Lapidum and Direcția Județeană de Cultură Brașov)