Quarter of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage samples certified

Source: AzerNews

Measures are being taken for further certification of cultural monuments in Azerbaijan, Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev said on June 19.

Certification process of the historical monuments started in January 2013. Passports will contain all of the information about the monuments, including historical background, coordinates and sketches. Currently, an e-version of the passports is being developed.

An abridged version of these passports will be posted on the UNESCO website, as well as at the special sites of the European Council, which will make the information about the monuments available for everyone.

There are about 7,000 samples of cultural heritage in Azerbaijan, with some 20-25 percent of them certified so far, Garayev said.

"Certification of the monuments is a long process. The list includes cultural heritage samples in the territories of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia. Their fate will become clear after the return of our lands," Garayev said.

According to Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Vagif Aliyev, all the cultural monuments in Azerbaijan will have passports.

Passports of 64 national historical monuments will be prepared this year. A special group has been created and the required equipment purchased for the purpose. More passports will be prepared in 2014, Aliyev said on June 5.

According to him, some of the historical monuments were damaged under certain anthropological influence.

"There are really a lot of such monuments. Their simultaneous rehabilitation and restoration requires a huge amount of funds. As a result of the certification, the current condition of the monuments will also be determined, which will help to compile lists of monuments in need of restoration in the future," Aliyev said.

Cultural monuments are very important to develop tourism in the country and to promote Azerbaijani history, culture and art around the world.

Providing information about the historic value of such monuments as mosques, bath-houses and caravanserais is very useful not only for tourists, but also for the locals as well as in terms of expanding the knowledge about the homeland.

Initially, comprehensive certification of Azerbaijani monuments was carried out in 1970-1980. More than 1,000 monuments acquired passports during that period.

The list approved by the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers in 2001 contains 6,308 historical and cultural monuments of both local and international importance.

Moreover, there are about 2,000 newly discovered sites, and the lists are presently being specified.