A series of meetings within the framework of the technical evaluation mission by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) of the nomination dossier of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Dacia, for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, took place this summer in Romania.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Culture sent to AGERPRES on Wednesday, the mission, part of the evaluation procedure of the dossier, was organised between August 8 and 21 by the Ministry of Culture, through the National Heritage Institute and the National Museum of History of Transylvania, in close cooperation with central, county and local authorities, as well as with the Directorates for Culture of the 16 counties involved.

During the 15 working days of the technical mission, the field situation of the sites was judiciously analysed, from the point of view of authenticity, integrity, state of conservation, as well as actions for their protection and management, and their protection areas.

The mission also included meetings with representatives of public authorities and central, county and local institutions, representatives of non-governmental organisations and professionals in the field of cultural heritage conservation, who presented their involvement in the protection and enhancement of the sites visited, their position on the World Heritage inscription process and answered questions from the ICOMOS evaluator.

The conclusions of the analyses and the ICOMOS recommendations will be transmitted to UNESCO before the World Heritage Committee session in July 2024.

Frontiers of the Roman Empire – DACIA is the most complex nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage List prepared so far by Romania. The dossier contains 285 components – legionary camps and auxiliary camps with civil settlements, (temporary) marching camps and towers, nominated individually or in groups including other fortification elements – distributed along more than 1000 km, in 123 administrative-territorial units, respectively in 16 counties.

The nomination of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire – DACIA was initiated in the context of a selection of sites in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia already inscribed on the World Heritage List, as well as the preparation of future nominations from the same vast family of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Among these, Romania is preparing the transnational nomination Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Danube Boundary, Eastern Sector, in close cooperation with three partner countries: Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia.