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Waiting, we’ll take you back in time.
The architects and engineers deployed virtual magic to show what various Unesco sites would look like if they had been preserved, to underline their importance and highlight their majesty.
Scroll down to see the incredible digital makeovers, from the spectacular ancient Syrian city of Palmyra to the sacred Old City of Jerusalem…
The Old City of Jerusalem and its walls
The old city of Jerusalem has a square kilometer and is surrounded by walls dating from the sixteenth century.
The virtual magic displayed here shows us what the southeast corner of Jerusalem’s Old City would have been like in the time of Jesus
The virtual magic displayed here shows us what the southeast corner of Jerusalem’s Old City would look like in the time of Jesus, when the magnificent Second Temple was there.
It was based on the orders of King Herod, an epic renewal of his predecessor that began around 20 BC and did not end until around 62 to 64 AD. C. The local population did not have much time to appreciate his majesty, as a Roman army under the command of Emperor Titus in the long term destroyed it in 70 AD.
Today, the domain formerly occupied through the Second Temple, the Temple Mount, is home to the magnificent Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third most sacred in Islam, because this is where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven.
All that remains of the Second Temple is the Western Wall, the holiest of Judaism, the closest position to the ancient Saint of Saints, the inner temple sanctuary that would have housed the Ark of the Covenant.
The old town and its walls, which stretch for four km and date much of the sixteenth century under Turkish rule, have been on Unesco’s ‘endangered’ list since 1982, due to the ‘serious destruction that followed immediate urbanization’.
Hatra – Iraq
The ruins of The Mrn Temple in the ancient walled city of Hatra in what is now fashionable in Iraq
The temple after being digitally restored through a team of architects and engineers. Hatra known for its multitude of temples
Hatra, a giant walled city, the capital of the first Arab kingdom, built between the time and the 3rd century AD in what is now fashionable in Iraq.
Its internal and outer walls had a circumference of approximately 4 miles and was known as the “House of God” due to the temple enclosure, which covered approximately 3 acres. The Mrn Temple is what has been digitally rebuilt here.
The city of Hatra was destroyed in 241 CE and its ruins were not discovered until the 19th century. He marked a site in danger through Unesco in 2015 after ISIS destroyed some of his sculptures with massive weapons and gadgets. The militant organization conducted a shocking propaganda crusade that saw them destroy ancient relics that they said promoted idolatry that violated their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law.
Nan Madol – Micronesia
The ancient city of Nan Madol, photographed now. It is a series of more than one hundred synthetic islets spread over two hundred acres off the southeast coast of Pohnpei Island in Micronesia.
How Nan Madol would have looked if it had been preserved. The site is in danger of being lost due to silt (water contaminated through the slime) and out-of-control expansion of mangroves
The ancient city of Nan Madol is a series of more than one hundred synthetic islets spread over two hundred acres in a lagoon off the southeast coast of Pohnpei Island in Micronesia.
They were made of basalt and coral blocks, with a maximum of the structure taking position between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The islets housed temples, tombs, stone palaces and apartments and were connected through canals. Unesco says the ruins “represent the ceremonial center of the Saudeleur dynasty, a dynamic era of Pacific island culture.”
However, the site is vulnerable to the elements and is on Unesco’s hazard list due to the sedimentation of water streams (when water is contaminated through the silt), as well as the uncontrolled expansion of mangroves.
Fortifications of Portobelo-San Lorenzo – Panama
The fortifications of Portobelo and San Lorenzo were built in the eighteenth and eighteenth centuries in Panama. Pictured, Fort San Lorenzo
The fortifications were built through the Spanish Empire for transatlantic trade. This is what Fort San Lorenzo would have looked like if it had been preserved
The fortifications of Portobelo and San Lorenzo were built in the eighteenth and eighteenth centuries on the Caribbean coast of the province of Colón in Panama.
They were built across the Spanish Empire for the transatlantic industry and are described through Unesco as “magnificent examples of army architecture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries”. Upstairs, Fort San Lorenzo.
The fortifications have been added to Unesco’s List of the World Heritage In Danger due to “environmental factors, lack of urban and uncontrollable development”.
Leptis Magna – Libya
The ruins of the impressive theatre located in the ancient city of Leptis Magna in present-day Libya
What the theater would look like if it had been preserved. Ruins are at risk of damage due to instability in Libya and environmental factors.
Leptis Magna, a vital city built in the 7th century in present-day Lithrougha and expanded through Septime Severus, originally from the city, after being crowned Roman emperor in 193 CE. He did what Unesco describes as “one of the high-top charming cities of the Roman Empire.”
One of the most impressive features of the city is its theater, the oldest in Roman Africa, financed through rich aristocrats. He sank into a low hill and boasted five flights of stairs, a walk with columns on its upper edge, gardens and a temple. And here you can see how impressive it is.
It was placed on Unesco’s risk list in 2016 due to environmental disorders and the risk of damage caused by instability in Lithrougha.
Palmyra – Syria
What the ruins of The Bel Temple in Palmyra looked like before they were captured by ISIS militants in 2015, who set out to destroy them
The Temple of Bel after undergoing a virtual makeover. Emergency paintings are being carried out to review and rebuild the monument.
Oasis in the Syrian desert north of Damascus, Palmyra is described through Unesco as “one of the greatest cultural centers of the ancient world” due to its art and architecture, which combines Greco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences.”
Its Temple of Bel was built in the first century, located inside a large precinct lined with porticos, and was surrounded by a 673ft (205-metre) long exterior wall with a propylaea – a Greek-style monumental gateway. Its ruins had been considered the best preserved in Palmyra.
However, the before picture here shows what the temple looked like before it was captured by ISIS militants in 2015, who set about destroying it – leaving only a pillar and archway. Emergency work is underway to try to rebuild the monument and this reconstruction shows why it will be worth the effort.
Stories like this one fire up the imagination. Th…
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