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Architects and engineers have deployed digital wizardry to show what several endangered Unesco sites would have looked like had they been fully preserved – to highlight their significance and underscore their sheer majesty.
Scroll down to see the incredible digital makeovers, from the spectacular ancient Syrian city of Palmyra to the sacred Old City of Jerusalem…
Jerusalem’s Old City 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 site in Judaism, the place that’s closest to the former Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary of the temple said to have held 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 Portobelo and San Lorenzo fortifications were built during the 17th and 18th centuries on the Caribbean coastline of Colón Province 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 world heritage in danger due to ‘environmental factors, a lack of maintenance and uncontrollable urban developments’.
Leptis Magna – Libya
The ruins of the impressive theatre that can be found in what was 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 being given a digital makeover. Emergency work is underway to try to 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 built in the first century, located inside a giant community surrounded by porticos and surrounded by a 205-meter-long external wall with a propylene, a monumental Greek-style door. Its ruins had been considered to be the most productive preserved in Palmyra.
However, the symbol above shows what the temple looked like before it was captured by ISIS militants in 2015, who set out to destroy it, leaving only one pillar and one arc. Emergency paintings are being made to rebuild the monument and this reconstruction shows why it will be worth it.
Stories like this one fire up the imagination. Th…
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Edited through Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and Metro Media Group