Path to restoring Palmyra can begin when warfare ends - Hermitage chief

ST PETERSBURG, July 26. /TASS/. Restoring Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra will begin once a full-scale cessation to the ongoing hostilities is achieved, Hermitage Museum General Director, Mikhail Piotrovsky, said on Tuesday. The road map to Palmyra’s restoration has been forged, he added. "A road map has been drawn up, but hostilities in Palmyra need to cease," Piotrovsky said. According to plans, specialists suggested creating a landscape architectural model of the monument. Four or five people and about a month of work in Palmyra are needed to accomplish this work. The team embraced Russian experts from the St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum, the Russian Culture Ministry, the Oriental Art Museum, and the Russian Academy of Science’s Institute of Archaeology were in Syria from July 5 to 9. According to a report submitted to UNESCO, the most prominent monuments were intentionally destroyed. Ancient shrines as renowned as the Arch of Triumph and Temple of Bel suffered the most damage, yet the Temple of Baalshamin may be fully restored. Read more