The Director of the World Heritage Centre, Mechtild Rössler, has expressed her profound sympathy to the government and people of Italy after the devastating earthquake that struck the country Sunday last.

“It was with great concern and sadness that I learnt of the devastating earthquake that struck Central Italy Sunday last, and I would like, at the outset, to express the World Heritage Centre’s deepest sympathies with the peoples and governments of all the affected areas.

Following this tragic event, the World Heritage Centre offers its solidarity with the people of Italy with whom we share a longstanding partnership for the preservation and protection of cultural heritage.”