The preservation and protection of the early 18th-century Amarbayasgalant Monastery in Mongolia is one of four large-scale efforts among 63 cultural heritage preservation projects to receive financial support from the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) in 2010. Established by Congress in the fall of 2000 and celebrating its 10th year, the AFCP awards grants for the preservation of cultural sites, cultural objects and collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression in more than 100 countries. The AFCP has demonstrated America’s respect for the cultural heritage of others by supporting more than 640 preservation projects worldwide.
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The three other AFCP awards for large-scale projects in 2010 are:
- $625,000 to the World Monuments Fund for the conservation of the remains of the 11th-century Surp Prikitch (Church of the Holy Redeemer) at the medieval Armenian site of Ani in eastern Turkey;
- $850,000 to the Department of Archaeology and Museums of Pakistan, for the restoration of the early 17th-century Sheikhupura Fort, an impressive red brick fort built by the Mughal emperor, Jahangir, as part of the royal hunting estate of Hiran Minar; and,
- $450,000 to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, for ongoing restoration of Qala Ikhtyaruddin, the 15th-century citadel of Herat, Afghanistan.
AFCP also awarded $3.4 million in grants for projects to preserve cultural heritage in 52 countries and the West Bank.
Ismailimail 