PROCEEDINGS | Scientific Symposium
The criteria used to add the Route of Monasteries to the UNESCO World Heritage List were Criteria (ii) 3
and Criteria (iv) 4 . Being on this list gives an added value to the constructions that besides being important
to the communities that utilize them, they also have historical and cultural importance that provide
evidence of humanity on Earth.
Preservation state previous to 2017 Earthquake
Previous to the earthquake on 2017 monasteries preserved most of their original elements, which gave
a good example of a trustworthy XVI century monastery representation. After the Trento council, many
monasteries lose their original elements due to a change in their use or by new building constructions. In
general, there was a good preservation and physical integrity state. The deterioration processes were in
control by implementing periodic conservation projects. Awareness about monasteries being threatened
by natural phenomena was always there, as a volcanic eruption could be possible due to the proximity to
the Popocatepetl volcano, or a high magnitude earthquake expected at the seismic region they are located.
Another concern was to control the urban expansion from the surrounding monastery areas and how it
will impact the landscape around the monasteries.
Damages caused by the Earthquake
On September 19, 2017, the Servicio Sismológico Nacional (SSN, National Seismic Service) reported
an earthquake with magnitude of 7.1, located on the state limit between Puebla and Morelos States, at
12 km from the south of Axochiapan, Morelos and 120 km Mexico City. The earthquake that occurred at
13:14:40 hours was strongly perceived at the center of the country. The epicenter coordinates were 18.40
N latitude, -98.72 W longitude and the depth was 57 km. (Grupo de trabajo del Servicio Sismológico
Nacional, 2017)
The earthquake of 2017 had repercussions in 11 entities of the Mexican Republic and affected more than
1800 historic properties. Disaster was grave; that year the federal government and civil society faced with
a series of events where the time element was primary to address the problems and estimate the damages
caused by the natural disaster. There was a lack of organization inside public institutions which were
overwhelmed by the destruction magnitude on the center and south of the country. The Mexican government
took actions to attend the national emergency raised by the earthquake, as for the cultural heritage
the INAH (Antropology and History National Institute) and the CNMH (Historic Monuments National
Coordination) put together brigades formed by architects, restorers, engineers, and geographers which
had to evaluate the material damages of the protected buildings and catalogue them by their historic and
cultural background.
As there were more than 1800 affected edifices, public institutions were not able to attend each one of
them, which led to ask private institutions for the restoring jobs. This started an assignment process of
temples and biddings for the institutions. Due to bureaucratic processes and shortage of personnel, this
process has been really slow and tedious. Because of the historic importance of the monuments the projects
presented by the institutions, including workers and budget, have to be thoroughly studied.All of this
led to the continuous exposure of the cultural assets to natural phenomena and the risk of robbery and
disappearance.
In Mexico the INAH has all historic monuments insured in case of natural disasters, which at the beginning
made them think that with the insurance money the damages could be covered. The insurance
3
Criteria (ii) – to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on
developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design (UNESCO, 2005)
4
Criterio (iv) - to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which
illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history (UNESCO, 2005)
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