再不去可能就真的看不到了的古蹟(下)

Galapagos Islands

5.加拉帕戈斯羣島

Everyone who's taken a high school biology class knows about Charles Darwin and how he was inspired to devise his theory of evolution while studying the wildlife of these secluded islands. Nearly 9,000 species, many of which can be found nowhere else in the entire world, call these islands home. However, the wildlife that makes the Galapagos so unique is being seriously threatened.

任何一個上過高中生物課的人想必都知道達爾文的大名，以及他是如何經過啓發，在這些僻靜的島嶼上設計出他的研究實驗並由此創作了他的鉅作《進化論》。這座島是近9000種生物生活的家園，其中很多物種在全世界的其它地方都找不到。然而現在，這些讓加拉帕戈斯獨具魅力的野生動物羣的生存空間正受到嚴重的威脅。

As the number of immigrant workers and tourists has increased, the latter by more than 12 percent every year, so does the number of invasive species. Goats and pigs eat the food that the native species need to survive, and predators such as rats make off with the young and the weak. For thousands of years, there were no predators at all on the islands, and evolution works too slowly for many of these unique animals to hope to catch up in time.

由於外籍勞工和遊客數量逐漸增加，尤其是後者以每年超過12％的速率增長，除此之外還有大量的入侵物種來襲。山羊和豬吃掉了本地物種賴以生存的食物，而像老鼠這樣的捕食者則消滅掉了它們當中的老弱病殘。千百年來，這些島上的生物沒有天敵，以致於它們進化得太慢,很容易被外來入侵物種捕食。

Chersonesos Archaeological Site

4.切索尼斯考古遺址

Though it is located in modern-day Ukraine, southwest of the Crimean Peninsula, Chersoneos is actually an ancient Greek site, founded between 300 and 200 B.C. However, much like Ukraine currently, it was not a peaceful site. Though it was one of the few relatively democratic societies at the time, historical records have shown that this city-state was constantly at war against the Scythian people and the Roman Empire. It eventually lost its independence to the latter.

切索尼斯城於公元前300年至公元前200年之間被發現，雖然它坐落在現代烏克蘭克里米亞半島的西南部，但切索尼斯實際上是一座古希臘的舊城池。然而，就像當前的烏克蘭一樣，它曾經也並不是一個太平的地方。儘管在同時期，切索尼斯算是幾個比較民主的社會之一，但據歷史記載，這個城邦一直不斷遭受着斯基泰人和羅馬帝國之間的戰爭洗禮，最終落入了羅馬人的手中。

In the fifth century, most of the Greek buildings and temples were destroyed as Christianity became the dominant religion. However, even becoming part of the Byzantine Empire was not enough to save the society, as nomadic tribes raided and burned it around eight centuries Soviet Union discovered the site when they annexed Crimea in the 1800s. It was rigidly protected and reconstructed, becoming one of the most important sites for Russian historians and archaeologists to study. Today, it is under attack by both natural and man-made forces, as coastal erosion, pollution, and urban encroachment threaten its destruction.

在公元5世紀，大部分的希臘建築和廟宇都由於基督教成爲主流教派而被摧毀。然而，即使是輝煌的拜占庭帝國也沒能拯救它，大約800年之後，它被遊牧部落襲擊燒燬。前蘇聯地盤的統治政府在1800年吞併克里米亞地區時發現了這座古城遺址。它現在受到了嚴格保護，政府也組織過重建，目前它已經成爲俄羅斯歷史學家和考古學家最重要的研究點之一。不過現在，它正飽受着大自然的銷蝕和人爲力量的摧殘，比如海岸侵蝕，人類污染和城市化蠶食。

amuros

3.市中市

The name of this district of Manilla, which is the second largest city in the Philippines, means "within the walls." It's a very appropriate moniker, considering that it has been guarded by the same walls since they were built in the 16th century despite the horrific damage and destruction they have endured. It was the original capital of the city, when the Spanish Empire still owned the territory.

市中市，即菲律賓的第二大城市馬尼拉其中一個區的名字，喻意"圍牆之城"。儘管它在歷史上曾經飽受戰火的侵襲，但考慮到從16世紀開始它就被同樣的城牆圍了起來，這無疑是一個非常合適的名字。早在西班牙帝國對它殖民統治的時期，它便是這個城邦的首都。

During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded the Philippines. Manilla was hit especially hard, and several historical buildings within Intramuros—such as the Santo Domingo Church and the original University of Santo Tomas—were ravaged. However, the real destruction occurred when America fought to take back the city from Japan. After this attack, only 5 percent of the original structures were left standing, and 40 percent of the walls had turned to 1951, Intramuros was declared a historic monument. Slow progress has been made toward its restoration, including the return of its five original gates to their former glory. However, these ancient walls cannot keep out the modern world. Several franchises of Starbucks and McDonald's have been erected around the ancient city, and the moats surrounding it have been converted into golf courses. Historians tremble at what will come next.

二戰期間，日本侵略軍入侵了菲律賓。馬尼拉市中市區毀壞尤爲嚴重，像聖多明各教堂和原聖托馬斯大學這樣的一些歷史建築都遭到踐踏。然而，當美國重新從日本手中奪回這座城市時，它才遭到了真正毀滅性的破壞。這次攻打之後，原先的建築只有5%保留了下來，40％的牆壁完全變成廢墟。1951年，市中市正式被列爲歷史古蹟。重建工作緩慢地進行着，其中包括5扇曾經風光無限的大城門的修復。不幸的是，這些古老的城牆根本阻擋不了現代世界發展的大潮。星巴克和麥當勞等一些商家已經拿到了古城附近的經營權，環繞的護城河也已被修成了高爾夫球場。歷史學家們很擔心，也許這座古城不久後就會徹底消失。

am's Palace

2.希沙姆宮

Hisham's Palace was buried underneath the sand in A.D. 747 and remained there until Palestinian archeologist D.C. Baramki began excavating it in 1934. Sadly, historians fear that the site might not be around in as few as 100 years.

公元747年，希沙姆宮被埋葬在沙塵之下，直到巴勒斯坦考古學家D.C. Baramki於1934年開始對它進行挖掘工作它才得以重見天日，不幸的是，歷史學家們表示擔心，100年之內這個古蹟可能就會消失了。

Intriguingly, no one is quite sure what Hisham's Palace is supposed to be. When it vanished from sight, it also seemed to vanish from any historical text. The only hint archaeologists have found is a chunk of pottery bearing the name "Hisham." Baramki's colleague, Robert W. Hamilton, has argued that this is proof that the palace belonged to the heir of the caliph, Al-Walid II. All we really know for sure is that it was definitely built in the early eighth century and destroyed by a massive ically, we might never know the palace's secrets. It's threatened by the massive expansion from the neighboring, modern Jericho as well as extremely vulnerable to the natural elements after being buried under the sand for so long. The sand appears to be seeking to claim it yet again.

有趣的是，沒有一個明確的證據表明希沙姆宮到底是什麼樣的。當它從人們的視線中消失的時候，似乎也從歷史文本里被抹殺掉了。唯一的線索可能就是考古學家發現的印有"希沙姆"字樣的陶器。Baramki的同事Robert W. Hamilton解釋說，宮殿應該屬於哈里發瓦利德二世的繼承人。我們真正能肯定的是，它建於8世紀初而毀於一次大地震。不過，我們可能永遠不會知道王宮中的祕密了。它面對的主要威脅來自於鄰國的軍事擴張——傑里科（譯者注：以色列最早於1977年開始生產兩級傑里科-2彈道導彈），而且它已經被掩埋在沙土下這麼長時間，更是極易受到自然因素的破壞。沙塵似乎向世人宣告着，這座古城終究會迴歸塵土。

, Kenya

1.肯尼亞拉姆島

This city has been a World Heritage Site since 2001, but it has been around since the 14th century. Lamu was one of the original Swahili settlements, founded on the east coast of Africa, and it's still inhabited to this day. During its golden age, Lamu was one of the biggest cities around, a scholastic center of arts, politics, and literature. The city later became an important strategic location for both Germany and Britian, and it only gained its independence along with Kenya in the 1960s.

這個城市在2001年入選世界遺產目錄，但其實它在14世紀時就已經存在了。拉姆原來是斯瓦希里人的定居點，位於非洲東海岸，現今他們仍居住在這個地方。在它的黃金時代，拉穆是最宏大的城市之一，一個集藝術，政治和文學於一身的學術中心。這個城市後來成爲德國和英國兩國爭奪的一個重要戰略位置，直到20世紀60年代才隨着肯尼亞獨立而脫離其殖民國的統治。

Although Lamu has been a bustling town filled with people for many centuries, people nowadays are doing their best to avoid or leave it. In 2011, travel to Lamu was banned due to several kidnappings carried out by the terrorist group Al Shaabab, who claims vengeance for stolen Muslim lands as its motive for the kidnappings as well as several brutal assaults on the city just this year that have left many dead. The terrorist attacks make it all but impossible to preserve historical sites such as Lamu Fort.

雖然許多世紀以來拉姆一直是一個繁華熱鬧的城鎮，但現在，人們都想盡辦法遠離它。 2011年，由於恐怖組織Al Shaabab帶來的影響，人們被禁止進入拉姆，恐怖分子聲稱要報復奪走穆斯林土地的人，對城市發動了瘋狂的襲擊並造成大量的人員傷亡。恐怖襲擊事件使得像拉穆堡這樣的遺蹟不可能再得到很好的保存。

翻譯:李洋 來源：前十網