The Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage has launched a website to commemorate the Coral Stone Mosques of the Maldives, in collaboration with the European Union.

This was done during a virtual ceremony held on Monday where the Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage Yumna Maumoon and the European Union’s Ambassador to the Maldives, Denis Chaibi were in attendance and launched the website.

Developed by renowned local architect, Mauroof Jameel who was also in attendance at the virtual ceremony, the Coral Stone Mosques of the Maldives website celebrates the coral stone mosques, a series of culturally and architecturally unique sites in the Maldives that have been described to reflect the exclusivity of the Maldives culture.

It was developed with an aim to documents these sites of cultural heritage as well as to support the island nation’s efforts to list the monuments on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The website was developed in support of the Heritage Ministry and was funded by the European Union.

Scattered across the country, these surviving mosques are the last of their kind and are monuments of outstanding value that need to be protected for future generations, said the ministry.

Taking to Twitter following the ceremony, Minister Yumna thanked EU Maldives and Ambassador Chaibi for the assistance.

The virtual ceremony was also joined by Minister of State for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Mohamed Thoriq, Head of the Political, Trae and Communications Section at the Delegation of the European Union to the Maldives, Thorsten Bargfrede, Permanent Secretary at the Heritage Ministry, Shamun Hameed, Director General of the National Center for Cultural Heritage of the Maldives, Hawwa Nazla as well as the website’s developer, Muawwaz Yoosuf.