The historic centre of Bordeaux, Port of the Moon, the port city in south-west France, is inscribed as an inhabited historic city, an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble, created in the age of Enlightenment, whose values continued up to the first half of the 20th century, with more protected buildings than any other French city, except Paris. It is also recongized for its historic role as a place of exchange of cultural values over more than 2,000 years, particularly since the 12th century due to commercial links with Britain and the Low Lands. Urban plans and architectural of the early 18th century onwards place the city as an outstanding example of innovative classical and neo-classical trends and give it an exceptional urban and architectural unity and coherence. Its urban form represents the success of philosophers who wanted to make towns into melting pots of humanism, universality and culture.
The ensemble of buildings, sports facilities and open spaces of the Central University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), was built from 1949 to 1952 by more than 60 architects, engineers and artists who were involved in the project. As a result, the campus constitutes a unique example of 20th-century modernism integrating urbanism, architecture, engineering, landscape design and fine arts with references to local traditions, especially to Mexico's pre-Hispanic past. The ensemble embodies social and cultural values of universal significance. Universally recognized, the campus is one of the most significant icons of modernity in Latin America. It is also one of a very small number of projects anywhere in the world where the principles proposed by the modern movements in architecture and town planning, the ultimate purpose of which was to improve people's quality of life, were thoroughly applied.
The Late Roman fortified palace compound and memorial complex of Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius, in the east of Serbia, was commissioned by Emperor Caius Valerius Galerius Maximianus, in the late 3rd and early 4th century. It was known as Felix Romuliana, named after the Emperor's mother. The site consists of fortifications, the palace in the north-western part of the complex, basilicas, temples, hot baths, memorial complex, and a tetrapylon. The site offers a unique testimony of the Roman building tradition marked by the ideology of the period of the Second Tetrachy. The group of buildings is also unique in its intertwining of ceremonial and memorial functions. The relation between two spatial ensembles in this site is stressed by the tetrapylon which is placed on the crossroads between the worldly fortification and palace on the one side and the other-worldly mausoleums and consecration monuments on the other.
Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape covers three areas of a plateau of rocky boulders rising out of the semi-desert of central Azerbaijan, with an outstanding collection of some 6,000 rock engravings bearing testimony to 4000 years of rock art. The site also features the remains of settlements and burials, all reflecting an intensive human settlement by dwellers who lived in the area during the wet period that followed the last ice age, from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages. The property cover an area of 537 ha., and is part of the larger protected Gobustan Reservation.
The Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, south-west of Honshu Island, is a cluster of mountains, rising to 600 metres and interspersed by deep river valleys featuring the archaeological remains of large-scale mines, smelting and refining sites and mining settlements worked between the 16th and 20th centuries. The site also features transportation routes used to transport silver ore to the coast, and port towns from where it was shipped to Korea and China. The high quality of the silver resulting from the use of advanced techniques, and the quantity of silver mined, contributed substantially to the overall economic development of Japan and southeast Asia in the 16th and 17th centuries, and prompted the mass production of silver and gold in Japan. The mining area is now heavily wooded. Included in the site are fortresses, shrines, parts of Kaidô transportation routes to the coast and three port towns, Tomogaura, Okidomari and Yunotsu, from where the ore was shipped. The property extends to 442 ha. and the buffer zone 3,221 ha.
Kaiping Diaolou and Villages, feature the Diaolou, multi-storied defensive village houses in Kaiping, Guangdong Province, which display a complex and flamboyant fusion of Chinese and Western structural and decorative forms. They reflect the significant role of émigré Kaiping people in the development of several countries in South Asia, Australasia, and North America, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the close links between overseas Kaiping and their ancestral homes. The property inscribed here consists of four groups of Diaolou, totaling some 1,800 tower houses in their village settings. They reflect the culmination of almost five centuries of tower-house building and the still strong links between Kaiping and the Chinese Diaspora. These buildings take three forms: communal towers built by several families and used as temporary refuge, of which 473 remain; residential towers built by individual rich families and used as fortified residences, of which 1,149 survive; and watch towers, the latest development, which account for 221 of the buildings. Built of stone, pise (compressed earth), brick or concrete, these buildings represent a complex and confident fusion between Chinese and western architectural styles. Retaining a harmonious relationship with the surrounding agricultural landscape, the Diaolou testify to the final flowering of local building traditions that started in the Ming period in response to local banditry.
The Lavaux, vineyard terraces, stretching for about 30km along the south-facing northern shores of Lake Geneva from the Chateau de Chillon, to the eastern outskirts of Lausanne in the Vaud Region, cover the lower slopes of the mountain side between the villages and the lake. Although there is some evidence that vines were grown in the areas in Roman times, the present vine terraces can be traced back to the 11th century, when Benedictine and Cistercian Monasteries controlled the area. The villages, small towns and intensively planted vines reflect the changing system of production and patronage over ten centuries. Extensive remains of houses, mills, fortified towers, and much of the landscape reflect the way wine production evolved over that time. The cultural landscape of the Lavaux vineyard demonstrates in a highly visible way its evolution and development over close to a thousand years, through the preserved landscape and buildings, and also the continuation and adaptation of longstanding cultural traditions, specific to its locality. It is an outstanding example of a centuries-long interaction between people and their environment developed to optimize local resources so as to produce a highly valued wine that has always been important to the local economy. Local communities have been strongly supportive of protection measures to resist the fast-growing urban settlements that could endanger the area.
The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge of Višegrad across the Drina River in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina was built at the end of the 16th century by the court architect Sinan on the order of the Grand Vizier Mehmed Paša Sokolović, It is characteristic of the apogee of Ottoman monumental architecture and civil engineering. It numbers 11 masonry arches, with spans of 11 to 15 metres, and an access ramp at right angles with four arches on the left bank of the river. The 179.50m long bridge is a representative masterpiece of Mimar Koca Sinan, one of the greatest architects and engineers of the classical Ottoman period and a contemporary of the Italian Renaissance, with which his work can be compared. The unique elegance of proportion and monumental nobility of the property as a whole witness to the greatness of this style of architecture.
The Old Town of Corfu, on the Island of Corfu off the western coasts of Albania and Greece, is located in a strategic position at the entrance of the Adriatic Sea, and has its roots in the 8th century BC. The three forts of the town, designed by renowned Venetian engineers, were used for four centuries to defend the maritime trading interests of the Republic of Venice against the Ottoman Empire. In the course of time, the forts were repaired and partly rebuilt several times, more recently under the British rule in the 19th century. The mainly neo-classical housing stock of the Old Town is partly from the Venetian period, partly of later construction, notably the 19th century. As a fortified Mediterranean port, Corfu's urban and port ensemble is notable for its high level of integrity and authenticity.
Parthian Fortresses of Nisa consists of two tells of Old and New Nisa which indicate the site of one of the earliest and most important cities of the Parthian Empire, was a major power from the mid 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. They have been relatively undisturbed for nearly two millennia and conserve the unexcavated remains of an ancient civilization which skilfully combined its own traditional cultural elements with those of the Hellenistic and Roman west. Archaeological excavations in two parts of the site have revealed richly decorated architecture, illustrative of domestic, state, and religious functions. Most of the excavation to date has been carried out at the Royal citadel, now known as Old Nisa, but the site also includes the ancient town, known as New Nisa. Old Nisa is a 14-ha tell shaped like an irregular pentagon and surrounded by a high defensive earth rampart with more than 40 rectangular towers, its corners flanked by powerful bastions. The 25-ha tell of New Nisa is surrounded by powerful walls, up to 9m high on all sides, with two entrances. Situated at the crossroads of important commercial and strategic axes, the archaeological remains of Nisa vividly illustrate the significant interaction of cultural influences from central Asia and the Mediterranean in this powerful empire which formed a barrier to Roman expansion while serving as an important communication and trading centre between east and west, north and south. The site testifies to the significance of this imperial power, to its wealth and culture.
The Red Fort Complex was built as the palace fort of Shahjahanabad - the new capital of the 5th Mughal Emperor of India, Shahjahan (1628-58). It gets its name from its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone. It is adjacent to an older fort, the Salimgarh, built by Islam Shah Sur in 1546, with which it forms the Red Fort Complex. The private apartments consist of a row of pavilions connected by a continuous water channel, known as the Nahr-i-Behisht, or the Stream of Paradise. The palace was designed as an imitation of paradise as described in the Koran; a couplet inscribed in the palace reads, ‘If there be a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here'. The Red Fort is considered to represent the zenith of Mughal creativity which, under the Emperor Shahjahan, was brought to a new level of refinement. The planning of the palace is based on Islamic prototypes, but each pavilion reveals architectural elements typical of Mughal building, reflecting a fusion of Persian, Timurid and Hindu traditions The Red For's innovative planning and architectural style, including its garden design, strongly influenced later buildings and gardens in Rajasthan, Delhi, Agra and further afield. The monument's significance is further enhanced by the importance of events that happened. Through its fabric, the complex reflects all phases of Indian history from the Mughal period to independence.
The 160,000 ha. Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Lanscape of dramatic mountainous desert in the north-west part of South Africa constitutes a cultural landscape communally owned and managed. This property sustains the semi-nomadic pastoral livelihood of the Nama people, reflecting seasonal patterns that may have persisted for as much as two millennia in Southern Africa. It is the only area where the Nama still construct portable houses, haru oms. The property includes seasonal migrations and grazing grounds, stockposts (bases used by the herders as they move with their herds of sheep and cattle on a seasonal basis) and Nama rush mat houses, small hemispherical portable structures, consisting of a wooden frame of intersecting wooden hoops, covered over with fine mats of braided local rushes. The pastoralists inhabiting this property collect medicinal and other plants and have a strong oral tradition associated with different places and attributes of the landscape.
The Rideau Canal, a monumental early 19th-century canal covering 202 kilometres of the Rideau and Cataraqui rivers from Ottawa south to Kingston Harbour on Lake Ontario was built primarily for strategic military purposes at a time when Great Britain and the United States of America vied for control of the region. The property, one of the first canals to be designed specifically for steam-powered vessels, also features an ensemble of fortifications. At the start of the project, in 1826, the British chose the so-called "slackwater" technology to avoid the need for extensive excavation. Instead, a series of dams were built to back up river water to a nivagable depth and a chain of 50 massive locks were created. It is the best preserved example of a slackwater canal in North America demonstrating the use of this European technology in North America on a large scale. It is the only canal dating from the great North American canal-building era of the early 19th century to remain operational along its original line with most of its original structures intact. The canal was protected by the construction of six ‘blockhouses' and a fort. Defensible lockmaster's houses were later added at several lock stations and, between 1846 and 1848 four Martello towers were constructed to strengthen the fortifications at Kingston harbour. The Rideau Canal is of historical importance as it bears witness to the fight for control of the north of the American Continent.
Samarra Archaeological City, inscribed both on the World Heritage List and on the List of World Heritage in Danger is the site of a powerful Islamic capital city which ruled over the provinces of the Abbasid empire extending from Tunisia to Central Asia for a century. Located on both sides of the River Tigris 130km north of Baghdad, the length of the site from north to south is 41.5km; its width varies from 8km to 4km. It testifies to the architectural and artistic innovations that developed there and spread to the other regions of the Islamic world and beyond, the Great Mosque and its Spiral Minaret, 9th century, are among the numerous remarkable architecture monuments of the site, 80% of which remain to be excavated.
Inaugurated in 1973, the Sydney Opera House, is listed as a great architectural work of the 20th century that brings together multiple strands of creativity and innovation, both in architectural form and structural design. A great urban sculpture set in a remarkable waterscape, at the tip a peninsula projecting into Sydney Harbour, the building has had an enduring influence on architecture. The Opera House comprises three groups of interlocking vaulted ‘shells' which roof two main performances halls and a restaurant. These shell-structure are set upon a vast platform and are surrounded by terrace areas that function as pedestrian concourses. In 1957, when the project of the Sydney opera was attributed by an international jury to the then almost unknown Danish architect Jřrn Utzon, it marked a radically new and collaborative approach to construction. In listing the building, the Sydney Opera House is recognized as a great artistic monument accessible to society at large.
Twyfelfontein or /Ui-//aes has one of the largest concentrations of rock petroglyphs, i.e. rock carvings, in Africa. Over 2,000 figures have been documented to date. Most of these well-preserved carvings represent rhinoceroses, elephants, ostriches, and giraffes, as well as drawings of human and animal footprints. The property also includes six painted rock shelters with motifs of human figures in red ochre. The objects excavated from two parts of the property, including stone artefacts, ostrich eggshell beads, and schist pendants, dated from the Late Stone Age. Representations of humans, or of flying birds, are rare and it has been suggested that the figures were produced to illustrate the ritual transformation of humans into animals. The most celebrated example is the ‘Lion Man' a lion with five toes on each paw. The imagery suggests the rock art was linked to the belief system of hunter-gatherers who dominated the area until the arrival of pastoralists around 1000 AD. The site forms a coherent, extensive and high quality record of ritual practices relating to hunter-gatherer communities in this part of southern Africa over at least 2,000 years; and, eloquently illustrates the links between the ritual and economic practices of hunter-gatherers. This property is Namibia's first World Heritage site.
Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes comprises three sites that together make up 18,846 ha, 10.3% of the surface area of Jeju Island, the southernmost territory of the Republic of Korea. It includes: Geomunoreum, regarded as the finest lave tube system of caves anywhere, with its multi-coloured carbonate roofs and floors, and dark-coloured lava walls; the fortress-like Seongsan Ilchulbong tuff cone, rising out of the ocean, a dramatic landscape; and Mount Hallasan, the highest in Korea, with its waterfalls, multi-shaped rock formations, and lake-filled crater. The property, of outstanding aesthetic beauty, also bears testimony to the history of our planet; to its features and processes.
The Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathian constitute a transnational serial property of ten separate components along a 185 km axis from the Rakhiv Mountains and the Chornohirskyi Range in Ukraine, west along the Polonynian Ridge, to the Bukovské Vrchy and Vihorlat Mountains in Slovakia. The ten sites represent an outstanding example of undisturbed, complex temperate forests and exhibit the most complete and comprehensive ecological patterns and processes of pure stands of European beech across a variety of environmental conditions. They contain an invaluable genetic reservoir of beech and many species associated with, and dependent on, these forest habitats. They also represent an outstanding example of the re-colonization and development of terrestrial ecosystems and communities after the last ice age, a process which is still ongoing.
The Rainforests of the Atsinanana comprise six national parks distributed along the eastern part of the island. These relict forests are critically important for maintaining ongoing ecological processes necessary for the survival of Madagascar's unique biodiversity, which reflects the island's geological history. Having completed its separation from all other land masses more than 60 million years ago, Madagascar's plant and animal life evolved in isolation. Inscribed both for their importance to ecological and biological processes, the rainforests are also inscribed for their biodiversity and the threatened species they support. The rate of endemism within these forests is exceptionally high at 80 to 90 percent for all groups. The property is of global significance for fauna, especially primates. Many rare and threatened species (78 of the 123 non-flying mammals in Madagascar occur in this site, including 72 that are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species), including at least 25 species of lemur.
The South China Karst region extends over a surface of half a million square kilometres lying mainly in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi Provinces. South China is unrivalled for the diversity of its karst features and landscapes. The site presents a coherent serial property comprising three clusters: Libo Karst, Shilin Karst and Wulong Karst. South China Karst represents one of the world's most spectacular examples of humid tropical to sub-tropical karst landscapes. The stone forests of Shilin are considered superlative natural phenomena and a world reference. The cluster includes the Naigu stone forest occurring on dolomitic limestone and the Suyishan stone forest arising from a lake. Shilin contains a wider range of pinnacle shapes than other karst landscapes with pinnacles, and a higher diversity of shapes and changing colours. The cone and tower karsts of Libo, also considered the world reference site for these types of karsts, form a distinctive and beautiful landscape. Wulong Karst has been inscribed for its giant dolines, natural bridges and caves.
Situated on the island of Tenerife, Teide National Park covers 18,990 ha and features the Teide-Pico Viejo stratovolcano that, at 3,718 m, is the highest peak in Spain. Standing 7,500m above the ocean floor, it is regarded as the world's third tallest volcanic structure and is situated in a spectacular environment. The visual impact of the site is all the greater due to atmospheric conditions that create constantly changing textures and tones in the landscape and a ‘sea of clouds' that forms a visually impressive backdrop to the mountain. Teide is of global importance in providing evidence of the geological processes that underpin the evolution of oceanic islands, complementing those of volcanic properties already on the World Heritage List, such as the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (U.S.A.).
The Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda demonstrates an unusual interface between dense and well conserved tropical rainforest and relict savannah environments with a great diversity of species, including endangered large mammals, and habitats. The site illustrates ecological and biological processes in terms of species and habitat adaptation to post-glacial climatic changes. It contains evidence of the successive passages of different peoples who have left extensive and comparatively well preserved remains of habitation around hilltops, caves and shelters, evidence of iron-working and a remarkable collection of some 1,800 petroglyphs, or rock carvings. The property's collection of Neolithic and Iron Age sites, together with the rock art found there, reflects a major migration route of Bantu and other peoples from West Africa along the River Ogooué valley to the north of the dense evergreen Congo forests and to central east and southern Africa, that has shaped the development of the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. This is Gabon's first World Heritage site.
The extension of the natural World Heritage property of Jungfrau - Aletsch - Bietschhorn (first inscribed in 2001), expands the site to the east and west, bringing its surface area up to 82,400 ha., up from 53,900. The site provides an outstanding example of the formation of the High Alps, including the most glaciated part of the mountain range and the largest glacier in Eurasia. It features a wide diversity of ecosystems, including successional stages due particularly to the retreat of glaciers resulting from climate change. The site is of outstanding universal value both for its beauty and for the wealth of information it contains about the formation of mountains and glaciers, as well as ongoing climate change. It is also invaluable in terms of the ecological and biological processes it illustrates, notably through plan succession. Its impressive landscape has played an important role in European art, literature, mountaineering and alpine tourism.
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Twenty-two new sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, and one deleted during Committee meeting in Christchurch
Christchurch, New Zealand, 29 June – The World Heritage Committee inscribed 22 new sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during its ongoing session in Christchurch. The new inscriptions include 16 cultural, five natural and one mixed, cultural and natural property.
In a decision unprecedented in the history of UNESCO’s Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the Committee deleted one property, the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary, from the List because of Oman’s failure to preserve the outstanding universal value of the Sanctuary.
After the additions made this year, UNESCO’s World Heritage List numbers 851 properties including 660 cultural, 166 natural and 25 mixed properties.
New properties inscribed on the World Heritage List by geographical distribution:
Africa:
The Rainforests of the Atsinanana (Madagascar) comprising six national parks distributed along the eastern part of the island was inscribed as a natural property.
Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda (Gabon) was inscribed as a mixed site, both cultural and natural. It is the country’s first World Heritage site.
Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape (South Africa) of dramatic mountainous deserts in the northwest of the country was inscribed as a cultural landscape communally owned and managed by the semi-nomadic Nana people.
Twyfelfontein or /Ui-//aes (Namibia) was inscribed as a cultural site for its large concentration of rock carvings.
Arab Region:
Samarra Archaeological City (Iraq) was inscribed as a cultural site for its rich Abbassid remains. It was also inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Asia and Pacific Region:
Sydney Opera House (Australia) was listed as a cultural property, a great architectural work that brings together multiple strands of creativity and innovation both in architectural form and structural design.
Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape (Azerbaijan) was inscribed as an outstanding collection of some 6,000 rock engravings bearing testimony to 4,000 years of rock art.
South China Karst (China) was inscribed as a natural property, unrivalled in terms of the diversity of its karst features and landscapes.
Kaiping Diaolou and Villages (China) features multi-storied defensive village houses, which display a complex and flamboyant fusion of Chinese and Western structural and decorative forms, and was inscribed as a cultural property.
Red Fort Complex (India) was listed as a cultural property representing the zenith of Mughal creativity and refinement.
Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine (Japan) was inscribed as a cultural landscape for its archaeological remains of mines, smelting and refining sites, along with mining settlements and transportation routes dating from the 16th to the 20th centuries.
Jeju Volcanic Islands and Lava Tubes (Republic of Korea) was inscribed as a natural property of outstanding beauty which bears testimony to the history of our planet.
Parthian Fortresses of Nisa (Turkmenistan), one of the earliest and most important cities of the Parthian Empire, a major power from the mid-3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD, was listed as a cultural landscape.
Europe and North America:
Rideau Canal (Canada), a cultural property, was listed as the best preserved canal in North America from the great canal-building era of the early 19th century to remain operational along its original line with most of its original structures intact.
Bordeaux, Port of the Moon (France) is inscribed as an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble of the Age of Enlightenment featuring innovative classical and neo-classical trends that translate into exceptional urban and architectural unity and coherence.
Old Town of Corfu (Greece), on the Island of Corfu, with its three Venetian forts and neo-classical housing was inscribed as a fortified Mediterranean port town of high integrity and authenticity.
Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius (Serbia). The late Roman fortified palace compound and memorial complex was inscribed as a unique testimony of the Roman building tradition of the period of the Second Tetrarchy.
Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge of Višegrad (Bosnia and Herzegovina) was listed as a cultural site fo characterizing the apogee of Ottoman monumental architecture and civil engineering.
Teide National Park (Spain) was listed as a natural site for its beauty and its importance in providing evidence of the geological processes that underpin the evolution of oceanic islands.
Lavaux Vineyard Terraces (Switzerland) was inscribed as a cultural landscape that is an outstanding example of centuries-long interaction between people and their environment developed to optimize local resources so as to produce a highly valued win.
Primeval Beech Forest of the Carpathian (Ukraine and Slovakia), was inscribed as a transnational serial natural property of ten separate components and as an outstanding example of undisturbed, complex temperate forests exhibiting the most complete ecological patterns and processes of pure stands of European beech.
Latin America and the Caribbean:
Central University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), built from 1949 to 1952, was inscribed as a unique example of 20th-century modernism integrating urbanism, architecture, engineering, landscape design and fine arts and is one of the most significant icons of modernity in Latin America.
The Committee also removed four sites from the List of World Heritage in Danger, recognizing improvements in their conservation: Everglades National Park (USA), Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve (Honduras), Royal Palaces of Abomey (Benin) and Kathmandu Valley (Nepal).
Three World Heritage sites were inscribed on the Danger List because of concern about threats to their preservation: Galapagos (Ecuador), Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal) and Samarra (Iraq).
During its 31st session the Committee also decided to extend the boundaries of Switzerland’s Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn (inscribed in 2001).
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Contact in New Zealand:
Roni Amelan, UNESCO Bureau of Public Information, +64 273 414 518 r.amelan@unesco.org
For UNESCO’s World Heritage List: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list