Namhansanseong

Namhansanseong was designed as an emergency capital for the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), in a mountainous site 25 km south-east of Seoul. Built and defended by Buddhist monk-soldiers, it could accommodate 4,000 people and fulfilled important administrative and military functions. Its earliest remains date from the 7th century, but it was rebuilt several times, notably in the early 17th century in anticipation of an attack from the Sino-Manchu Qing dynasty. The city embodies a synthesis of the defensive military engineering concepts of the period, based on Chinese and Japanese influences, and changes in the art of fortification following the introduction from the West of weapons using gunpowder. A city that has always been inhabited, and which was the provincial capital over a long period, it contains evidence of a variety of military, civil and religious buildings and has become a symbol of Korean sovereignty.

 Republic of Korea

N37 28 44 E127 10 52

Date of Inscription: 2014

Criteria: (ii)(iv)

Property : 409.06 ha

Buffer zone: 853.71 ha

Ref: 1439

Source: https://whc.unesco.org

Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area

There are around 48 Buddhist monuments in the Horyu-ji area, in Nara Prefecture. Several date from the late 7th or early 8th century, making them some of the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world. These masterpieces of wooden architecture are important not only for the history of art, since they illustrate the adaptation of Chinese Buddhist architecture and layout to Japanese culture, but also for the history of religion, since their construction coincided with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan from China by way of the Korean peninsula.

 Japan

Nara Prefecture

N34 37 0 E135 43 60

Date of Inscription: 1993

Criteria: (i)(ii)(iv)(vi)

Property : 15.03 ha

Buffer zone: 571 ha

Ref: 660

Source: https://whc.unesco.org

Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara

Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784. During this period the framework of national government was consolidated and Nara enjoyed great prosperity, emerging as the fountainhead of Japanese culture. The city's historic monuments – Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and the excavated remains of the great Imperial Palace – provide a vivid picture of life in the Japanese capital in the 8th century, a period of profound political and cultural change.

 Japan

Nara Prefecture

N34 40 32 E135 50 22

Date of Inscription: 1998

Criteria: (ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)

Property : 617 ha

Buffer zone: 1,962.5 ha

Ref: 870

Source: https://whc.unesco.org