Alto Douro Wine Region

Brief Description

Wine has been produced by traditional landholders in the Alto Douro region for some 2,000 years. Since the 18th century, its main product, port wine, has been world famous for its quality. This long tradition of viticulture has produced a cultural landscape of outstanding beauty that reflects its technological, social and economic evolution.

Portugal

Douro Region, Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro

N41 6 6 W7 47 56

Date of Inscription: 2001

Criteria: (iii)(iv)(v)

Property : 24,600 ha

Buffer zone: 225,400 ha

Ref: 1046

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Everglades National Park

Brief Description

This site at the southern tip of Florida has been called 'a river of grass flowing imperceptibly from the hinterland into the sea'. The exceptional variety of its water habitats has made it a sanctuary for a large number of birds and reptiles, as well as for threatened species such as the manatee.

United States of America

Southern tip of the Florida peninsula, along the Gulf of Mexico, State of Florida

N25 33 16 W80 59 47

Date of Inscription: 1979

Criteria: (viii)(ix)(x)

Property : 567,017 ha

Ref: 76

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

 

Historic Centre of Guimarães

Brief Description

The historic town of Guimarães is associated with the emergence of the Portuguese national identity in the 12th century. An exceptionally well-preserved and authentic example of the evolution of a medieval settlement into a modern town, its rich building typology exemplifies the specific development of Portuguese architecture from the 15th to 19th century through the consistent use of traditional building materials and techniques.

Portugal

Province of Minho, District of Braga

N41 26 26.988 W8 17 41.352

Date of Inscription: 2001

Criteria: (ii)(iii)(iv)

Property : 16 ha

Buffer zone: 45 ha

Ref: 1031

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

 

Sulaiman-Too Sacred Mountain

Brief Description

Sulaiman-Too Sacred Mountain Kyrgyzstan dominates the Fergana Valley and forms the backdrop to the city of Osh, at the crossroads of important routes on the Central Asian Silk Roads. For more than one and a half millennia, Sulaiman was a beacon for travellers revered as a sacred mountain. Its five peaks and slopes contain numerous ancient places of worship and caves with petroglyphs as well as two largely reconstructed 16th century mosques. One hundred and one sites with petroglyphs representing humans and animals as well as geometrical forms have been indexed in the property so far. The site numbers 17 places of worship, which are still in use, and many that are not. Dispersed around the mountain peaks they are connected by footpaths. The cult sites are believed to provide cures for barrenness, headaches, and back pain and give the blessing of longevity. Veneration for the mountain blends pre-Islamic and Islamic beliefs. The site is believed to represent the most complete example of a sacred mountain anywhere in Central Asia, worshipped over several millennia.

Kyrgyzstan

N40 31 52 E72 46 58

Date of Inscription: 2009

Criteria: (iii)(vi)

Property : 112 ha

Buffer zone: 4,788 ha

Ref: 1230rev

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

 

Skogskyrkogården

Brief Description

This Stockholm cemetery was created between 1917 and 1920 by two young architects, Asplund and Lewerentz, on the site of former gravel pits overgrown with pine trees. The design blends vegetation and architectural elements, taking advantage of irregularities in the site to create a landscape that is finely adapted to its function. It has had a profound influence in many countries of the world.

Sweden

Stockholm County

N59 16 32.016 E18 5 57.984

Date of Inscription: 1994

Criteria: (ii)(iv)

Ref: 558rev

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

 

Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun

Brief Description

The enormous mining excavation known as the Great Pit at Falun is the most striking feature of a landscape that illustrates the activity of copper production in this region since at least the 13th century. The 17th-century planned town of Falun with its many fine historic buildings, together with the industrial and domestic remains of a number of settlements spread over a wide area of the Dalarna region, provide a vivid picture of what was for centuries one of the world's most important mining areas.

Sweden

Town of Falun, Dalarna Province

N60 36 16.992 E15 37 50.988

Date of Inscription: 2001

Criteria: (ii)(iii)(v)

Property : 43 ha

Buffer zone: 3,500 ha

Ref: 1027

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

 

Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland

Brief Description

The southern part of the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea is dominated by a vast limestone plateau. Human beings have lived here for some five thousand years and adapted their way of life to the physical constraints of the island. As a consequence, the landscape is unique, with abundant evidence of continuous human settlement from prehistoric times to the present day.

Sweden

Kalmar County, Island of Öland

N56 19 30 E16 28 59.988

Date of Inscription: 2000

Criteria: (iv)(v)

Property : 56,323 ha

Buffer zone: 6,069 ha

Ref: 968

Source:  http://whc.unesco.org

Old City of Zamość

Brief Description

Zamosc was founded in the 16th century by the chancellor Jan Zamoysky on the trade route linking western and northern Europe with the Black Sea. Modelled on Italian theories of the 'ideal city' and built by the architect Bernando Morando, a native of Padua, Zamosc is a perfect example of a late-16th-century Renaissance town. It has retained its original layout and fortifications and a large number of buildings that combine Italian and central European architectural traditions.

Poland

City and County of Zamość, Lublin Voivodship (formerly Zamość Voivodship)

N50 43 0.012 E23 16 0.012

Date of Inscription: 1992

Criteria: (iv)

Property : 75 ha

Buffer zone: 215 ha

Ref: 564

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

 

Churches and Convents of Goa

Brief Description

The churches and convents of Goa, the former capital of the Portuguese Indies – particularly the Church of Bom Jesus, which contains the tomb of St Francis-Xavier – illustrate the evangelization of Asia. These monuments were influential in spreading forms of Manueline, Mannerist and Baroque art in all the countries of Asia where missions were established.

India

State of Goa

N15 30 7.992 E73 54 42.012

Date of Inscription: 1986

Criteria: (ii)(iv)(vi)

Ref: 234
Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Himeji-jo

Brief Description

Himeji-jo is the finest surviving example of early 17th-century Japanese castle architecture, comprising 83 buildings with highly developed systems of defence and ingenious protection devices dating from the beginning of the Shogun period. It is a masterpiece of construction in wood, combining function with aesthetic appeal, both in its elegant appearance unified by the white plastered earthen walls and in the subtlety of the relationships between the building masses and the multiple roof layers.

Japan

Hyogo Prefecture

N34 49 60 E134 41 60

Date of Inscription: 1993

Criteria: (i)(iv)

Property : 107 ha

Buffer zone: 143 ha

Ref: 661

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Santiago de Compostela (Old Town)

Brief Description

This famous pilgrimage site in north-west Spain became a symbol in the Spanish Christians' struggle against Islam. Destroyed by the Muslims at the end of the 10th century, it was completely rebuilt in the following century. With its Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque buildings, the Old Town of Santiago is one of the world's most beautiful urban areas. The oldest monuments are grouped around the tomb of St James and the cathedral, which contains the remarkable Pórtico de la Gloria.

Spain

Province of A Coruña, Autonomous Community of Galicia

N42 52 50.736 W8 32 40.848

Date of Inscription: 1985

Criteria: (i)(ii)(vi)

Property : 108 ha

Buffer zone: 217 ha

Ref: 347

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Tower of Hercules

Brief Description

The Tower of Hercules has served as a lighthouse and landmark at the entrance of La Coruña harbour in north-western Spain since the late 1st century A.D. when the Romans built the Farum Brigantium. The Tower, built on a 57 metre high rock, rises a further 55 metres, of which 34 metres correspond to the Roman masonry and 21 meters to the restoration directed by architect Eustaquio Giannini in the 18^th century, who augmented the Roman core with two octagonal forms. Immediately adjacent to the base of the Tower, is a small rectangular Roman building. The site also features a sculpture park, the Monte dos Bicos rock carvings from the Iron Age and a Muslim cemetery. The Roman foundations of the building were revealed in excavations conducted in the 1990s. Many legends from the Middle Ages to the 19th century surround the Tower of Hercules, which is unique as it is the only lighthouse of Greco-Roman antiquity to have retained a measure of structural integrity and functional continuity.

Spain

N43 23 9 W8 24 23

Date of Inscription: 2009

Criteria: (iii)

Property : 233 ha

Buffer zone: 1,936 ha

Ref: 1312

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida

Brief Description

The colony of Augusta Emerita, which became present-day Mérida in Estremadura, was founded in 25 B.C. at the end of the Spanish Campaign and was the capital of Lusitania. The well-preserved remains of the old city include, in particular, a large bridge over the Guadiana, an amphitheatre, a theatre, a vast circus and an exceptional water-supply system. It is an excellent example of a provincial Roman capital during the empire and in the years afterwards.

Spain

Province of Badajoz, Autonomous Community of Extremadura

N38 54 57.996 W6 20 16.008

Date of Inscription: 1993

Criteria: (iii)(iv)

Property : 31 ha

Buffer zone: 355 ha

Ref: 664

Source: http://whc.unesco.org