Mount Etna

Mount Etna

Mount Etna is an iconic site encompassing 19,237 uninhabited hectares on the highest part of Mount Etna, on the eastern coast of Sicily. Mount Etna is the highest Mediterranean island mountain and the most active stratovolcano in the world. The eruptive history of the volcano can be traced back 500,000 years and at least 2,700 years of this activity has been documented. The almost continuous eruptive activity of Mount Etna continues to influence volcanology, geophysics and other Earth science disciplines. The volcano also supports important terrestrial ecosystems including endemic flora and fauna and its activity makes it a natural laboratory for the study of ecological and biological processes. The diverse and accessible range of volcanic features such as summit craters, cinder cones, lava flows and the Valle de Bove depression have made the site a prime destination for research and education.

Italy

N37 45 22 E14 59 48

Date of Inscription: 2013

Criteria: (viii)

Property : 19,237 ha

Buffer zone: 26,220 ha

Ref: 1427

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites

Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites

Assisi, a medieval city built on a hill, is the birthplace of Saint Francis, closely associated with the work of the Franciscan Order. Its medieval art masterpieces, such as the Basilica of San Francesco and paintings by Cimabue, Pietro Lorenzetti, Simone Martini and Giotto, have made Assisi a fundamental reference point for the development of Italian and European art and architecture.

 

Italy

N43 3 58.2 E12 37 20.8

Date of Inscription: 2000

Criteria: (i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)

Property : 14,563 ha

Buffer zone: 4,087 ha

Ref: 990

 

Source: whc.unesco.org

City of Verona

City of Verona

The historic city of Verona was founded in the 1st century B.C. It particularly flourished under the rule of the Scaliger family in the 13th and 14th centuries and as part of the Republic of Venice from the 15th to 18th centuries. Verona has preserved a remarkable number of monuments from antiquity, the medieval and Renaissance periods, and represents an outstanding example of a military stronghold.

Italy

City and Province of Verona, Veneto Region

N45 26 19 E10 59 38

Date of Inscription: 2000

Criteria: (ii)(iv)

Property : 453 ha

Buffer zone: 325 ha

Ref: 797rev

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Kaiping Diaolou and Villages

Kaiping Diaolou and Villages feature the Diaolou, multi-storeyed defensive village houses in Kaiping, 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. There are four groups of Diaolou and twenty of the most symbolic ones are inscribed on the List. These buildings take three forms: communal towers built by several families and used as temporary refuge, residential towers built by individual rich families and used as fortified residences, and watch towers. Built of stone, pise , brick or concrete, these buildings represent a complex and confident fusion between Chinese and Western architectural styles. Retaining a harmonious relationship with the surrounding landscape, the Diaolou testify to the final flowering of local building traditions that started in the Ming period in response to local banditry.

China

Guangdong Province

N22 17 7.87 E112 33 57.1

Date of Inscription: 2007

Criteria: (ii)(iii)(iv)

Property : 372 ha

Buffer zone: 2,738 ha

Ref: 1112

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Route of Santiago de Compostela

Route of Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela was proclaimed the first European Cultural itinerary by the Council of Europe in 1987. This route from the French-Spanish border was – and still is – taken by pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. Some 1,800 buildings along the route, both religious and secular, are of great historic interest. The route played a fundamental role in encouraging cultural exchanges between the Iberian peninsula and the rest of Europe during the Middle Ages. It remains a testimony to the power of the Christian faith among people of all social classes and from all over Europe.

Spain

Autonomous Communities of Aragon, Navarre, la Rioja, Castile-Leon and Galicia

N42 27 33.012 W5 52 59.988

Date of Inscription: 1993

Criteria: (ii)(iv)(vi)

Ref: 669

 

Source:  http://whc.unesco.org

Vizcaya Bridge

Vizcaya Bridge

Vizcaya Bridge straddles the mouth of the Ibaizabal estuary, west of Bilbao. It was designed by the Basque architect Alberto de Palacio and completed in 1893. The 45-m-high bridge with its span of 160 m, merges 19th-century ironworking traditions with the then new lightweight technology of twisted steel ropes. It was the first bridge in the world to carry people and traffic on a high suspended gondola and was used as a model for many similar bridges in Europe, Africa and the America only a few of which survive. With its innovative use of lightweight twisted steel cables, it is regarded as one of the outstanding architectural iron constructions of the Industrial Revolution.

Spain

Basque Country, Province of Bizjaia,

N43 19 23.43 W3 1 0.6

Date of Inscription: 2006

Criteria: (i)(ii)

Property : 0.86 ha

Buffer zone: 12 ha

Ref: 1217

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Centre of Heaven and Earth”

Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Centre of Heaven and Earth”

Mount Songshang is considered to be the central sacred mountain of China. At the foot of this 1500 metre high mountain, close to the city of Dengfeng in Henan province and spread over a 40 square-kilometre circle, stand eight clusters of buildings and sites, including three Han Que gates - remains of the oldest religious edifices in China -, temples, the Zhougong Sundial Platform and the Dengfeng Observatory. Constructed over the course of nine dynasties, these buildings are reflections of different ways of perceiving the centre of heaven and earth and the power of the mountain as a centre for religious devotion. The historical monuments of Dengfeng include some of the best examples of ancient Chinese buildings devoted to ritual, science, technology and education.

 China

N34 27 31.49 E113 4 3.79

Date of Inscription: 2010

Criteria: (iii)(vi)

Property : 825 ha 

Buffer zone: 3,438 ha

Ref: 1305rev

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Historic Centre of Naples

Historic Centre of Naples

From the Neapolis founded by Greek settlers in 470 B.C. to the city of today, Naples has retained the imprint of the successive cultures that emerged in Europe and the Mediterranean basin. This makes it a unique site, with a wealth of outstanding monuments such as the Church of Santa Chiara and the Castel Nuovo.

Italy

City and Province of Naples, Campania

N40 51 5 E14 15 46

Date of Inscription: 1995

Minor modification inscribed year: 2011

Criteria: (ii)(iv)

Property : 1,021 ha

Buffer zone: 1,350 ha

Ref: 726bis

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Fortifications of Vauban

Fortifications of Vauban

Fortifications of Vauban consists of 12 groups of fortified buildings and sites along the western, northern and eastern borders of France. They represent the finest examples of the work of Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707), a military engineer of King Louis XIV. The serial property includes towns built from scratch by Vauban, citadels, urban bastion walls and bastion towers. There are also mountain forts, sea forts, a mountain battery and two mountain communication structures. This property is inscribed as bearing witness to the peak of classic fortifications, typical of western military architecture. Vauban also played a major role in the history of fortification in Europe and on other continents until the mid-19th century.

France

N50 16 57 E2 45 32

Date of Inscription: 2008

Criteria: (i)(ii)(iv)

Property : 1,153 ha

Buffer zone: 4,341 ha

Ref: 1283

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro

Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro

The ruins of the huge city of Moenjodaro – built entirely of unbaked brick in the 3rd millennium B.C. – lie in the Indus valley. The acropolis, set on high embankments, the ramparts, and the lower town, which is laid out according to strict rules, provide evidence of an early system of town planning.

 Pakistan

Sind

N27 19 45 E68 8 20

Date of Inscription: 1980

Criteria: (ii)(iii)

Property : 240 ha 

Ref: 138

Source: http://whc.unesco.org