The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes

The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes

The Loire Valley is an outstanding cultural landscape of great beauty, containing historic towns and villages, great architectural monuments (the châteaux), and cultivated lands formed by many centuries of interaction between their population and the physical environment, primarily the river Loire itself.

 France

N47 23 56.004 E0 42 10.008

Date of Inscription: 2000

Criteria: (i)(ii)(iv)

Property : 85,394 ha 

Buffer zone: 208,934 ha

Ref: 933

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram

 

Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram

This group of sanctuaries, founded by the Pallava kings, was carved out of rock along the Coromandel coast in the 7th and 8th centuries. It is known especially for its rathas (temples in the form of chariots),mandapas (cave sanctuaries), giant open-air reliefs such as the famous 'Descent of the Ganges', and the temple of Rivage, with thousands of sculptures to the glory of Shiva.

 India

Tamil Nadu State, Chingleput District

N12 37 0.012 E80 11 30.012

Date of Inscription: 1984

Criteria: (i)(ii)(iii)(vi)

Ref: 249

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Group of Monuments at Pattadakal

 

Group of Monuments at Pattadakal

Pattadakal, in Karnataka, represents the high point of an eclectic art which, in the 7th and 8th centuries under the Chalukya dynasty, achieved a harmonious blend of architectural forms from northern and southern India. An impressive series of nine Hindu temples, as well as a Jain sanctuary, can be seen there. One masterpiece from the group stands out – the Temple of Virupaksha, built c. 740 by Queen Lokamahadevi to commemorate her husband's victory over the kings from the South.

 India

State of Karnataka, Bijapur District, Badami Taluk

N15 56 53.988 E75 49 0.012

Date of Inscription: 1987

Criteria: (iii)(iv)

Property : 5.56 ha 

Buffer zone: 113 ha

Ref: 239rev

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Humayun's Tomb, Delhi

 

Humayun's Tomb, Delhi

This tomb, built in 1570, is of particular cultural significance as it was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent. It inspired several major architectural innovations, culminating in the construction of the Taj Mahal.

 India

Delhi

N28 35 35.988 E77 15 2.016

Date of Inscription: 1993

Criteria: (ii)(iv)

Ref: 232

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Mountain Railways of India

Mountain Railways of India

This site includes three railways. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was the first, and is still the most outstanding, example of a hill passenger railway. Opened in 1881, its design applies bold and ingenious engineering solutions to the problem of establishing an effective rail link across a mountainous terrain of great beauty. The construction of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a 46-km long metre-gauge single-track railway in Tamil Nadu State was first proposed in 1854, but due to the difficulty of the mountainous location the work only started in 1891 and was completed in 1908. This railway, scaling an elevation of 326 m to 2,203 m, represented the latest technology of the time. The Kalka Shimla Railway, a 96-km long, single track working rail link built in the mid-19th century to provide a service to the highland town of Shimla is emblematic of the technical and material efforts to disenclave mountain populations through the railway. All three railways are still fully operational.

 India

N11 30 37.008 E76 56 8.988

Date of Inscription: 1999

Extension: 2005,2008

Criteria: (ii)(iv)

Property : 89 ha 

Buffer zone: 645 ha

Ref: 944ter

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur

Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur

The capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt has some extraordinary funerary monuments, including rock tombs, ornate mastabas, temples and pyramids. In ancient times, the site was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

 Egypt

Governorate of Giza

N29 58 33.744 E31 7 49.476

Date of Inscription: 1979

Criteria: (i)(iii)(vi)

Property : 16,359 ha 

Ref: 86

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Maloti-Drakensberg Park

Maloti-Drakensberg Park

The Maloti-Drakensberg Park is a transboundary site composed of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg National Park in South Africa and the Sehlathebe National Park in Lesotho. The site has exceptional natural beauty in its soaring basaltic buttresses, incisive dramatic cutbacks, and golden sandstone ramparts as well as visually spectacular sculptured arches, caves, cliffs, pillars and rock pools. The site's diversity of habitats protects a high level of endemic and globally important plants. The site harbors endangered species such as the Cape vulture (Gyps coprotheres) and the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus). Lesotho’s Sehlabathebe National Park also harbors the Maloti minnow (Pseudobarbus quathlambae), a critically endangered fish species only found in this park. This spectacular natural site contains many caves and rock-shelters with the largest and most concentrated group of paintings in Africa south of the Sahara. They represent the spiritual life of the San people, who lived in this area over a period of 4,000 years.

Lesotho

South Africa

S29 45 55 E29 7 23

Date of Inscription: 2000

Extension: 2013

Criteria: (i)(iii)(vii)(x)

Property : 249,313 ha

Buffer zone: 46,630 ha

Ref: 985bis

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace, near Oxford, stands in a romantic park created by the famous landscape gardener 'Capability' Brown. It was presented by the English nation to John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, in recognition of his victory in 1704 over French and Bavarian troops. Built between 1705 and 1722 and characterized by an eclectic style and a return to national roots, it is a perfect example of an 18th-century princely dwelling.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Oxfordshire, England

N51 50 31 W1 21 41

Date of Inscription: 1987

Criteria: (ii)(iv)

Ref: 425

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí

Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí

The narrow Vall de Boí is situated in the high Pyrénées, in the Alta Ribagorça region and is surrounded by steep mountains. Each village in the valley contains a Romanesque church, and is surrounded by a pattern of enclosed fields. There are extensive seasonally-used grazing lands on the higher slopes.

Spain

Province of Lleida, Autonomous Community of Catalonia

N42 30 17 E0 48 13

Date of Inscription: 2000

Criteria: (ii)(iv)

Property : 7.98 ha

Buffer zone: 3,562 ha

Ref: 988

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica

Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica

The Churches of Peace in Jawor and Ś widnica, the largest timber-framed religious buildings in Europe, were built in the former Silesia in the mid-17th century, amid the religious strife that followed the Peace of Westphalia. Constrained by the physical and political conditions, the Churches of Peace bear testimony to the quest for religious freedom and are a rare expression of Lutheran ideology in an idiom generally associated with the Catholic Church.

Poland

Jawor and Świdnica counties, Lower Silesian (Dolnoslaskie) Voivodship

N51 3 15.4 E16 11 45.4

Date of Inscription: 2001

Criteria: (iii)(iv)(vi)

Property : 0.23 ha

Buffer zone: 12 ha

Ref: 1054

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork

Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork

This 13th-century fortified monastery belonging to the Teutonic Order was substantially enlarged and embellished after 1309, when the seat of the Grand Master moved here from Venice. A particularly fine example of a medieval brick castle, it later fell into decay, but was meticulously restored in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the conservation techniques now accepted as standard were evolved here. Following severe damage in the Second World War it was once again restored, using the detailed documentation prepared by earlier conservators.

Poland

City and County of Malbork, Pomeranian Voivodship (formerly Elblag Voivodship)

N54 2 30 E19 1 60

Date of Inscription: 1997

Criteria: (ii)(iii)(iv)

Property : 18 ha

Ref: 847

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Pilgrimage Church of Wies

Pilgrimage Church of Wies

Miraculously preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, the Church of Wies (1745–54), the work of architect Dominikus Zimmermann, is a masterpiece of Bavarian Rococo – exuberant, colourful and joyful.

Germany

Town of Steingaden, District of Weilheim-Schongau, Region of Upper Bavaria, State of Bavaria (Bayern)

N47 40 52.6 E10 54 0.5

Date of Inscription: 1983

Minor modification inscribed year: 2011

Criteria: (i)(iii)

Property : 0.10 ha

Buffer zone: 8.40 ha

Ref: 271bis

Source:  http://whc.unesco.org

Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan

Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan

The holy city of Teotihuacan ('the place where the gods were created') is situated some 50 km north-east of Mexico City. Built between the 1st and 7th centuries A.D., it is characterized by the vast size of its monuments – in particular, the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, laid out on geometric and symbolic principles. As one of the most powerful cultural centres in Mesoamerica, Teotihuacan extended its cultural and artistic influence throughout the region, and even beyond.

Mexico

Municipalities of Teotihuacan De Arista and San Martin De Las Piramides

N19 41 30.012 W98 50 30.012

Date of Inscription: 1987

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

Property : 3,382 ha

Ref: 414

Source: http://whc.unesco.org