News

In the framework of the Aksum Obelisk reinstallation project funded by Italy, the second block of the Aksum Obelisk was successfully installed on 25 July 2008. The first phase of the re-installation works of the Aksum Obelisk, also known as Stele 2, in its original location at the World Heritage site in Aksum, Ethiopia was completed on 12 June 2008. The first and second of three blocks of ...

The World Heritage Committee has asked that “reinforced monitoring” be applied to four properties on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in addition to the seven for which the surveillance mechanism is already in place. Under the new monitoring mechanism, established by the World Heritage Committee in 2007, regular missions can be dispatched to World Heritage sites subjected to ...

The Bahá’i Holy Places in Haifa and Western Galilee (Israel) are inscribed for the testimony they provide to the Bahá’i’s strong tradition of pilgrimage and for their profound meaning for the faith. The property numbers 26 buildings, monuments and sites at 11 locations in Acre and Haifa, associated with the founders of the faith, among them the Shrine of the ...

The World Heritage Committee, meeting for its 32nd session, finished inscribing new sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on 8 July with the addition of 19 cultural sites and eight natural sites to the List. New cultural sites inscribed during the 32nd session: Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia) Fujian Tulou (China) Stari Grad Plain (Croatia) Historic Centre of Camagüey ...

The World Heritage Committee meeting in Quebec City has added eight new cultural sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage List on the morning of the 7 of July. With these inscriptions, Papua New Guinea and San Marino enter the World Heritage List for the first time. The new sites inscribed are: Melaka and George Town, historic cities of the Straits of Malacca (Malaysia) have developed over ...

The World Heritage Committee, meeting for its 32nd session, inscribed 13 new sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in the afternoon and evening of 7 July. The nomination of new sites for inscription on the World Heritage List will continue tomorrow morning, 8 July.The new sites inscribed are: Preah Vihear Temple (Cambodia). Situated on the edge of a plateau that dominates the plain of ...

The mountain of Le Morne, a former hideout of runaway slaves in Mauritius, a Nabataean archaeological site in Saudi Arabia and earthen houses in Fujian Province in China have been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.Le Morne Cultural Landscape, a rugged mountain that juts into the Indian Ocean in the southwest of Mauritius was used as a shelter by runaway slaves, maroons, through ...

Fortified Armenian monasteries in Iran were added to the new sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on 6 July. The Armenian Monastic Ensembles in Iran, in the north-west of the country, consists of three monastic ensembles of the Armenian Christian faith: St Thaddeus and St Stepanos and the Chapel of Dzordzor. These edifices - the oldest of which, St Thaddeus, dates back to ...

On July 1st the Galápagos National Park announced that the parasite causing avian malaria was found in several Galápagos penguins by researchers studying the presence and distribution of diseases in Galápagos birds. Immediate follow-up studies are needed to document the proportion of birds infected with the parasite throughout the four-island distribution of the penguin, ...

The World Heritage Committee has decided to retain Dresden Elbe Valley on UNESCO World Heritage List in the hope that the building of a four-lane bridge across the valley will be stopped and work undertaken to reverse damage caused to the integrity of the landscape of the German site. The Committee said it regretted the construction of the bridge underway and urged the authorities to opt for ...

The 32nd session of the World Heritage Committee opened on July 2nd with an official ceremony in Quebec City, which is celebrating its 400th anniversary. Grand Chief Max Gros-Louis of the Huron-Wendat First Nation opened the ceremony with the performance of a purification ritual before Christina Cameron, Chairperson of the 32nd session, welcomed participants saying that “Canada’s ...