Nine Medieval Sites Added to UNESCO's World Heritage List - Medievalists.net (2024)

The World Heritage Committee has inscribed 26 new cultural and natural properties on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Nine of them have connections to the medieval period.

The 46th session of the World Heritage Committee was held last week in New Delhi, India. The session concluded with Nauru ratifying the World Heritage Convention and becoming its 196th State Party.

The Committee inscribed 26 new properties, including making 2 major extensions to properties which are considered as new inscriptions. The other inscriptions include 20 cultural properties, 5 natural properties and 1 mixed site. These properties thus benefit from the highest level of heritage protection in the world. Their managers will now have access to new opportunities for technical and financial assistance from UNESCO.

The medieval sites now added are:

Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble Exhibiting the Ideal Order of the Chinese Capital

Running north to south through the heart of historical Beijing, the Central Axis consists of former imperial palaces and gardens, sacrificial structures, and ceremonial and public buildings. Together they bears testimony to the evolution of the city and exhibits evidence of the imperial dynastic system and urban planning traditions of China. The location, layout, urban pattern, roads and design showcase the ideal capital city as prescribed in the Kaogongji, an ancient text known as the Book of Diverse Crafts. The area, between two parallel rivers, has been settled for about 3,000 years, but the Central Axis itself originated during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) that established its capital, Dadu, in the northern part. The property also features later historical structures built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and improved during the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912).

The Historic Town and Archaeological Site of Gedi

Surrounded by a remnant coastal forest, away from the coastline, the abandoned city of Gedi was one of the most important Swahili cities on the East African coast from the 10th to 17th centuries. During this period, it was part of a complex and international network of trade and cultural exchanges that crossed the Indian Ocean, linking African coastal centres with Persia and other areas. The opulent settlement is clearly delineated by walls and features remains of domestic, religious, and civic architecture, and a sophisticated water management system. It strongly represents the characteristics of Swahili architecture and town planning, utilising materials such as coral rag, coral and earth mortar and wood.

Cultural Landscape of Kenozero Lake

Located in Kenozero National Park in the north-western area of the European region of the Russian Federation, the property depicts the local cultural landscape that evolved here from the 12th century, following the gradual Slavic colonization. It incorporates a number of traditional rural settlements with vernacular wooden architecture and reflects the communal management of agriculture and nature that developed when the indigenous Finno-Ugric forest culture merged with the traditional Slavic field culture. Wooden churches and other religious buildings, originally decorated with painted ceilings, or “heavens”, are the key social, cultural, and visual landmarks of the area. Their spatial organization, together with sacred sites and symbols, highlight the residents’ spiritual connection with this environment.

Phu Phrabat, a testimony to the Sīma stone tradition of the Dvaravati period

The property illustrates the Sīma stone tradition of the Dvaravati period (7th-11th centuries CE). While sacred boundary markers for areas of Theravada Buddhist monastic practice vary in materials, extensive use of stones is found only in the Khorat Plateau region in Southeast Asia. Buddhism’s arrival in the 7th century led to an increase in the erection of Sīma stones throughout the region for over four centuries. The Phu Phrabat Mountain area preserves the largest corpus in the world ofin situSīma stones from the Dvaravati period, testifying to the tradition that once prevailed in the region. The scale of Sīma stone erection and rock shelter modification has transformed the natural landscape into a religious centre, and rock paintings on surfaces of 47 rock shelters are the physical evidence of human occupation over two millennia.

Umm Al-Jimāl

The property is a rural settlement in northern Jordan that developed organically on the site of an earlier Roman settlement around the 5th century CE and functioned until the end of the 8th century CE. It preserves basaltic structures from the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods that represent the local architecture style of the Hauran region, with some earlier Roman military buildings re-purposed by later inhabitants. The settlement formed part of a broader agricultural landscape that included a complex water catchment system, which sustained agriculture and animal herding. The earliest structures uncovered at Umm Al-Jimāl date back to the 1st century CE, when the area formed part of the Nabataean Kingdom. A rich epigraphic corpus in Greek, Nabataean, Safaitic, Latin and Arabic uncovered on the site and spanning many centuries provides insights into its history, and sheds light on the changes in its inhabitants’ religious beliefs.

Te Henua Enata – The Marquesas Islands

Located in the South Pacific Ocean, this mixed serial property bears an exceptional testimony to the territorial occupation of the Marquesas archipelago by a human civilisation that arrived by sea around the year 1000 CE and developed on these isolated islands between the 10th and the 19th centuries. It is also a hotspot of biodiversity that combines irreplaceable and exceptionally well conserved marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Marked by sharp ridges, impressive peaks and cliffs rising abruptly above the ocean, the landscapes of the archipelago are unparalleled in these tropical latitudes. The archipelago is a major centre of endemism, home to rare and diverse flora, a diversity of emblematic marine species, and one of the most diverse seabird assemblages in the South Pacific. Virtually free from human exploitation, Marquesan waters are among the world’s last marine wilderness areas. The property also includes archaeological sites ranging from monumental dry-stone structures to lithic sculptures and engravings.

The Cultural Landscape of Al-Faw Archaeological Area

Lying at a strategic point of the ancient trade routes of the Arabian Peninsula, the property was abruptly abandoned around the 5th century CE. Nearly 12,000 archaeological remains have been found, spanning from prehistoric times to the Late pre-Islamic era, testifying to the successive occupation of three different populations and their adaptation to the evolving environmental conditions. Archaeological features include the Palaeolithic and Neolithic tools of early people, tapered structures, cairns and circular constructions, the sacred mountain of Khashm Qaryah, rock carvings, funerary tumuli and cairns in the valley, forts/caravanserai, the oasis and its ancient water management system, and the vestiges of the city of Qaryat al-Faw.

Royal Court of Tiébélé

The property is an earthen architectural complex established since the 16th century that bears testimony to the social organization and cultural values of the Kasena people. Enclosed by a protective compound wall, the Royal Court consists of a set of buildings arranged in distinct concessions separated by walls and passageways leading to ceremonial and gathering places outside the compound. Built by the men of the Royal Court, the huts are then adorned with decorations of symbolic significance by the women, who are the sole guardians of this knowledge and ensure this tradition is kept alive.

Saint Hilarion Monastery/ Tell Umm Amer

Situated on the coastal dunes in Nuseirat Municipality, the ruins of Saint Hilarion Monastery/ Tell Umm Amer represent one of the earliest monastic sites in the Middle East, dating back to the 4th century. Founded by Saint Hilarion, the monastery began with solitary hermits and evolved into a coenobitic community. It was the first monastic community in the Holy Land, laying the groundwork for the spread of monastic practices in the region. The monastery occupied a strategic position at the crossroads of major trade and communication routes between Asia and Africa. This prime location facilitated its role as a hub of religious, cultural, and economic interchange, exemplifying the flourishing of monastic desert centres during the Byzantine period.

The Monastery of Saint Hilarion/Tell Umm Amer, which is located in Gaza, was also added to the List of World Heritage in Danger.

These inscriptions bring the total number of properties inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List to 1223, in 168 countries. The Committee also examined the state of conservation of 123 other properties already inscribed on the World Heritage List.

Top Image: The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, which was built in 1420. © Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau /UNESCO