Five sites inscribed on UNESCO’s world heritage list
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Few Indian sites including Dholavira, an archaeological site in Gujarat which represents the ruins of an ancient city of the Harappan civilization
The World Heritage Committee on Saturday inscribed five cultural sites, including one transnational property, in Saudi Arabia, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during its 44th session held online and chaired from Fuzhou (China).
Few Indian sites including Dholavira, an archaeological site in Gujarat which represents the ruins of an ancient city of the Harappan civilization, and the Glorious Kakatiya Temples and Gateways in Telangana will also be examined for inscription on UNESCO's list.
Let's read about the sites which have been inscribed.
Hima Cultural Area, Saudi Arabia
Located in an arid, mountainous area of southwest Saudi Arabia, this site is on one of the Arabian Peninsula’s ancient caravan routes, Ḥimā Cultural The area contains a substantial collection of rock art images depicting hunting, fauna, flora and lifestyles in a cultural continuity of 7,000 years. The inscriptions here are in different scripts, including Musnad, Aramaic-Nabatean, South-Arabian, Thamudic, Greek and Arabic. As per UNESCO, the property and its buffer zone are also rich in unexcavated archaeological resources in the form of cairns, stone structures, interments, stone tool scatters and ancient wells. This location is at the oldest known toll station on an important ancient desert caravan route, where the wells of Bi’r Ḥimā date back at least 3,000 years and still produce fresh water.
The Great Spa Towns of Europe in Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The transnational site of The Great Spa Towns of Europe comprises 11 towns, located in seven European countries. This includes Baden bei Wien in Austria, Spa in Belgium, Františkovy Lázně in Czechia, Karlovy Vary in Czechia, Mariánské Lázně in Czechia, Vichy in France, Bad Ems in Germany, Baden-Baden in Germany, Bad Kissingen in Germany, Montecatini Terme in Italy, and City of Bath in the United Kingdom.The towns have developed around natural mineral water springs.
Cordouan Lighthouse, France
The lighthouse rises up on a shallow rocky plateau in the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Gironde estuary. It has been built in white limestone dressed blocks at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. Designed by engineer Louis de Foix and remodelled by engineer Joseph Teulère in the late 18th century, it is decorated with pilasters, columns modillions and gargoyles. As per UNESCO, the architectural forms have drawn inspiration from ancient models, Renaissance Mannerism and the specific architectural language of France’s engineering school École des Ponts et Chaussées.
Mathuldenhohe Darmstadt, Germany
Established in 1897 by Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse, it is the highest elevation above the city of Darmstadt in west-central Germany. The buildings of the colony were created by its artist members as experimental early modernist living and working environments. The serial property consists of two parts including 23 elements, such as the Wedding Tower (1908), the Exhibition Hall (1908), the Plane Tree Grove (1833, 1904-14), the Russian Chapel of St. Maria Magdalena (1897-99), the Lily Basin, the Gottfried Schwab Memorial (1905), the Pergola and Garden (1914), the “Swan Temple” Garden Pavilion (1914), the Ernst Ludwig Fountain, and the 13 houses and artists’ studios that were built for the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony and for the international exhibitions. A Three House Group, built for the 1904 exhibition is an additional component.
Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles, Italy
The site is composed of eight religious and secular building complexes, within the historic walled city of Padua which houses a selection of fresco cycles painted between 1302 and 1397 by different artists for different types of patron. These include Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel fresco cycle. Other fresco cycles of different artists include Guariento di Arpo, Giusto de’ Menabuoi, Altichiero da Zevio, Jacopo Avanzi and Jacopo da Verona.