The medieval city of Ani, located on a secluded plateau of northeast Turkey, was long considered a site which needed to be preserved under the World Heritage status and it was finally added to the list this year.
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The UN’s cultural agency on Friday (July 15) added four new sites in Iran, India, China and Micronesia to its World Heritage list. At its peak, the school attracted scholars and students from across the continent – Tibet, China, Korea, and Central Asia.
The Zuojiang Huashan rock art landscape in China, meanwhile, is all that remains today of the bronze age culture – known as “bronze drum” after its most characteristic artifacts – once prevalent across the country’s south.
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At its meetings until Sunday, the World Heritage Committee under the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO will review the nominations of 18 other sites to the World Heritage List, among them are nine natural, five cultural and four mixed ones. It later became an important Christian site, following the visit of Apostle Paul, UNESCO said.
In another sensitive inscription, UNESCO elevated to World Heritage status caves once inhabited by Neanderthals in Britain’s overseas territory of Gibraltar, which is claimed by Spain.
The heritage committee cited the importance of the ancient qanat system, which conveys water in underground tunnels using gravity in the middle of arid desert areas in Iran.
Made of basalt and coral boulders, the 99 artificial islets of Nan Madol are home to ruins ranging from a temple to tombs dating between 1200 and 1500.
It was, however, immediately placed on UNESCO’s list of heritage-in-danger due to the construction of navigation channels which was making the historic edifices more fragile.
With this inclusion, the number of sites from Turkey in the World Heritage List increased to 16.
The Antequera Dolmens site, in Andalusia, southern Spain, is comprised of three megalithic monuments as well as two natural mountainous formations.
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The 40th session of the World Heritage Committee began on 10 July and will continue until 20 July.
