Check out the additions to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites

BERLIN, Germany – The UN’s cultural body conferred world heritage status on a number of new sites this weekend. Here is a list of some of the new additions. 

FRANCE: CHAMPAGNE AND BURGUNDY VINEYARDS 

Inscribed today as @UNESCO #WorldHeritage: Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars (France)—The property encompasses sites where the method of producing sparkling wines was developed on the principle of secondary fermentation in the bottle since the early 17th century to its early industrialization in the 19th century. The property is made up of three distinct ensembles: the historic vineyards of Hautvilliers, Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Saint-Nicaise Hill in Reims, and the Avenue de Champagne and Fort Chabrol in Epernay. These three ensembles – the supply basin formed by the historic hillsides, the production sites (with their underground cellars) and the sales and distribution centres (the Champagne Houses) – illustrate the entire champagne production process. The property bears clear testimony to the development of a very specialized artisan activity that has become an agro-industrial enterprise.

A photo posted by UNESCO (@unesco) on Jul 4, 2015 at 10:39am PDT

The historic vineyards, wine cellars and champagne houses where the world’s most famous sparkling wines and red wines are produced, including the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay,and the Cote de Nuits and the Cote de Beaune vineyards in Burgundy which produce some of the finest red wines in the world made from pinot noir and chardonnay grapes.

 

Inscribed today as @UNESCO #WorldHeritage: The Climats, terroirs of Burgundy (France)—The climates are precisely delimited vineyard parcels on the slopes of the Côtes de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune south of the city of Dijon. They differ from one another due to specific natural conditions (geology and exposure) as well as vine types and have been shaped by human cultivation. Over time they came to be recognized by the wine they produce. This cultural landscape consists of two parts. Firstly, the vineyards and associated production units including villages and the town of Beaune, which together represent the commercial dimension of the production system. The second part includes the historic centre of Dijon, which embodies the political regulatory impetus that gave birth to the climats system. The site is an outstanding example of grape cultivation and wine production developed since the High Middle Ages.

A photo posted by UNESCO (@unesco) on Jul 4, 2015 at 10:42am PDT

 

JAPAN: MEIJI INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION SITES  

Inscribed as @unesco #WorldHeritage today: Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining (Japan)—The site encompasses a series of eleven properties, mainly located in the southwest of Japan. It bears testimony to the rapid industrialization of the country from the middle of the 19th century to the early 20th century, through the development of the steel industry, shipbuilding and coal mining. The site illustrates the process by which feudal Japan sought technology transfer from Europe and America from the middle of the 19th century and how this technology was adapted to the country’s needs and social traditions. The site testifies to what is considered to be the first successful transfer of Western industrialization to a non-Western nation.

A photo posted by UNESCO (@unesco) on Jul 5, 2015 at 10:31am PDT

 

The 23 facilities are at 11 different sites and are representative of Japan’s industrial revolution under Emperor Meiji (1868-1910). 

Some of the facilities, such as the Yahata steelworks and the Nagasaki shipbuilding yard, are still partly in operation. 

The list also includes a coal mine in Hashima, the Mietus shipyards and old steel factories.

South Korea and China had both voiced opposition to the listing, but Seoul said it would not block the bid  following Tokyo’s promise to own up the war history of the locations.

Beijing had also earlier opposed what the official Xinhua news agency calls a “whitewashing” of Tokyo’s militaristic past.

 

UNITED STATES: SAN ANTONIO MISSIONS  

Inscribed today as #UNESCO #WorldHeritage: San Antonio Missions (United States of America) — The site encompasses a group of five frontier mission complexes situated along a stretch of the San Antonio River basin in southern Texas, as well as a ranch located 37 kilometres to the south. It includes architectural and archaeological structures, farmlands, residencies, churches and granaries, as well as water distribution systems. The complexes were built by Franciscan missionaries in the 18th century and illustrate the Spanish Crown’s efforts to colonize, evangelize and defend the northern frontier of New Spain. The San Antonio Missions are also an example of the interweaving of Spanish and Coahuiltecan cultures, illustrated by a variety of features, including the decorative elements of churches, which combine Catholic symbols with indigenous designs inspired by nature. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1485 © National Park Service

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The United States’ bid was for 5 Spanish Roman Catholic sites built in and around what is now the city of San Antonio, including the Alamo fort, where in 1836 some 180 Texans fighting for independence from Mexico fought to the death against Mexican General Santa Anna’s army of several thousand soldiers.

The missions “illustrate the Spanish Crown’s efforts to colonize, evangelize and defend the northern frontier of New Spain,” UNESCO said.

It added that the San Antonio Missions were also an example of the interweaving of Spanish and Coahuiltecan cultures, including the decorative elements of churches, which combined Catholic symbols with indigenous designs inspired by nature.

 

GERMANY: HAMBURG’S HISTORIC MARITIME WAREHOUSES AND BUSINESS DISTRICTS  

Inscribed today as @UNESCO #WorldHeritage: Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus (Germany) — Speicherstadt and the adjacent Kontorhaus district are two densely built urban areas in the centre of the port city of Hamburg. Speicherstadt, originally developed on a group of narrow islands in the Elbe River between 1885 and 1927, was partly rebuilt from 1949 to 1967. It is one of the largest coherent historic ensembles of port warehouses in the world (300,000 m2). It includes 15 very large warehouse blocks as well as six ancillary buildings and a connecting network of short canals. Adjacent to the modernist Chilehaus office building, the Kontorhaus district is an area of over five hectares featuring six very large office complexes built from the 1920s to the 1940s to house port-related businesses. The complex exemplifies the effects of the rapid growth in international trade in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1467/ © Department for Heritage Preservation Hamburg picture library

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The Speicherstadt, the world’s largest historic warehouse complex, is a district of connecting roads, canals and bridges dating from 1885 to 1927, lined with red-brick office buildings.

Covering 26 hectares (64 acres) in the heart of the northern German city’s bustling port area, its Gothic red-brick warehouses once stored high-value goods, such as coffee, spices and tobacco, UNESCO said.

Opposite stands the Kontorhaus office district in Hamburg’s old town, built in the 1920s and 1930s. It includes the Chilehaus which resembles a ship’s bow and, according to UNESCO, “represents the most significant artistic and architectural achievement of German Brick Expressionism.”

 

TURKEY: DIYARBAKIR AND EPHESUS 

Inscribed today as @UNESCO #WorldHeritage: Diyarbakir Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape (Turkey)—Located on an escarpment of the Upper Tigres River Basin that is part of the so-called Fertile Crescent, the fortified city of Diyarbakir and the landscape around has been an important centre since the Hellenistic period, through the Roman, Sassanid, Byzantine, Islamic and Ottoman times to the present. The site encompasses the Amida Mound, known as İçkale (inner castle), the 5.8km-long city walls of Diyarbakir with their numerous towers, gates, buttresses, and 63 inscriptions from different periods, as well as Hevsel Gardens, a green link between the city and the Tigris that supplied the city with food and water.

A photo posted by UNESCO (@unesco) on Jul 4, 2015 at 10:55am PDT

Located on an escarpment of the Upper Tigres River Basin,  the fortified city of Diyarbakir encompasses the Amida Mound, 5.8-kilometers of city walls with their numerous towers, gates, buttresses, as well as Hevsel Gardens, a green link between the city and the Tigris.

A second site in Turkey is Ephesus which contains only a few remains of the famous Temple of Artemis, one of the “Seven Wonders of the World.” But Ephesus is an outstanding example of a Roman port city, with sea channel and harbour basin, UNESCO said.  

Inscribed today as @UNESCO #WorldHeritage: Ephesus (Turkey)—Located within what was once the estuary of the River Kaystros, Ephesus comprises successive Hellenistic and Roman settlements founded on new locations, which followed the coastline as it retreated westward. Excavations have revealed grand monuments of the Roman Imperial period including the Library of Celsus and the Great Theatre. Little remains of the famous Temple of Artemis, one of the “Seven Wonders of the World,” which drew pilgrims from all around the Mediterranean. The Ancient City of Ephesus is an outstanding example of a Roman port city, with sea channel and harbour basin. © Austrian Archeological Institute http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1018

A photo posted by UNESCO (@unesco) on Jul 5, 2015 at 10:32am PDT

 

SPAIN: ROUTES OF SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA  

A network of 4 Christian pilgrimage routes in northern Spain, marking an extension of the Route of Santiago de Compostela, which has been inscribed on the World Heritage List since 1993. The extension represents a network of almost 1,500 kilometers and encompasses some of the earliest pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, following the discovery in the 9th century of a tomb believed to be that of St. James the Greater. – Rappler.com

 

Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela photo from Shutterstock