New Unesco World Heritage Sites named

Chinese temple in Penang (photo: Natasha von Geldern)

Tuesday, 08, Jul 2008 05:32

The Unesco World Heritage Committee has announced 19 new cultural sites on their world heritage list, as well as eight new natural sites.

Decided at the 32nd session of the World Heritage Committee, meeting this week in Montreal, the additions include two Malaysian cities and the controversial Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia.

Strong political opposition to Preah Vihear being classified a world heritage site came from Thailand, which claims ownership of the 11th-century Hindu temple near the border between the two countries.

The historic centres of Melaka and Georgetown in Malaysia have developed over 500 years of trading and cultural exchange between east and west, imbuing both places with a unique multicultural heritage.

Melaka has fine government buildings, churches, squares and fortifications from the time of Dutch and Portuguese colonial rule. It also has a fascinating Chinatown.

The heart of 'Old Malacca' is in the town square, with other architectural gems to be found along the waterfront and on St Paul's Hill - the site of the original Portuguese fort of A'Famosa and St Paul's Church.

In Georgetown, the capital of Penang, the new world heritage site comprises the old 18th-century town grid along the waterfront, as well as the surrounding historic and multicultural neighbourhoods.

A true melting pot of architecture and culture, Georgetown was founded in 1786 as a base for the East India Company.

But its most popular attractions are probably now the Kapitan Keling Mosque, Khoo Kongsi and Sri Mariamman Temple.

The 19 new cultural world heritage sites are:

Preah Vihear Temple (Cambodia)

Fujian Tulou (China)

Stari Grad Plain (Croatia)

Historic Centre of Camagüey (Cuba)

Fortifications of Vauban (France)

Berlin Modernism Housing Estates (Germany)

Armenian Monastic Ensembles in Iran (Iran)

Baha'i Holy Places in Haifa and Western Galilee (Israel)

Mantua and Sabbioneta (Italy)

The Mijikenda Kaya Forests (Kenya)

Melaka and George Town, historic cities of the Straits of Malacca (Malaysia)

Protective town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús de Nazareno de Atotonilco (Mexico)

Le Morne Cultural Landscape (Mauritius)

Kuk Early Agricultural Site (Papua New Guinea)

San Marino Historic Centre and Mount Titano (San Marino)

Archaeological Site of Al-Hijr (Madâin Sâlih) (Saudi Arabia)

The Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of Carpathian Mountain Area (Slovakia)

Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Cultural Landscape (Switzerland and Italy)

Chief Roi Mata's Domain (Vanuatu)

The eight new natural world heritage sites are:

Joggins Fossil Cliffs (Canada)

Mount Sanqingshan National Park (China)

Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems (France)

Surtsey (Iceland)

Saryarka - Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan)

Monarch Butterfly biosphere Reserve (Mexico)

Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona (Switzerland)

Socotra Archipelago (Yemen)

In addition, a number of current world heritage sites were extended, including the mountain railways of India.

The Altamira caves in northern Spain have had seventeen Paleolithic caves added to the listing.

And in Britain, the 60km Antonine Wall in Scotland has been added to the UK's 'Frontiers of the Roman Empire' site.

There are now 878 Unesco world heritage sites across 145 countries - 679 cultural, 174 natural sites and 25 mixed.

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