UNESCO has designated sites in Serbia, Azerbaijan and Mexico as the latest additions to its World Heritage Sites List. Sites in Serbia, Azerbaijan and Mexico are the latest addition to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s World Heritage Sites List.
The World Heritage Committee, which held its annual review of World Heritage List in Christchurch, New Zealand, said there are now 851 sites in the list.
Joining the list is in eastern Serbia’s Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius. UNESCO describes the site as a Late Roman era fortified palace compound and memorial complex that was commissioned by Emperor Caius Valerius Galerius Maximianus in the late 3rd or early 4th century. It includes fortifications, a palace, basilicas, temples, hot baths and a memorial complex.
Also meeting the criteria is Azerbaijan’s Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, which encompasses three areas of a rocky plateau in the semi-desert of central Azerbaijan which are home to a collection of 6,000 rock engravings stretching over 4,000 years. UNESCO says the site also contains remnants of settlements and burials from humans who lived there during the period after the last Ice Age.
And the third and final addition in this year’s World Heritage Sites review is Mexico City’s ensemble of buildings, sports facilities and open spaces at the Central University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).
Built between 1949 and 1952 by more than 60 architects, engineers and artists, the campus is considered a unique example of 20th century modernism and includes references to local traditions, particularly to Mexico’s pre-Hispanic history.
At the annual review, the World Heritage Committee inscribed 22 new sites on the List and took the unprecedented step of removing one site ?the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman- because of the country’s failure to adequately preserve the property.