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Four new heritage sites added to UNESCO list
www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-07 12:31:29
QUEBEC CITY, Canada, July 6 (Xinhua) -- UNESCO's World Heritage
Committee Sunday added four new sites to its heritage list, including
Tulou, the unique residential architecture of Fujian Province in
southeastern China.
The remaining three sites inscribed Sunday afternoon local time by
the 21-member heritage committee which is currently meeting in Quebec
City, are a former slave hideout in Mauritius, an archeological site
in Saudi Arabia and monasteries in Iran.
Fujian Tulou comprises 46 earthen houses constructed between the
12th and 20th centuries. Each has several stories, built for entire
clans and sheltering up to 800 people.
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, runaway slaves sought
shelter on the mountain of Le Morne, which juts out into the Indian
Ocean in south-west Mauritius, where they formed small
settlements. The mountain became a symbol of the slaves' search for
freedom, as well as their suffering and sacrifice.
Al-Hijr, or Madain Salih, is the first Saudi Arabian site to be
added to the World Heritage List. As the largest conserved site of the
civilization of the Nabataeans south of Petra in Jordan, it features
over 100 tombs dating back from the 1st century BC to the1st century
AD.
The Armenian Monastic Ensembles in northeastern Iran were a major
hub for the dissemination of the Armenian culture into Azerbaijan and
Persia. The site comprises three monastic ensembles, with the oldest
edifice dating back to the 7th century.
The four new entries bring UNESCO's World Heritage List to 855
sites in more than 140 countries around the world.
The World Heritage Committee's annual meeting is scheduled to wrap
up on July 10.
Editor: An Lu
Four new heritage sites added to UNESCO list
www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-07 12:31:29
QUEBEC CITY, Canada, July 6 (Xinhua) -- UNESCO's World Heritage
Committee Sunday added four new sites to its heritage list, including
Tulou, the unique residential architecture of Fujian Province in
southeastern China.
The remaining three sites inscribed Sunday afternoon local time by
the 21-member heritage committee which is currently meeting in Quebec
City, are a former slave hideout in Mauritius, an archeological site
in Saudi Arabia and monasteries in Iran.
Fujian Tulou comprises 46 earthen houses constructed between the
12th and 20th centuries. Each has several stories, built for entire
clans and sheltering up to 800 people.
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, runaway slaves sought
shelter on the mountain of Le Morne, which juts out into the Indian
Ocean in south-west Mauritius, where they formed small
settlements. The mountain became a symbol of the slaves' search for
freedom, as well as their suffering and sacrifice.
Al-Hijr, or Madain Salih, is the first Saudi Arabian site to be
added to the World Heritage List. As the largest conserved site of the
civilization of the Nabataeans south of Petra in Jordan, it features
over 100 tombs dating back from the 1st century BC to the1st century
AD.
The Armenian Monastic Ensembles in northeastern Iran were a major
hub for the dissemination of the Armenian culture into Azerbaijan and
Persia. The site comprises three monastic ensembles, with the oldest
edifice dating back to the 7th century.
The four new entries bring UNESCO's World Heritage List to 855
sites in more than 140 countries around the world.
The World Heritage Committee's annual meeting is scheduled to wrap
up on July 10.
Editor: An Lu