Škocjan Caves | Slovenia

This exceptional system of limestone caves comprises collapsed dolines, some 6 km of underground passages with a total depth of more than 200 m, many waterfalls and one of the largest known underground chambers. The site, located in the Kras region (literally meaning Karst), is one of the most famous in the world for the study of karstic phenomena.

Year of Inscription: 1986

Brâncuși Monumental Ensemble of Târgu Jiu | Romania

Austere, contemplative, yet accessible, the monumental ensemble of Târgu Jiu was created in 1937-1938 by Constantin Brâncuși, an influential pioneer of abstract sculpture, to commemorate those who died defending the city during the First World War. Located in two parks connected by the narrow Avenue of Heroes, the property includes the monumental ensemble of sculptural installations and the pre-existing Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, located on the axis. The remarkable fusion of abstract sculpture, landscape architecture, engineering, and urban planning conceived by Constantin Brâncuși goes far beyond the local wartime episode to offer an original vision of the human condition.

Year of Inscription: 2024

Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe (Kalkalpen – Bodinggraben) | Austria

This transnational property includes 93 component parts in 18 countries. Since the end of the last Ice Age, European Beech spread from a few isolated refuge areas in the Alps, Carpathians, Dinarides, Mediterranean and Pyrenees over a short period of a few thousand years in a process that is still ongoing. The successful expansion across a whole continent is related to the tree’s adaptability and tolerance of different climatic, geographical and physical conditions.

Year of Inscription: 2007/2023

Belfries of Belgium and France (Belfry of St. Peter's Church and Tower, Leuven) | Belgium

Twenty-three belfries in the north of France and the belfry of Gembloux in Belgium were inscribed in 2005, as an extension to the 32 Belgian belfries inscribed in 1999 as Belfries of Flanders and Wallonia. Built between the 11th and 17th centuries, they showcase the Roman, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles of architecture. They are highly significant tokens of the winning of civil liberties. While Italian, German and English towns mainly opted to build town halls, in part of north-western Europe, greater emphasis was placed on building belfries. Compared with the keep (symbol of the seigneurs) and the bell-tower (symbol of the Church), the belfry, the third tower in the urban landscape, symbolizes the power of the aldermen. Over the centuries, they came to represent the influence and wealth of the towns.

Year of Inscription: 1999

Historic Centre of Wismar | Germany

The medieval towns of Wismar and Stralsund, on the Baltic coast of northern Germany, were major trading centres of the Hanseatic League in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 17th and 18th centuries they became Swedish administrative and defensive centres for the German territories. They contributed to the development of the characteristic building types and techniques of Brick Gothic in the Baltic region, as exemplified in several important brick cathedrals, the Town Hall of Stralsund, and the series of houses for residential, commercial and crafts use, representing its evolution over several centuries.

Year of Inscription: 2002

Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks (Mound City) | USA

This property is a series of eight monumental earthen enclosure complexes built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago along the central tributaries of the Ohio River. They are the most representative surviving expressions of the Indigenous tradition now referred to as the Hopewell culture. Their scale and complexity are evidenced in precise geometric figures as well as hilltops sculpted to enclose vast, level plazas. There are alignments with the cycles of the Sun and the far more complex cycles of the Moon. These earthworks served as ceremonial centres and the sites have yielded finely crafted ritual objects fashioned from exotic raw materials obtained from distant places.

Year of Inscription: 2023

Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve | Russia

Located well above the Arctic Circle, the site includes the mountainous Wrangel Island (7,608 km2), Herald Island (11 km2) and surrounding waters. Wrangel was not glaciated during the Quaternary Ice Age, resulting in exceptionally high levels of biodiversity for this region. The island boasts the world’s largest population of Pacific walrus and the highest density of ancestral polar bear dens. It is a major feeding ground for the grey whale migrating from Mexico and the northernmost nesting ground for 100 migratory bird species, many endangered. Currently, 417 species and subspecies of vascular plants have been identified on the island, double that of any other Arctic tundra territory of comparable size and more than any other Arctic island. Some species are derivative of widespread continental forms, others are the result of recent hybridization, and 23 are endemic.

Year of Inscription: 2004