Unesco added new sites to the World Heritage List: the five chosen from Latin America

the The World Heritage Committee inscribed fourteen new sites on Tuesday, five of them Latin American, in the list of Unesco World Heritage.

This is Dholavira, a city in tatters in fr India; Hawraman / Uramanat Cultural Landscape of Iran; Jomon prehistoric sites in the north Japan; the mining landscape of Roșia Montană in Romania; As-Salt, a place of tolerance and urban hospitality in Jordan; Sudanese-style mosques north of the Ivory Coast; Nice, a winter seaside resort on the Côte d’Azur in France; the Roberto Burle Marx website of Brazil; the archaeoastronomic complex of Chankillo in Peru; the church of Atlántida, work of engineer Eladio Dieste, in Uruguay; the settlement and artificial mummification of the Chinchorro culture in the region of Arica and Parinacota, in Chile; the Franciscan monastery and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Tlaxcala in Mexico; the borders of the Roman Empire – The limes of Lower Germany, between Germany Yes The Netherlands; the SchUM sites in Speyer, Worms and Mainz in Germany.

Here are the World Heritage sites in Latin America:

– Sitio Roberto Burle Marx, Brazil

the Sitio Roberto Burle Marx is, according to the country’s tourism ministry, “The legacy of the landscaper who created the concept of the modern tropical garden.”

Located in the western area of Rio de Janeiro, covers over 407,000 square meters of forest area and has a collection of over 3,500 species of tropical and subtropical plants.

Besides gardens and nurseries, there are also six lakes and seven buildings on the ground, which receives around 30,000 annual visitors and where the landscaper himself lived (1909-1994) from 1973 until his death.

Until today, Brazil had up to 22 places recognized on the World Heritage List. The first to make the list was the historic town of Ouro Preto, in 1980, and the last, in 2019, Paraty and Ilha Grande.

– Archaeoastronomic Complex of Chankillo, Peru

the Chankillo Solar Observatory, on the coast of Peru, is the pre-Inca cradle of astronomy in America.

Built 23 centuries ago on a hill in the middle of the desert, the The 13 towers of the Chankillo Observatory are much older than the Inca Empire (which flourished in the 15th century), as determined by two archaeologists in 2007.

The meaning of these ruins, located near the coast and 370 km north of Lima, have long been a mystery to scientists and historians, until it was deciphered by Peruvian archaeologist Iván Ghezzi and archaeologist-astronomer Clive Ruggles, of the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.

Built by the Casma-Sechín Culture, with a north-south orientation, the towers were placed to mark the passage of the months, the solstices and the equinoxes. This giant calendar works like a sundial but over a year and is very precise.

In addition, the site confirms that the ancient peoples of the Peruvian coast made very careful solar observations.

The sites to the east and west of the 13 towers are decorated with remains of items used for ritual sacrifices. and they probably also served as viewing platforms.

The observatory and its ceremonial center were protected by a fortified fortress, with large walls of stone, mud and carob trunks.

All the the archaeological complex measures 5,000 hectares, but only 1% have been studied.

The observatory is currently not open to tourists, as it is the subject of a conservation project.

Peru has 12 other sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, among which stands out the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, since 1983.

– Church of Atlántida by Eladio Dieste, Uruguay

The church of Atlantis Station -commune located in the department of Canelones, on the south coast of the country- was built between 1958 and 1960 by the engineer Eladio Dieste (1917-2000).

Dieste, world famous for having developed the “Reinforced ceramic” and the double-curved vaults, he assured that the church of Atlántida was a work that “changed his life”.

Shared by the Bishopric of Canelones and Congregation of the Rosarinas Sisters, the church is an example of Dieste’s work for value for money and is distinguished by the use of exposed bricks.

Until today, Uruguay only had two other recognized places on the World Heritage List.

– Chinchorro culture sites, Chile

The enigmatic Chinchorro mummies are considered the oldest in the world deliberately man-made and were discovered in the coastal desert of northern Chile.

The groups The Chinchorro were originally hunters which, around 7000 BC. AD, settled on the coast after climate change due to the last glaciations.

According to the Chilean authorities, Chinchorro culture developed mummification 3000 years earlier than in Egypt, with a process of skinning the body, extracting the organs, drying it with embers and filling it with earth, wool, feathers, plants or clay.

Later the process was simplified, cover the body with a layer of sand and organic matter and, thereafter, only with a face mask.

The remains of this civilization have been found all along the coast of the Arica region. Yes Parinacota, but especially in the town of Arica and Caleta de Camarones.

Until today, Chile had six places recognized on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

– Cathedral of Tlaxcala, Mexico

the Franciscan complex of the Monastery and Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Tlaxcala (Mexico) is an extension of the first 16th century monasteries on the slopes of Popocatepetl, which had already been added to the list of protected places in 1994.

The complex of the Franciscan convent was built between 1537 and 1540 after the alliance between the Spaniards and the Tlaxcalans – key to defeating the Mexican Empire -, which marked the 500th anniversary in 2019.

The Mexican authorities emphasize the “Incalculable artistic value” of its Mudejar-style wooden coffered ceiling, considered the most important in the country.

Until today, Mexico had up to 35 places recognized on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Registration of sites until July 28

On Monday, seven new sites were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Japan, Republic of Korea, Thailand, Georgia, Turkey, the Netherlands and Belgium. Four of them have been inscribed “for their natural attributes”: Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, North Okinawa Island and Iriomote Island (Japan), Getbol , The Korean Intertidal Plains (Republic of Korea), the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex (Thailand) and the Tropical Rainforests and Wetlands of Colchis (Georgia)

On Sunday, four new cultural sites were inscribed, in China, India, Iran as well as all of Paseo del Prado and the Retiro Park in Madrid, In Spain.

The 44th session of the World Heritage Committee is being held online from Fuzhou, China, and site registration is expected to continue until July 28.

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