Croatia Gets New UNESCO World Heritage Site

Stecci in Imotski, Croatia (photo: wikimedia/moddzak)

The World Heritage Committee inscribed nine new sites on the World Heritage List on Friday, including a transboundary site located in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia…

UNESCO have announced that the medieval tombstones and graveyards, known as Stećak or stecci, will now be added to the prestigious World Heritage List.  30 Stećaks, of which 22 sites are in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2 in Croatia (1 central, 1 southern), 3 in Montenegro, and 3 in Serbia, were inscribed on Friday at the 40th Session of the World Heritage Committee.

An estimated 4,500 of the medieval tombstones and graveyards, which are carved from limestone and feature decorative motives and inscriptions, are said to be found in Croatia. Appearing in the mid 12th century, with the first phase in the 13th century, the tombstones reached their peak in the 14th and 15th century, before disappearing during the early 16th century.

Stećak

Around 60,000 are estimated to be in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 3,500 in Montenegro, and 4,100 in Serbia.

Stecci in Dalmatia (photo: wikimedia/Saxum)

Other sites added to the list on Friday were the old city of Ani in the Turkish province of Kars. China’s Zuojiang Huashan rock art cultural landscape, Iran’s ancient aqueducts known as Qanat, and India’s archaeological site of Nalanda Mahavihara.

Plitvice Lakes National Park a World Heritage Site (photo credit: Federica Gentile)

Croatia has 7 sties already on the UNESCO World Heritage List. They are Plitvice Lakes National Park, Stari Grad Plains on Hvar, Cathedral of Saint James in Šibenik, the city of Trogir, the old city of Dubrovnik, the historical complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian and the Episcopal complex of the Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč.