The UNESCO World Heritage list grew by 42 new sites last week, as the UN agency’s committee added them, for a total of 1,199 sites of “outstanding universal value.”
The new sites include the first two awarded to the African nation of Rwanda, the first U.S. site designated since the U.S. rejoined UNESCO after the Trump years, and three new “sites of memory,” places where a nation or other community wishes to memorialize an event.
The list was first created in 1972, and only UNESCO member countries can nominate sites for the list. The list of new sites, including the ancient Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks (seen above) in Ohio, can be seen here
The added Sites of Memory include former torture, detention or genocide sites in Argentina and Rwanda, and the memorial sites of the Western Front in World War I. The committee also placed two of the existing heritage sites in Ukraine on the endangered list: Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, and the historic center of Lviv, both subject to war damage.
I grew up near the Newark Earthworks and know the Hopewell history well. I am thrilled this series of sites are now UNESCO World Heritage sites.