Caracassonne.

UNESCO description: Since the pre-Roman period, a fortified settlement has existed on the hill where Carcassonne now stands. In its present form it is an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town, with its massive defences encircling the castle and the surrounding buildings, its streets and its fine Gothic cathedral. Carcassonne is also of exceptional importance because of the lengthy restoration campaign undertaken by Viollet-le-Duc, one of the founders of the modern science of conservation.

Justification for Inscription. The Committee decided to inscribe this property on the basis of criteria (ii) and (iv), considering that the historic town of Carcassonne is an excellent example of a medieval fortified town whose massive defences were constructed on walls dating from Late Antiquity. It is of exceptional importance by virtue of the restoration work carried out in the second half of the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc, which had a profound influence on subsequent developments in conservation principles and practice.

Date of Inscription: 1997
Criteria for inclusion: (ii) (vi)

ii. to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;

v. to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;

Core zone: 11 ha. Buffer zone: 1361 ha
Location: Department of Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon Region, France. N 43 12 38 E 2 21 32
More information on www.midi-france.info : Carcassonne, capital of the Aude département.
UNESCO page: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/345

Canal du Midi

UNESCO description: This 360-km network of navigable waterways linking the Mediterranean and the Atlantic through 328 structures (locks, aqueducts, bridges, tunnels, etc.) is one of the most remarkable feats of civil engineering in modern times. Built between 1667 and 1694, it paved the way for the Industrial Revolution. The care that its creator, Pierre-Paul Riquet, took in the design and the way it blends with its surroundings turned a technical achievement into a work of art.

Justification for Inscription The Committee decided to inscribe the nominated property on the basis of cultural criteria (i), (ii), (iv) and (vi) considering that the site is of outstanding universal value being one of the greatest engineering achievements of the Modern Age, providing the model for the flowering of technology that led directly to the Industrial Revolution and the modern technological age. Additionally, it combines with its technological innovation a concern for high aesthetic architectural and landscape design that has few parallels. The Committee endorsed the inscription of this property as the Canal du Midi clearly is an exceptional example of a designed landscape

Date of Inscription: 1996
Criteria: (i)(ii)(iv)(vi)

i. to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;

ii. to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;

iv. to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;

vii. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);

Core zone: 1172 ha
Buffer zone: 2014 ha
Location:
Region of Languedoc-Roussillon (Aude département and Hérault département)
Region of Midi-Pyrénées (departments of Haute-Garonne and Tarn);
N43 36 41 E1 24 59

More information on www.midi-france.info : Carcassonne, capital of the Aude département.

• the Canal du Midi
• getting to the Languedoc by the French canal network
• leisure on the Canal du Midi
• the builder of the Canal du Midi, Pierre-Paul Riquet

UNESCO page: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/770

Routes of Santiago de Compostela

UNESCO description: Santiago de Compostela was the supreme goal for countless thousands of pious pilgrims who converged there from all over Europe throughout the Middle Ages. To reach Spain pilgrims had to pass through France, and the group of important historical monuments included in this inscription marks out the four routes by which they did so.

Justification for Inscription: Criterion ii: The Pilgrimage Route of Santiago de Compostela played a key role in religious and cultural exchange and development during the later Middle Ages, and this is admirably illustrated by the carefully selected monuments on the routes followed by pilgrims in France.

Criterion iv: The spiritual and physical needs of pilgrims travelling to Santiago de Compostela were met by the development of a number of specialized types of edifice, many of which originated or were further developed on the French sections.

Criterion vi: The Pilgrimage Route of Santiago de Compostela bears exceptional witness to the power and influence of Christian faith among people of all classes and countries in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Date of Inscription: 1998
Criteria: (ii)(iv)(vi)

ii. to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;

iv. to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;

vii. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);

Location: Regions of Aquitaine, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, Bourgogne, Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Ile-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin, Midi-Pyrénées, Picardie, Poitou-Charentes, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
N45 11 02.6 E0 43 22.6

More information on www.midi-france.info :

• more about Guilhem-le-Desert
• more about St-Gilles

UNESCO page: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/868

Pont du Gard

UNESCO description: The Pont du Gard was built shortly before the Christian era to allow the aqueduct of Nîmes (which is almost 50 km long) to cross the Gard river. The Roman architects and hydraulic engineers who designed this bridge, which stands almost 50 m high and is on three levels – the longest measuring 275 m – created a technical as well as an artistic masterpiece.

Date of Inscription: 1985
Extension: 2007

Criteria: (i)(iii)(iv)

i. to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;

iii. to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;

iv. to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;

Core zone: 0.3257 ha. Buffer zone: 691 ha
Location: Gard département N43 56 50 E4 32 7

More information on www.midi-france.info : Pont du Gard

UNESCO page: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/344

Arles - Roman and Romanesque Monuments

UNESCO description: Arles is a good example of the adaptation of an ancient city to medieval European civilization. It has some impressive Roman monuments, of which the earliest – the arena, the Roman theatre and the cryptoporticus (subterranean galleries) – date back to the 1st century B.C. During the 4th century Arles experienced a second golden age, as attested by the baths of Constantine and the necropolis of Alyscamps. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Arles once again became one of the most attractive cities in the Mediterranean. Within the city walls, Saint-Trophime, with its cloister, is one of Provence's major Romanesque monuments.

The incription covers several constructions:

• Les arènes (amphithéâtre)
• Théâtre Antique
• Cryptoportiques et forum romain
• Thermes de Constantin
• Remparts du castrum romain
• Les Alyscamps
• L'église St-Trophine
• Exedre romaine (Muséon Arlaten)

Date of Inscription: 1981
Criteria: (ii)(iv)

ii. to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;

iv. to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;

Core zone: 65 ha
Location: Arles, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France: N43 40 39.5 E4 37 50.5

UNESCO page: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/164

Roman Theatre and its surroundings and the "Triumphal Arch" of Orange

UNESCO description: Situated in the Rhone valley, the ancient theatre of Orange, with its 103-m-long facade, is one of the best preserved of all the great Roman theatres. Built between A.D. 10 and 25, the Roman arch is one of the most beautiful and interesting surviving examples of a provincial triumphal arch from the reign of Augustus. It is decorated with low reliefs commemorating the establishment of the Pax Romana.

Date of Inscription: 1981. Extension: 2007
Criteria: (iii)(vi)

iii. to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;

vii. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);

Core zone: 9.45 ha. Buffer zone: 232 ha
Location: Department of Vacluse, Region of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur: N44 8 8.6 E4 48 30.3

UNESCO page: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/163

Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge

UNESCO description: In the 14th century, this city in the South of France was the seat of the papacy. The Palais des Papes, an austere-looking fortress lavishly decorated by Simone Martini and Matteo Giovanetti, dominates the city, the surrounding ramparts and the remains of a 12th-century bridge over the Rhone. Beneath this outstanding example of Gothic architecture, the Petit Palais and the Romanesque Cathedral of Notre-Dame-des-Doms complete an exceptional group of monuments that testify to the leading role played by Avignon in 14th-century Christian Europe.

Date of Inscription: 1995
Criteria: (i)(ii)(iv)

i. to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;

ii. to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;

iv. to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;

Core zone: 8.18ha
Location: Avignon, Department of Vacluse, Region of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur: N43 57 10 E4 48 22

UNESCO page: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/228

Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley, Andorra

UNESCO description: The cultural landscape of Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley offers a microcosmic perspective of the way people have harvested the resources of the high Pyrenees over millennia. Its dramatic glacial landscapes of craggy cliffs and glaciers, with high open pastures and steep wooded valleys, covers an area of 4,247 ha, 9% of the total area of the principality. It reflects past changes in climate, economic fortune and social systems, as well as the persistence of pastoralism and a strong mountain culture, notably the survival of a communal land-ownership system dating back to the 13th century. The site features houses, notably summer settlements, terraced fields, stone tracks and evidence of iron smelting.

UNESCO page: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1160