What is the Unesco’s World Heritage?

The UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a branch of the United Nations created on 16 November 1945, in the aftermath of the Second World War, with the objectives of peace and cooperation among people through education, science and culture.

In this spirit, the UNESCO has developed many projects to bring states together around common values. Thus, in 1978, the notion of “World Heritage of Humanity” was introduced to promote places of exceptional value, beyond national borders. Since then, nearly 1,100 places have been included on this list, such as Mont Saint-Michel, the city of Venice, the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China.

Source : http://www.assofrance-patrimoinemondial.org

“Heritage is the heritage of the past, from which we benefit today and which we pass on to future generations”
Extract from the 1972 Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

Cultural Landscapes

As a heritage that combines nature and human work, cultural landscapes represent the intimate relationship between people and their environment. Economic or spiritual symbols have been shaped by generations and are the witnesses of their activities over the centuries.

To promote and protect them, the World Heritage List included this notion of “Cultural Landscapes” in its criteria for admission in 1992.

Thus, in 1999, the Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion was the first vineyard in the world to be listed as a cultural landscape.