HNOM PENH, 23 June 2013 (UN News Service): The ancient city of Kaesong located in what is now North Korea was Sunday granted World Heritage status as the United Nations continues its review of dozens of natural and cultural wonders around the world.
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee approved the bid at its ongoing meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, noting the site embodied “the political, cultural, philosophical and spiritual values of a crucial era in the region’s history.”
Kaesong city consists of 12 separate components ranging from palaces to an astronomical and meteorological observatory and defensive walls that integrate Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist and geomantic concepts (guddommeliggørende begreber).
Taken together, these testify to the history and culture of the Koryo Dynasty, which ruled from 918 to 1392 and unified the various states which had inhabited the Peninsula (halvøen), the Committee said.
The ancient city is the tight ruled communist country’s second World Heritage site after the Complex of Koguryo Tombs in Pyongyang, listed in 2004.
In IRAN, the Committee honoured the Golestan Palace which “represents a new style incorporating traditional Persian arts and crafts and elements of 18th century architecture and technology.”
The lavish structure is considered “a masterpiece” of the Qajar, whose family came into power in 1779 and made Tehran the capital of the country. The Committee, meeting since 16 June in Cambodia, is reviewing 32 proposed sites and reviewing several already on the list. It is due to wrap up its work this week.
