The cultural arm of the United Nations has expanded the footprints of World Heritage sites in Austria, Romania, Bulgaria and Spain.
Rock carvings from as early as 22,000 years BC in Siega Verde, in Spain's Castilla y Leon region, are being added to the heritage site in Portugal's Coa Valley, UNESCO World Heritage Committee announced Sunday.
The Siega Verde archaeological zone, with 645 engravings on an "impressive cliff," are on a scale that makes it "the most outstanding example of human artistic activity in this form anywhere in the world," the committee said.
The Spanish rock carvings are mostly animal figures. Together with the original site in Portugal, they represent "the most remarkable open-air ensemble of Palaeolithic art on the Iberian Peninsula," the committee said.
The committee, which is meeting in the Brazilian capital Brasilia until Tuesday, decided to add Schloss Eggenberg to Austria's city of Graz historic centre, which has been on the World Heritage List since 1999. The castle, about 3 kilometres west of Graz centre, was built in the early 1600s.
In Romania, the Church of the Resurrection of Sucevia Monastery in northern Moldavia will be added to the seven churches inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993 for their unique exterior fresco paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries.
Bulgaria's Pirin National Parkwas also extended to include mountain territory over 2,000 metres high, and covered by alpine meadows and rocky summits. The park, with glacial lakes, waterfalls, caves and predominantly coniferous forests, has been on the list since 1983.
Source: Earth Times [August 02, 2010]