Armenia intends to submit two new nominations for inclusion in UNESCO’s Tentative World Heritage List, expanding recognition of the country’s cultural and natural heritage.
At a working group meeting held at the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Harutyun Vanyan, Armenia’s national coordinator for the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention, announced that one application has already been prepared and submitted to UNESCO, with details to be disclosed soon. The second application is being developed as a public-private partnership and focuses on the Areni-1 Cave, highlighting its historic connection to Armenia’s winemaking tradition.
Previously, several Armenian sites were added to the Tentative List, including: the Vishap Stones and the Cultural Landscape of Tirinkatar, the Urartian Heritage of Yerevan, the Garni Archaeological Complex, and the Symphony of Stones.
The meeting also addressed future steps for inscribing additional monuments on the World Heritage List. Discussions included the transition of current tentative sites to the main list, evaluating the eligibility of other potential nominees, and the possibility of proposing natural monuments as a separate component of the list.
The working group involves representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Environment, and Education, Science, Culture and Sport, as well as the Service for the Protection of Historical Environment and Cultural Museum-Reserves, the Research Center for Historical and Cultural Heritage, the Institutes of Archaeology and Ethnography and History of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, and ICOMOS Armenia. Vanyan thanked all the organizations that contributed to the nomination process.
