World Heritage in Slovakia

UNESCO is famous also for its so called “world heritage”. This concept was created on the basis of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972. This Convention is based on the idea that there are places (whether natural or created by humans) with such an exceptional value to the world that they should be considered as heritage of the whole mankind (not only as heritage of the given country, region) and that they should enjoy special protection in order to preserve them for future genarations.

         The Convention is unique in that it combines the idea of nature protection together with the preservation of cultural monuments. Placing great emphasis on the role of the local communities, the Convention serves as an instrument for addressing challenges related with climate change, rapid urbanization, mass tourism, sustainable socio-economic development, natural disasters and other challenges of today’s world.

         To this date, 193 states have acceded to the Convention. The World Heritage List consists of 1121 sites from 167 Member States (869 cultural, 213 natural and 39 mixed). 39 of the sites inscribed on the List of World Heritage are transboundary sites, which strengthen even further the international cooperation in the sphere of heritage protection. 53 sites are listed as World Heritage in Danger.