The new UNESCO World Heritage Sites for 2023, in photos The new UNESCO World Heritage Sites for 2023, in photos

You might have thought with more than 1,100 World Heritage Sites already in the world, there couldn’t possibly be any more historic landmarks or beautiful landscapes that can shine as bright as those that already exist. But you’d be mistaken. UNESCO officials have recently gathered to consider more places of ‘outstanding universal value’ to add to their World Heritage list, and 42 others have made the cut for 2023.

From stone villages nestled within the Greek mountains to a key section of the Silk Road spanning three countries, these are the magnificent cultural and natural monuments that will now be better protected and funded under their new UNESCO listing. 

Cultural World Heritage Sites

Located in southwestern China, this region includes historic mountain villages set within old tea groves, and surrounded by ancient tea plantations and forests. The Blang and Dai peoples developed the landscape over a 1,000 year period using traditional practices. 

Read next: Exploring China’s UNESCO-listed ancient tea forests

Dating back to 1,200 to 600 BCE, these deer stone monuments can reach up to four metres high, and were once used for ceremonial and funerary practices. They can be found in Khangai Ridge in central Mongolia. 

This UNESCO-listing include several ancient cemetery sites and burial mounds created during the period of the Gaya people, who developed their confederacy on the southern Korea peninsula between the 1st and 6th century. 

This archaeological site has been excavated to reveal the ruins of the ancient city of Phrygia. There are many layers to this historic settlement, including the Citadel Mound, Lower Town, Outer Town and also several burial mounds.

Three monuments are part of this UNESCO listing in Erfurt: The Old Synagogue, the Mikveh, and the Stone House. The architecture demonstrates the existence of Jewish communities here during the Middle Ages.

Numerous temples, statues, wall paintings, inscriptions and ancient ruins make up the archaeological site of Koh Ker. Constructed over a 23-year period, it was one of the Khmer Empire capitals, rivalling with world-famous Angkor. 

Kaunas became Lithuania’s provisional capital between the two world wars of the 20th century. This UNESCO listing focuses on the rapid urbanisation which transformed the town into a modern city, with public buildings, urban spaces and residences constructed in a variety of styles. 

This Guatemalan archaeological site spans a period of 1,700 years during a time when the Olmec civilisation was transitioning to Early Mayan culture. It was located in an important position on a long-distance trading route from Mexico to El Salvador. 

Kuldīga is located in western Latvia, and is a fine example of how a medieval hamlet transformed into an important administrative centre between the 16th and 18th century. It is extremely well preserved, and even maintains the street layout from that period. 

A number of Talayotic sites make up this UNESCO-listing, displaying a range prehistoric settlements and burial places from the Bronze Age to the late Iron Age. Large blocks were often used as part of construction: a style that was called ‘cyclopean’ architecture.

Read next: Exploring Menorca’s heritage secrets

Away from British colonial architecture, Santiniketan House demonstrates a movement towards pan-Asian modernity. The art school, based on ancient Indian traditions, was established in 1901 by the poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. 

Stretching 866km, spanning three countries and containing more than 30 monuments, this section of the Silk Road might be the largest UNESCO site yet. Snaking through valleys, rivers and deserts, a large quantity of goods were traded along this corridor, and many people travelled and settled here, making it a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures.

Read next: Explore Central Asia’s newest World Heritage Site, Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor

This area in the Ethiopian highlands is an example of agroforestry and densely occupied by the Gedeo people, who use traditional forest management skills to maintain the environment. The large trees shelter the Indigenous enset crops that grow here, and large clusters of megalithic monuments can also be found along the mountain ridges.

There are 54 caravanserai included in this World Heritage listing, situated along Iran’s ancient roads. Caravanserai are roadside inns, that provided a place for caravans, travellers and pilgrims to rest and recuperate.  

The sub-Arctic region of Tr’ondëk-Klondike lies along the Yukon River in northwest Canada. The landscape encompasses archaeological and historic sources which reflect the struggles and adaptations of the First Nation peoples during the 19th-century Klondike Gold Rush. 

This UNESCO site focuses on the living tradition of growing hops, sold for the production of beer. The landscape here has been shaped by the hop industry for centuries, with fertile hop fields lying beside the river Ohře, as well as historic villages and towns that processed hops. Žatec’s medieval centre also brings an urban element to this listing. 

Just 1.5km from the city of Jericho, situated within the Jordan Valley, this archaeological site provides evidence of a foregone civilisation who settled here thanks to the fertile soil and the perennial spring of ‘Ain es-Sultan. 

Read next: Delving deep into Ancient Jericho, Palestine’s new UNESCO World Heritage Site

Included in this cultural landscape is the ancient alpine village of Khinalig, its surrounding summer and winter pastures, agricultural terraces, and a 200km migration route called Köç Yolu. The landscape varies from the Greater Caucasus Mountains to lowland plains.

Djerba is an island located off the coast of Tunisia, and this UNESCO-listing preserves the settlement pattern that emerged here during the 9th century, where clusters of villages adapted to the water-scarce environment, and were connected to each other through a complex networks of roads. 

Located in Buenos Aires’ former navy school and secret detention centre, the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory now reveals the stories and testimonies of those who were interrogated, tortured and even killed here during the civil military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983. 

One of the most unique UNESCO-listed sites of this year is this working mechanical scale model of the solar system. It was built between 1774 and 1781 by an ordinary citizen and wool manufacturer named Eise Eisinga, and fills the entire ceiling of the creator’s former living room/bedroom. 

This UNESCO listing is made up of sites along the Belgium’s Western Front during WWI, where allied forces fought the Germans between 1914 and 1918. The sites include large necropolises, battlefield burial grounds, and small memorials. 

The USA’s only entry onto UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 2023 is Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, Built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago, these eight earthen mounds can be found along the Ohio river, and are one of the only surviving examples of Indigenous Hopewell culture. 

This archaeological site demonstrations early colonisation attempts by the Jewish in the New World. Established in 1680s, the site includes ruins of one of the Americas earliest synagogue, cemeteries, boat landing areas and a military post. 

Within just four months of the year 1994, one million people were killed across Rwanda by the armed military called Interahamwe. The four memorial sites under this World Heritage listing, including a Catholic church and a technical school where massacre scenes took place, commemorate those who lost their lives in the genocide. 

Dating from the 12th to 13th century, the three temples that make up this World Heritage site are some of the finest examples of Hoysala-style shrines. They also represent a significant stage in the development of Hindu temple architecture in India. 

The Dvaravati Empire thrived in ancient Thailand between the 6th and 10th centuries, with influences coming from India. The three sites in this UNESCO site include a twin-town surrounded by moats, the Khao Klang Nok ancient monument, and the Khao Thamorrat Cave ancient monument. 

Established in the 18th century by Sultan Mangkubumi, the central axis of Yogyakarta has been a centre of government and Javanese culture ever since. The 6km axis was created to line the Indian Ocean and Mount Merapi with the Kraton, also known as Yogyakarta Palace. Other key monuments also line the axis. 

Read next: Unravelling Indonesia’s UNESCO-listed Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta

The Maison Carrée was initially constructed in the 1st century in Nemausus, better known today as Nîmes. It has been repurposed over the years for different uses, which as a result, has made it one of the best preserved Roman temples in the world. 

Read next: UNESCO inscribes Maison Carrée of Nîmes as a World Heritage Site

Built between the 13th and 14th centuries, these five mosques in the West Anatolian region have been recognised for their unique construction using multiple wooden columns to support their elaborately painting ceilings. They are nicknamed the ‘forest mosques’. 

Read next: Explore the wooden hypostyle mosques in Türkiye added to the UNESCO World Heritage List

Located in the Pindus Mountains of northwest Greece, Zagori covers some 1,000sq km and encompasses 46 stone-built villages, collectively known as the Zagorochoria. A network of stone bridges, cobbled paths and staircases once linked the villages. 

Read next: Greece’s Zagori region gains UNESCO World Heritage status

Natural World Heritage Sites

Home to strongholds of elephants and a range of primates, this natural region is a convergence point for multiple ecosystems (savanna and forests), and therefore considered an area of ecological importance. 

In 1902, Mount Pelée on Martinique erupted, and continued to do so until 1905. It is a key event in the history of volcanology, and caused a dramatic and devastating impact to the town of St Pierre, leaving behind a legacy that remains part of the island’s culture today. Martinique is also home to threatened species, such as the Martinique Volcano Frog and the Lacépède’s Ground Snake.

The largest island of Canada’s Quebec, Anticosti has been listed for his extraordinarily preserved palaeontological record of animal extinction more than 400 million years ago, with a diverse range of fossils that continue to be studied by the world’s leading scientists. 

UNESCO described Bale Mountains National Park as a ‘mosaic of natural beauty’. The park does include a staggering variety of landscapes, including lava plateaus, forests, gorges, glacial lakes, waterfalls and valleys, as well as being home to species such as the Ethiopian wolf and mountain nyala. 

Read next: Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains National Park makes UNESCO World Heritage list

Located between the Caspian Sea and the Turanian high mountains, this area sees extreme climate conditions ranging from freezing winters to dry summers, with an incredible array of plant and animal life that has adapted to living in this harsh environment. 

Academic work started at this Italian natural landscape back in the 16th century. The 100km cave system has more than 900 caverns, including some of the deepest gypsum caves to exist, reaching 265m below the surface.

This World Heritage site is one of Central Africa’s most important rainforest conservation areas. As well as forests, the landscape also includes swamps, moors and grassland, providing home to species such as the threatened Eastern Chimpanzee, the Golden Monkey and Horseshoe Bat. 

Saudi Arabia’s first natural UNESCO World Heritage site is part of the largest continuous sand sea on Earth. Uruq Bani Ma’arid is a reserve home to 120 indigenous plant species and the only free-ranging herd of Arabian oryx on the planet.