The New World Heritage Sites of 2022 and 2023

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee announced 42 new World Heritage Sites in 2022 and 2023. The List now includes 1199 sites of a cultural, natural or mixed character. 

This article provides direct links to the inscriptions. Seek more information about the work of the Committee on the WHC website. Read Sandalsand’s main story about World Heritage Sites and the task of visiting the ever-growing number of new sites. Sandalsand has not visited any of the 42 new sites. 

Also, read the articles about the new entries in 2021, 2019 and 2018. Because of the pandemic there were no new additions in 2020. In addition the planned 2022 session of the Committee was postponed and was held in 2023.

Important milestones

This extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee was held in Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in September 2023.

UNESCO World Heritage sites now number 1199 sites across 168 countries. The committee calls this a decisive year for African heritage. With five new sites, Africa has reached the symbolic milestone of 100 sites on the World Heritage List. In addition a new strategy will provide better support for African states carrying out local conservation projects and preparing World Heritage nomination files.

During this session, two Ukrainian sites were inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, due to threats linked to shelling. There are now 56 on this particular list.

The committee also included three “Sites of Memory” linked to recent conflicts. Sites of Memory are places in which an event occurred that a nation and its people, or certain communities wish to memorialise. According to UNESCO these sites become places of reconciliation, contemplation and peaceful reflection. The inclusion of Sites of Memory on the World Heritage List makes them part of our shared global heritage, and recognises the part they play in the peace process.

The new sites in 2022 + 2023

Here are the new World Heritage Sites of 2022 and 2023. All links lead to UNESCO’s article about the site.

Cultural sites

The new World Heritage Sites of 2022 and 2023 include 33 cultural sites all over the world.

1. Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan (State of Palestine)
2. Astronomical Observatories of Kazan Federal University (Russian Federation)
3. Cultural Landscape of Khinalig People and “Köç Yolu” Transhumance Route (Azerbaijan)
4. Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu’er (China)
5. Deer Stone Monuments and Related Bronze Age Sites (Mongolia)
6. Djerba: Testimony to a settlement pattern in an island territory (Tunisia)
7. ESMA Museum and Site of Memory – Former Clandestine Center of Detention, Torture and Extermination (Argentina)
8. Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker (Netherlands)
9. Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front) (Belgium, France)
10. Gaya Tumuli (Republic of Korea)
11. Gordion (Türkiye)
12. Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks (United States of America)
13. Jewish-Medieval Heritage of Erfurt (Germany)
14. Jodensavanne Archaeological Site: Jodensavanne Settlement and Cassipora Creek Cemetery (Suriname)
15. Koh Ker: Archaeological Site of Ancient Lingapura or Chok Gargyar (Cambodia)
16. Memorial sites of the Genocide: Nyamata, Murambi, Gisozi and Bisesero (Rwanda)
17. Modernist Kaunas: Architecture of Optimism, 1919-1939 (Lithuania)
18. National Archaeological Park Tak’alik Ab’aj (Guatemala)
19. Old town of Kuld?ga (Latvia)
20. Prehistoric Sites of Talayotic Menorca (Spain)
21. Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas (India)
22. Santiniketan (India)
23. Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor (Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan)
24. The Ancient Town of Si Thep and its Associated Dvaravati Monuments (Thailand)
25. The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and its Historic Landmarks (Indonesia)
26. The Gedeo Cultural Landscape (Ethiopia)
27. The Maison Carrée of Nîmes (France)
28. The Persian Caravanserai (Iran (Islamic Republic of))
29. Tr’ondëk-Klondike (Canada)
30. Viking-Age Ring Fortresses (Denmark)
31. Wooden Hypostyle Mosques of Medieval Anatolia (Türkiye)
32. Zagori Cultural Landscape (Greece)
33. Žatec and the Landscape of Saaz Hops (Czechia)

Natural sites

The new World Heritage Sites of 2022 and 2023 include nine natural sites.

1. Anticosti (Canada)
2. Bale Mountains National Park (Ethiopia)
3. Cold Winter Deserts of Turan (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan)
4. Evaporitic Karst and Caves of Northern Apennines (Italy)
5. Forest Massif of Odzala-Kokoua (Congo)
6. Nyungwe National Park (Rwanda)
7. Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve (Tajikistan)
8. Volcanoes and Forests of Mount Pelée and the Pitons of Northern Martinique (France)
9. ‘Uruq Bani Ma’arid (Saudi Arabia)

Significant modifications to the boundaries of existing sites

In addition UNESCO decided to make changes to the boundaries of five existing sites. They are as follows.

Cultural properties

• Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zone (Portugal)
• Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba (Benin, Togo)

Natural properties

• Andrefana Dry Forests (Madagascar)
• Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago (Viet Nam)
• Hyrcanian Forests (Azerbaijan, Iran (Islamic Republic of))