A World Heritage Site is a place (such as a building, city, complex, desert, forest, island, lake, monument, or mountain) that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as being of special cultural or physical significance. The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 UNESCO member states which are elected by the General Assembly.
UNESCO World Heritage sites
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1Belfry (Belfry of Gembloux), Gembloux
The Gembloux belfry, clock tower of the former Saint-Sauveur church, is a UNESCO world heritage site. The Gembloux belfry is a 35-metre-high tower dominating the centre of this Walloon town located between Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve and Namur.
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10Belfry (Belfry of Ghent), Ghent
The 91-metre-tall belfry of Ghent is one of three medieval towers that overlook the old city centre of Ghent, Belgium, the other two belonging to Saint Bavo Cathedral and Saint Nicholas' Church.
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4Belfry (Belfry of Lier), Lier
In 1369 Hendrik Mijs built a Gothic belfry next to the clothmakers' hall. It stands as a symbol of freedom and independance. Belfry (Belfry of Lier), Lier.
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10Belfry (Belfry of Mons), Mons
The belfry of Mons is one of the more recent among the belfries of Belgium and France. This belfry, classified in Belgium since 15 January 1936, belongs to the major cultural patrimony of Wallonia. and is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1 December 1999.
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10Belfry (Belfry of Namur), Namur
The belfry of Namur, also called Tour Saint-Jacques (Saint-Jacob's Tower), is an historical building of the city of Namur, Belgium. The tower, constructed in 1388 as part of the city wall became a belfry in 1746. It is one of the 56 belfries of Belgium and France classified in the world patrimony of the UNESCO.
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1Belfry (Belfry of Thuin), Thuin
The belfry (1638), formerly a church tower, dominates the townscape of Thuin. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage property comprising 56 belfries throughout Belgium and northern France.
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7Belfry (Belfry of Tournai), Tournai
The belfry of Tournai, Belgium, is a freestanding bell tower of medieval origin, 72 metres in height with a 256-step stairway. This landmark building is one of a set of belfries of Belgium and France registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
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9Belfry (Binche Belfry) and Town Hall, Binche
he belfry is located in Binche's town hall, which dates back to the 14th century. Burnt down by the French in 1554, the hall was soon restored in a Renaissance style by architect Du Broeucq. Belfry (Binche Belfry), Binche.
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1Belfry (Hallentoren), Tielt
The Belfry (Hallentoren), Cloth Hall, and Aldermen’s Chamber are classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Belfry (Hallentoren), Tielt.
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9Belfry (the Belfry of Boulogne-sur-Mer), Boulogne-sur-Mer
The oldest monument of the fortified town was built in three stages, in the 12th, 13th and 18th centuries. In fact, this belfry was originally a seigniorial prison, transferred to the community in 1230.
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10Belfry (the Belfry of Kortrijk), Kortrijk
The belfry of Kortrijk, or Belfort in Dutch, is a medieval bell tower in the historical centre of Kortrijk, Belgium. One of the city's most prominent symbols, the belfry formerly housed a treasury and the municipal archives, and served as an observation post for spotting fires and other danger.
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10Belfry (the Belfry of Rue), Rue
Until the 13th century, when the bay of the Somme silted up, the historical capital of Marquenterre was a busy sea port. Its first belfry was built at that time.
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10Belovezhskaya Puscha (Bialowieza Forest)
Bialowieza Forest is one of the last and largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the European Plain. The forest is home to 800 European bison, Europe's heaviest land animal. UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) designated the Polish Biosphere Reserve Bialowieza in 1976 and the Belarusian Biosphere Reserve Belovezhskaya Puschcha in 1993.
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8Belukha Mountain
Belukha is a three-peaked mountain massif that rises along the border of Russia and Kazakhstan, just a few tens of miles north of the point where this border meets with the border of China.
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10Belvedere Palace, Vienna
The Belvedere is a historic building complex in Vienna, Austria, consisting of two Baroque palaces (the Upper and Lower Belvedere), the Orangery, and the Palace Stables.
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6Bergpark Wilhelmshohe
Bergpark Wilhelmshohe is a unique landscape park in Kassel, Germany. Art historian Georg Dehio (1850–1932), inspirator of the modern discipline of historic preservation, described the park as "possibly the most grandiose combination of landscape and architecture"
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10Berlengas Islands
The Berlengas archipelago is a group of small islands 10 to 15 kilometers off the Portuguese coast, west of the town of Peniche in Oeste region. These islands were traditionally known to British mariners as "the Burlings".
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10Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), starting on 13 August 1961, the wall completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until it was opened in November 1989.
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10Bhaktapur Durbar Square
Bhaktapur Durbar Square is the plaza in front of the royal palace of the old Bhaktapur Kingdom, 1400m above sea level. It is one of three Durbar Squares in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, all of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
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10Bhimbetka rock shelters
The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site of the Paleolithic, exhibiting the earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent, and thus the beginning of the South Asian Stone Age.
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10Bialowieza Forest
Bialowieza Forest is one of the last and largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the European Plain. The forest is home to 800 European bison, Europe's heaviest land animal. UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) designated the Polish Biosphere Reserve Bialowieza in 1976 and the Belarusian Biosphere Reserve Belovezhskaya Puschcha in 1993.
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6Bietschhorn
The Bietschhorn (3,934 m) is a mountain in canton Wallis to the south of the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. The northeast and southern slopes of the mountain are part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area (formerly Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn) listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site that also includes the Jungfrau and the Aletsch Glacier.
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7Binche (Carnival of Binche)
Binche is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006, Binche had a total population of 32,409. The total area is 60.66 km² which gives a population density of 534 inhabitants per km². Since 1977, the municipality of Binche has gathered the town of Binche itself with seven old municipalities - Bray, Buvrinnes, Epinois, Leval-Trahegnies, Peronnes-lez-Binche, Ressaix and Waudrez.
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10Bistritsa, Sofia
Bistritsa or Bistrica is a large village in the Pancharevo municipality, located at 15 km to the south of the capital Sofia. As of 2006 it has 4,004 inhabitants.
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10Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the principal residence of the dukes of Marlborough, and the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705 and circa 1722. Blenheim Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
