UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE – TREASURES FOR ETERNITY
Mankind’s greatest buildings, cultural landscapes and areas of natural beauty must be preserved for the future. We visit eight World Heritage Sites in Europe: Arles, Aachen Cathedral, Tallinn, the Amalfi Coast, Bruges, Granada, Dubrovnik and Florence
UNESCO's World Heritage Convention and its idea of a global heritage that belongs to all peoples and must therefore be protected by the world community is more than 50 years old. Its mission is to preserve the world’s most beautiful and valuable buildings, cultural landscapes, monuments and areas of outstanding natural beauty for generations to come. This agreement has been ratified by 197 states. The international World Heritage Committee is responsible for deciding what is of outstanding value to humanity. To be included on the World Heritage List, a site must be of exceptional universal significance and of irreplaceable value. Starting out as a short list of twelve "treasures" from seven countries, it now includes over one thousand cultural and natural sites worldwide that are considered worthy of protection. We introduce eight very different World Heritage Sites in Europe: Arles, the Amalfi Coast, Tallinn, Aachen Cathedral, Florence, Bruges, Granada and Dubrovnik. Sensual, visually powerful and told from today's perspective, each part in the series illustrates just how decisively these cultural assets still shape our cultural memory and determine our perspectives today.