UNESCO Has Just Added 42 New World Heritage Sites—Here’s the Complete List

This week, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) unveiled its latest list of World Heritage sites for 2022 and 2023—locations recognized for their cultural, historical, natural, and scientific importance. Notable past additions include iconic sites like the Taj Mahal, the Acropolis of Athens, Yellowstone National Park, Machu Picchu, and Serengeti National Park. In total, there are now 1,172 sites—42 of which were just designated recently—on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Among the latest entries are an archaeological cemetery in South Korea, a historic roadside inn in Iran, and a well-known hop-growing region in Czechia.

To qualify for UNESCO designation, nominated sites must exhibit “outstanding universal value” and fulfill at least one of the ten selection criteria, which include representing “a masterpiece of human creative genius” or being “directly or tangibly associated with events, living traditions, ideas, or beliefs, as well as artistic and literary works of exceptional universal significance.”

Here are the new sites added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2023.

Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker

For those intrigued by the cosmos, a trip to the Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker, Netherlands, is a must. Constructed between 1774 and 1781, this unique site features a mechanical model of the solar system embedded in its ceiling. While it showcases only six planets—Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn—along with the sun and moon, it significantly contributed to our understanding of the universe. It serves as an early predecessor to modern projection planetariums. The planetarium welcomes visitors from Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It also opens on Mondays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the peak season from April 1 to October 31.

The Deer Stone Monuments of Mongolia

Rising four meters tall, these stones adorned with stag engravings emerge from the earth of Khangai Ridge, located in central Mongolia about 10 miles west of Murun in Khovsgol province. Dating back to approximately 1,200 to 600 B.C.E., these markers are thought to have been used by nomads of the Eurasian Bronze Age for ceremonial and burial rites. The area also features substantial burial mounds known as khirgisüürs and sacrificial altars.

National Archaeological Park Tak’alik Ab’aj

Located on Guatemala's Pacific coast, approximately four hours west of Guatemala City by car, this archaeological site boasts over 1,700 years of history and was crucial to the development of Early Mayan culture. It served as a key junction along a long-distance trade route linking present-day Mexico and El Salvador. UNESCO notes that “Ideas and customs were shared extensively along this route... Today, Indigenous groups from various backgrounds still regard the site as sacred and visit for rituals.” The site welcomes visitors, with an entrance fee of 50 Guatemalan quetzales (about $6.35).

Memorial Sites of the Rwandan Genocide

Four sites significant to the history and remembrance of the Rwandan Genocide, during which an estimated 1 million people were killed across Rwanda from April to July 1994, have received protected status. These include two locations where massacres occurred: a Catholic church in Myamata and a technical school in Murambi. The other two sites are hills: Gisozi in Kigali, where over 250,000 victims are buried (also home to the Kigali Genocide Memorial, a well-visited museum in the capital), and Bisesero in the Western Province, where a memorial honors those who “resisted their perpetrators for over two months before being exterminated,” as noted by UNESCO.

Andrefana Dry Forests

Occasionally, UNESCO revises the boundaries of existing sites to include additional areas of importance, as seen with the Andrefana Dry Forests. Located in several regions along Madagascar’s western coast, these Dry Forests extend the Tsingy de Bemaraha World Heritage site, known for its towering, thin, needle-like rock formations unique to Madagascar. The newly included areas are crucial for conservation, showcasing a stunning variety of endemic and threatened species, including baobabs (a deciduous tree native to Madagascar) and unique evolutionary groups like the Mesitornithiformes, a bird order dating back 54 million years, according to UNESCO.

The full list of UNESCO’s newly designated World Heritage sites for 2023

Asia

• Koh Ker Archaeological Site in Cambodia
• Santiniketan, West Bengal, India
• Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu’er, China
• Mongolia’s Deer Stone Monuments
• Korea’s Gaya Tumuli burial mounds
• Türkiye’s archaeological site of Gordion
• The Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor of the Silk Road
• Iran’s Persian Caravanserai
• Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan
• “Köç Yolu” Transhumance Route in Azerbaijan
• India’s Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas
• Indonesia’s Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta
• The Cold Winter Deserts of Turan in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
• Uruq Bani Ma’arid in Saudi Arabia
• Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve in Tajikistan
• Türkiye’s Wooden Hypostyle Mosques of Medieval Anatolia

Africa

• The Gedeo Cultural Landscape in Ethiopia
• Djerba Island in Tunisia
• Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia
• The Forest Massif of Odzala-Kokoua in the Congo
• Mount Pelée and the pitons of Martinique, featuring volcanoes and forests
• The memorial sites of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda, including Nyamata, Murambi, Gisozi, and Bisesero
• Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda

Central America

• National Archaeological Park Tak’alik Ab’aj in Guatemala

Europe

• The medieval Jewish historic center in Erfurt, Germany
• The architectural heritage of Kaunas, Lithuania
• The historic old town of Kuldīga, Latvia
• The prehistoric sites of Talayotic Menorca
• The Czech town of Žatec, known for its Saaz hops tradition
• Viking-age ring fortifications in Denmark
• The Maison Carrée in Nîmes, France
• The astronomical observatories of Kazan Federal University in Russia
• Memorial and burial sites along the First World War Western Front in Belgium and France
• The Historic Center of Guimarães and Couros Zone in Portugal
• Eisinga Planetarium located in Franeker, Netherlands
• The Evaporitic Karst and Caves of the Northern Apennines in Italy
• The Zagori Cultural Landscape in Greece

North America

• The Tr’ondëk-Klondike region in Canada
• The island of Anticosti in Canada
• Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks along the central tributaries of the Ohio River in the U.S.

South America

• ESMA Museum and Site of Memory in Argentina
• The Jodensavanne Settlement and Cassipora Creek Cemetery in Suriname