11 Iranian ‘Qanat’ listed among UNESCO World Heritage Sites

on July 16, 2021 | 8:38:36

The U.N. cultural agency on Friday placed nine new sites, including 11 Iranian ancient aqueducts known as ‘Qanat’, on its World Heritage List.

UNESCO also added the old city of Ani, in the Turkish province of Kars to its prestigious list during a meeting in Istanbul

Other sites announced Friday include China’s Zuojiang Huashan rock art cultural landscape and India’s archaeological site of Nalanda Mahavihara. A transboundary site located in Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia, and heritage sites in Greece, Spain and Gibraltar also made the list.

The World Heritage Committee also selected Micronesia’s artificial islets of Nan Madol and simultaneously placed it on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Gathered in the Turkish city of Istanbul from July 10-20, the committee is reviewing 27 sites of special cultural or natural significance which have been nominated for the World Heritage List.

Earlier, the dossiers of 11 ancient aqueducts were submitted to UNESCO for registration on World Heritage List, said Hadi Ahmadi, a senior official of Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization.

Iran’s Qanat system tapped into alluvial aquifer and transported water underground across vast valleys helping sustain agricultural life and settlements in arid areas.

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