This is a list of World Heritage Sites in France with properties of cultural and natural heritage in France as inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List or as on the country's tentative list. [1] France accepted the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage on 27 June 1975, after which it could nominate properties on their territory to be considered for the World Heritage List. [2]
Currently, 49 properties in France are inscribed on the World Heritage List. 42 of these are cultural properties, 6 are natural properties, and 1 is mixed. [1] Four properties are transboundary properties. [3] The first was added to the list in 1979 and the latest in 2019. Five properties were submitted in 1979. [1] The tentative list of France contains 37 properties. [4]
The names in the tables below are the names of the properties as used on the website of UNESCO. [1] There are three different types of properties possible: cultural, natural, and mixed. [5] Selection criteria i, ii, iii, iv, v, and vi are the cultural criteria, and selection criteria vii, viii, ix, and x are the natural criteria. [6] The dates for the properties on the World Heritage List are the dates of inscription, the dates for the tentative list are those of submission. The numbers are the reference numbers as used by UNESCO, and they link directly to the description pages of the properties on the UNESCO website. [1]
Ref # | Site | Image | Region | Era | Type | Year listed | Extension | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
230 | Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | 9th century | cultural | 1983 | 2007 | ||
165 | Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | 12th century | cultural | 1981 | 2007 | ||
164 | Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | from 1st century BC to 4th century; 12th century | cultural | 1981 | - | ||
84 | Vézelay, Church and Hill | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | 12th century | cultural | 1979 | 2007 | ||
943 | Belfries of Belgium and France | Hauts-de-France | 13th century-20th century | cultural | 1999 | 2005 | Transboundary property, shared with Belgium; extension of the former Belfries of Flanders and Wallonia | |
1256 | Bordeaux, Port of the Moon | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | 18th century | cultural | 2007 | - | ||
770 | Canal du Midi | Occitania | 17th century | cultural | 1996 | - | ||
162 | Amiens Cathedral | Hauts-de-France | 13th century | cultural | 1981 | - | ||
635 | Bourges Cathedral | Centre-Val de Loire | 13th century | cultural | 1992 | - | ||
81 | Chartres Cathedral | Centre-Val de Loire | 13th century | cultural | 1979 | - | ||
601 | Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Remi, and Palace of Tau, Reims | Grand Est | 13th–16th century | cultural | 1991 | - | ||
1153 | The Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape | Occitania | cultural | 2011 | - | |||
228 | Historical centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | 12th–16th century | cultural | 1995 | - | Palais des Papes, Episcopal Ensemble and Pont Saint-Bénezet | |
868 | Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France | Diverse sites (right-of-way and route) | cultural | 1998 | - | |||
1337 | Episcopal City of Albi | Occitania | cultural | 2010 | - | |||
203 | From the Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, the Production of Open-pan Salt | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | 18th century | cultural | 1982 | 2009 | ||
1283 | Fortifications of Vauban | Diverse | 17th century | cultural | 2008 | - | ||
932 | Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | cultural | 1999 | - | |||
1181 | Le Havre, the City Rebuilt by Auguste Perret | Normandy | 20th century | cultural | 2005 | - | Built from 1945–1964 by the Atelier de Reconstruction du Havre d'Auguste Perret | |
80 | Mont Saint-Michel and its Bay | Normandy | cultural | 1979 | 2007 | |||
160 | Palace and Park of Fontainebleau | Île-de-France | cultural | 1981 | - | |||
83 | Palace and Park of Versailles | Île-de-France | cultural | 1979 | 2007 | |||
600 | Paris, Banks of the Seine | Île-de-France | cultural | 1991 | - | |||
229 | Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière, and Place d'Alliance in Nancy | Grand Est | 18th century | cultural | 1983 | - | ||
334 | Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct) | Occitanie | 1st century AD | cultural | 1985 | 2007 | ||
873 | Provins, Town of Medieval Fairs | Île-de-France | cultural | 2001 | - | |||
872 | Historic site of Lyon | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | cultural | 1998 | - | |||
1363 | Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | 5000–500 BCE | cultural | 2011 | - | A series of prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps. transboundary property, shared with Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland, 11 of the total 111 sites are in France. | |
85 | Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | cultural | 1979 | - | |||
495 | Strasbourg – From the Grande Île to the Neustadt | Grand Est | cultural | 1988 | 2017 | |||
163 | Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the "Triumphal Arch" of Orange | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | cultural | 1981 | 2007 | |||
933 | The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes | Centre-Val de Loire, Pays de la Loire | cultural | 2000 | - | An outstanding cultural landscape of great beauty, containing historic towns and villages, great architectural monuments (the châteaux), and cultivated lands formed by many centuries of interaction between their population and the physical environment, primarily the river Loire itself. | ||
345 | Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne | Occitanie | cultural | 1997 | - | |||
258 | Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve | Corsica | N/A | natural | 1983 | - | ||
1115 | Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems | New Caledonia | N/A | natural | 2008 | - | Diversity of ecosystems in New Caledonia Barrier Reef | |
1317 | The Pitons, Cirques and Remparts of Réunion Island | Réunion | N/A | natural | 2010 | - | ||
773 | Pyrénées – Mont Perdu | Occitanie | N/A | mixed | 1997 | 1999 | Transboundary property, shared with Spain | |
1360 | Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin | Hauts-de-France | 18th to 20th centuries | cultural | 2012 | - | Remarkable landscape shaped by three centuries of coal extraction. | |
1426 | Decorated Cave of Pont d’Arc, known as Grotte Chauvet-Pont d’Arc, Ardèche | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | 30,000–28,000 BCE | cultural | 2014 | - | Earliest-known and best-preserved figurative drawings in the world. | |
1425 | The Climats, terroirs of Burgundy | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | Middle Ages–present | cultural | 2015 | - | An outstanding example of grape cultivation and wine production developed since the High Middle Ages. | |
1465 | Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars | Grand Est | 17th century–present | cultural | 2015 | - | Sites where the method of producing sparkling wines was developed. | |
1321 | The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement [47] | Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Île-de-France, Grand Est, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | 20th century | cultural | 2016 | - | Testimonial to the invention of a new architectural language. A transnational serial property shared with Argentina, Belgium, Germany, India, Japan and Switzerland. | |
1528 | Taputapuātea | French Polynesia | 10th century | cultural | 2017 | A Polynesian political, ceremonial and funerary centre. | ||
1434 | Chaine des Puys – Limagne fault tectonic arena | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | natural | 2018 | A geologically important site illustrating the process of continental rifting. | |||
1603 | French Austral Lands and Seas | French Southern and Antarctic Lands | natural | 2019 | Remote islands in the Southern Ocean home to unique flora and fauna including a whole slice of Antarctica making this the largest World Heritage Site. | |||
1613 | Great Spa Towns of Europe | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | cultural | 2021 | A transnational site of 11 towns in seven European countries that developed around natural mineral water springs and bear witness to the international European spa culture. Spa town of Vichy represents this site in France. | |||
1625 | Cordouan Lighthouse | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | cultural | 2021 | Cordouan Lighthouse embodies the great stages of the architectural and technological history of lighthouses. | |||
1635 | Nice, Winter Resort Town of the Riviera | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | cultural | 2021 | Nice bears witness to the evolution of the winter resort due to the city's mild climate and seaside location at the foot of the Alps. | |||
1133 | Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe | Diverse sites | natural | 2021 (extension to sites in France) | This transnational property represents an outstanding example of relatively undisturbed, complex temperate forests and exhibit a wide spectrum of comprehensive ecological patterns and processes of pure and mixed stands of European beech across a variety of environmental conditions. | |||
1567rev | Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front) | Hauts-de-France, Grand Est, Île-de-France | 20th century | cultural | 2023 | Transnational serial site shared with Belgium incorporates 139 cemeteries and memorials on the Western Front of the First World War. [56] | ||
1569 | The Maison Carrée of Nîmes | Occitania | 1st century | cultural | 2023 | An ancient Roman temple in Nîmes, southern France; one of the best-preserved Roman temples to survive in the territory of the former Roman Empire. [57] | ||
1657 | Volcanoes and Forests of Mount Pelée and the Pitons of Northern Martinique | Martinique | natural | 2023 | Volcanic area of global significance to vulcanology, and home to a number of endemic species. [58] | |||
Property names as submitted by France and year of inscription on Tentative List. Translation of site names provided in italics for reference purposes; official translation of site name proposed only once site is put forward for consideration on World Heritage List.
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