Joy in Greece as Mount Olympus joins Unesco list of world heritage sites | Unesco

Mount Olympus, the legendary home of the ancient Greek gods, gained a more modern fame after a 12-year wait, with Unesco announcing that it would be added to the world heritage list.

Greece’s highest mountain was listed alongside the second world war D-Day landing beaches in northern France and the former Japanese capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara. South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo region, which hosts one of the world’s largest land mammal migrations, was also awarded the award, a first for this East African country.

The nominations were among dozens examined at a meeting of the Unesco committee in Busan, South Korea, on Sunday.

The news about the Olympus case, which is registered as a mixed world heritage site due to its cultural and natural importance, was received almost with enthusiasm in Greece.

Immortalized as the residence of Zeus, the king of the 12 Olympic gods, the mountain, which rises 2,918 meters above sea level, has been on the list of temporary protected areas since 2014.

Georgios Koumoutsakos, head of Greece’s Unesco delegation in Busan, hailed the decision as one that will ensure the protection of the site.

“This reaffirms our unwavering commitment to preserving Mount Olympus for the benefit of present and future generations,” he said. “As Greek mythology wisely reminds us, it is always best to be on good terms with the gods.”

The area’s mayor, Evangelos Geroliolios, said before the announcement that the site’s launch would “put more responsibility on us to protect the environment.” [local] environment”, especially its extraordinary biodiversity.

The committee’s annual meeting, which ends Wednesday, is expected to review about 30 candidates. Those who succeed will join 1,248 sites in 170 countries that have been recognized as world heritage sites for their “outstanding value to humanity”.

Inscribed monuments can provide vital support for their preservation under an international convention overseen by Unesco, which also provides advice and financial support. Other world heritage sites include the Acropolis in Athens, the Great Wall of China, the pyramids of Giza in Egypt and the Taj Mahal in India.

As with Mount Olympus, efforts to chronicle D-day beaches in Normandy went back years.

Included in the French offer were five beaches (Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno) where more than 150,000 allied troops landed on June 6, 1944, as well as the Pointe du Hoc cliff, which was the focus of the attack.

The largest amphibious operation ever, in which 4,000 soldiers died, was decisive in the fight to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation.

France first nominated the 80-kilometer coastline in 2008. Reacting to the decision, the country’s permanent representative to UNESCO, Ahlem Gharbi, said that this appointment is especially important at a time of such international tensions.

Defending the cause, Normandy regional president Hervé Morin suggested inclusion on the list would represent “tremendous recognition” for the soldiers who sacrificed so much to defeat Nazism.

Echoing Greek officials, he said: “This decision places a responsibility upon us. It compels us to preserve this site, to protect it, to cherish it even more, and to promote its value.”

The international council on monuments and sites, one of the bodies that recommended its inclusion on the Unesco list, has previously warned of the threat posed to Normandy sites by tourism, climate change, rising sea levels and nearby wind farm development, and called for stronger monitoring and protection.

The coastline is covered with extensive ruins from the time of the landings, including concrete German bunkers and gun emplacements, sunken ships and allied installations.

Unesco said in a statement that the beaches formed “an extraordinary cultural landscape shaped by both the events of 1944 and their enduring memories”, all of which justified greater protection. As with Mount Olympus, the landing points have attracted record numbers of tourists in recent years.

The agency’s move to include sites linked to conflict has fueled contentious debate over whether “sites of memory” are in line with world heritage status and Unesco’s stated mission of “promoting greater equality and a world of peace.”

Three locations used by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia for torture and execution were recorded last year.

After years of campaigning, Greek officials said Sunday’s decision was made even more sweetly given signs of further delay.

In a draft agenda for this week’s meeting, Unesco signaled that the Mount Olympus dossier would be sent back to the country for more details, raising fears that proved unfounded when the nomination received unanimous support.