The well inscribed houses a rich sample of monuments and prehistoric sites, some unique to the Balearic island, such as navetas, taulas and talayots, in excellent condition
Spain achieves with ‘Menorca Talayótica’ the 50th inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List
18/09/2023
Spain achieves with ‘Menorca Talayótica’ the 50th inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List
The candidacy ‘Menorca Talayótica. An island Cyclopean odyssey’ has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, as announced today by the World Heritage Committee meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. With this new registration, Spain already has 50 World Heritage sites in its territory, a number that makes it one of the countries with the most goods registered in this list and one of the most internationally recognized for the variety, wealth and quality of its heritage. Only the first five are above half a hundred goods declared World Heritage.
The candidacy, promoted by the Consell Insular de Menorca, has been an example of collaboration between administrations: the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the autonomous government of Illes Balears and the Consell de Menorca itself. Institutional support and excellent technical work have been key to successfully achieving its inscription on the World Heritage List, after the maturation of the candidacy over more than a decade.
An exceptional case of living archaeological and monumental landscape
Menorca has one of the highest densities in the world of prehistoric archaeological sites in inhabited territory. ‘Menorca Talayótica. An island’s Cyclopean odyssey brings together the nine components that best represent the constructions of an island culture that evolved in conditions of relative isolation. From the mid-Bronze Age to the Roman occupation, a rich sample of prehistoric monuments and sites has been selected, including settlements, funerary spaces, shrines and sacred sites that have survived in excellent condition. Among them, certain exceptional manifestations that are unique and exclusive to Menorca stand out, such as the burial ships, the taula enclosures, the monumental circular houses and the talayots.
Además, ‘Menorca Talayótica’ aporta el testimonio excepcional de una cultura prehistórica asociada al cielo. The orientations of certain monuments allow us to illustrate the relationship of this culture with jealousy. Another of the traits that attest to its exceptionality is the harmonious coexistence that the various Cyclopean constructions of the island have developed throughout history with its inhabitants. These monuments are inserted in a poorly altered Mediterranean landscape with features very similar to that of Prehistory. The successive traditions of the stone, the original settlement patterns and the spiritual functionality of the monuments are the reflection of an identity of their own. They are a source of pride for the island and therefore remain alive in the landscape of today’s Menorca. In this way, ‘Menorca Talayótica’ today bears witness to an exceptional case of living archaeological and monumental landscape.
World Heritage Committee
At this meeting of the Committee the inscription of the property on the World Heritage List, the ancient Jericho, also called Tell es-Sultan, presented by Palestine, or the solid natural forest site of Odzala-Kokoua, in the Congo, have also been declared World Heritage. The World Heritage Committee is composed of 21 countries elected by the 194 States Parties to the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972) and is the executive body of this international convention. As such, it is responsible for deciding which new sites meet the characteristics to be inscribed on the World Heritage List, at the proposal of the States Parties.