Citadel and nuclear site get World Heritage status

Unesco added five cultural sites to its World Heritage List, including the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi in Vietnam.

The citadel, built in the 11th century by the Viet Dynasty, became the 900th site listed as a World Heritage Property. With the other four sites added yesterday, the total increased to 904.

The other new sites were the historic monuments of Dengfeng in China, the archaeological site Sarazm in Tajikistan, the Episcopal city of Albi in France and a 17th-century canal ring in Amsterdam.

On Saturday, Unesco already expanded the list with new sites, including Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, home to nuclear bomb testing in the 1940s and 1950s.

Unesco said the tests had “major consequences” on the geology and environment of the atoll and symbolised “the dawn of (the) nuclear age”.

Also added to the list on Saturday were the Turaif District in Saudi Arabia; Australia’s penal colony sites; the Jantar Mantar astronomical observation site in India; a shrine in Ardabil, Iran; the Tabriz historic bazaar complex, also in Iran; and the historic villages of Hahoe and Yangdong in South Korea.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s meeting to consider cultural sites for listing ends tomorrow.