Azerbaijan's liberated territories will be included in UNESCO Heritage List

Along with the city of Shusha, other territories freed from occupation will soon be added to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, Deputy Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan, Azada Huseynova, said, Report informs.

"As you know, the historic centre of Shusha has been included in the preliminary list of UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage. Soon, a city day will be held in Shusha, and similar events will be organized in other areas freed from occupation," Huseynova said.

In May 2022, Shusha's historic centre was proposed to be included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

Shusha Historical-Architectural Reserve, which was created in 1977 on the initiative of the great leader Heydar Aliyev, was included in the Preliminary List of UNESCO's World Heritage in 2001, one of the important steps taken in this direction.

Among the monuments included in the Shusha Historical-Architectural Reserve are the Yukhari and Ashasghi Govhar Agha mosques, the house of Khurshidbanu Natavan, the Karabakh Khan palace, the Vagif tomb, the residence of Mirza Salah bey Zohrabbayov, the Shusha mound, the Shusha cave camp, the Shusha fortress and others. There were a total of 549 ancient buildings, 1,203 meters of cobbled streets, 17 springs, 17 mosques, 6 caravanserais, 3 tombs, 2 madrasahs, 2 castles and fortress walls in the city of Shusha. Among them, were 72 important art and historical monuments, houses of statesmen and other famous people. At present, work is being done to study the condition of the historical-architectural monuments mentioned by the Ministry of Culture.

The World Cultural Heritage List was established on the basis of the 1972 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The convention defines the type of natural or cultural sites to be admitted to the World Heritage List, and monuments and places of exceptional universal value are considered worthy of this universal heritage declaration.

From Azerbaijan, this list includes "The Inner City with Shirvanshahs Palace and Maiden's Castle", "Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape" and "Historic Center of Shaki with Khan's Palace".