Aquitaine sites listed as World Heritage by UNESCO
The painted caves of the Vézère Valley (Dordogne)
The prehistoric site of the Vézère Valley was listed as World Heritage in
1979. The cradle of prehistory, the Vézère
Valley alone has 147 deposits going back to the Palaeolithic era and 25
painted caves. Certain paintings on the walls of these caves are
world-renowned masterpieces of prehistoric art: the parietal paintings of
Lascaux cave in Montignac, the Vénus de Laussel in Marquay, the sculpted
frieze of animals on the wall of the shelter of Cap-Blanc.
The historical interest of the objects and works discovered in the
Vézère Valley needs no demonstration.
The National Prehistory Museum in Les Eyzies de Tayac-Sireuil, with its
collections from archaeological digs in the Vézère Valley, is one of Europe’s
leading museums devoted to our distant ancestors.
On the French roads taking them to Compostella in Spain, the thousands of
pilgrims over the centuries left monuments that are unique in the world. This
notable historical heritage
made up of cathedrals, churches, basilicas and abbeys was listed as World
Heritage by UNESCO in 1998, joining the Spanish roads
to Compostella which were awarded this honour in 1993.
Aquitaine has an exceptional listed heritage composed of 19 monuments
and a section of the Chemin du Puy, making it France’s second region in number
of assets, after the neighbouring Midi-Pyrénées.
The jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion was the first winegrowing territory to be
listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, in 1999. Composed of eight communes
corresponding to the jurisdiction defined in the 12th century by King John of
England, it is a "remarkable example of a historic landscape which has
survived intact" and "illustrates in an exceptional way
intensive vine-growing in a clearly delimited region" (listing criteria
chosen by UNESCO).
Viticulture was indeed introduced very early into the region of
Aquitaine: it was the Romans who first planted vines here. Wine production
intensified in the Middle Ages, and work on the vines has never stopped
since. The Saint-Emilion area also has a large number of high-quality historic
monuments. In Saint-Emilion, a medieval town perched on the top of a hill, the
monolithic church, entirely dug out of the limestone cliff, is Europe’s
largest underground church. The village of Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens is home
to an enormous standing stone 5 metres high – the Menhir de Pierrefitte.
The eight villages in the jurisdiction
- Saint-Emilion
- Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes
- Saint-Etienne-de-Lisse
- Saint-Hippolyte
- Saint-Laurent-des-Combes
- Saint-Pey-D'Armens
- Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens
- Vignonet
Bordeaux (Gironde)
The great news was announced on 28 June: Bordeaux's application to be included
on the UNESCOWorld Heritage list was
accepted by the special UNESCO committee!
What is original about the Bordeaux classification is the sheer size of
its perimeter. Bordeaux is the first city to achieve classification
over such a vast and complex area. This stretches from the inner
ring-road to the Garonne river inclusive and covers 1,810 hectares, or almost
half the surface area of the city.
In addition, the entire territory of Bordeaux outside the inner
ring-road, as well as 8 towns neighbouring the city (Bruges,
Cenon, Floirac, le Bouscat, Lormont, Mérignac, Pessac, Talence, Le Bouscat and
Bruges) are included in the area known as the heritage buffer zone,
also recognised.
Cultural monuments in Aquitaine listed by UNESCO
Dordogne :
- Périgueux, Saint-Front Cathedral
- Le Buisson-de-Cadouin, ancient Abbey
- Saint-Avit-Sénieur, church
Gironde :
- Bazas, ancient cathedral
- Bordeaux, Saint-Seurin Basilica, Saint-Michel Basilica, Saint-André Cathedral
- La Sauve-Majeure, abbey and Saint-Pierre Church
- Soulac-sur-Mer, Notre-Dame-de-la-Fin-des-Terres Church
