Significant Serbian Sites: UNESCO World Heritage List
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Do you have a favorite site of cultural, historical, or natural significance in your home country? One you love to visit when you are acting as a tourist in your own birthplace? If so, there is a chance it might be listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list.
A World Heritage Site is a location or monument listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). All sites listed must meet one of ten criteria, marking the site as one of “outstanding universal value.” Each criterion has to do with the cultural or natural importance of a particular place or landmark. Depending on which piece of criterion the site meets, it is deemed either a Cultural Heritage Site or a Natural Heritage Site.
A site is considered to be culturally significant if it meets one of six listed criteria; a site is considered naturally significant if it meets one of another four. Occasionally, a site will meet multiple criteria, which is the case with each of the sites in Serbia. When a site meets both a cultural and a natural criterion, it is considered a “mixed” site.
There are currently 1,031 sites on the World Heritage List. These 1,031 listings exist across one hundred and sixty three different “state parties.” At last check, the country with the largest number of listed sites was Italy, with fifty-one listed heritage sites. China is right on Italy’s tail with forty-eight sites. Close behind are Spain with forty-four, France with forty-one, Germany with forty, Mexico with thirty-three, and India with thirty-two.
Europe and North America dominate the list when arranged by region, with the two continents containing a combined forty-eight percent of the total number of World Heritage Sites.
Serbia currently has four sites listed. Those sites are:
- Stari Ras and Sopoćani
- Studenica Monastery
- Medieval Monuments in Kosovo
- Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius
Stari Ras and Sopoćani are, respectively, a city and a monastery. Stari Ras was the first capital of Serbia under the Nemanjić dynasty. Outside of the medieval city lies a group of monuments that include fortresses, churches, and monasteries. Sopoćani is located within Stari Ras and was abandoned for over two centuries. Sopoćani houses some of the most impressive and well-regarded frescoes of Serbian medieval art. The monastery was restored during the twentieth century and the frescoes remain intact. It is currently inhabited by a brotherhood of monks.
Studenica Monastery is located near Stari Ras. The site was built in the twelfth century, over the course of more than a decade. It is regarded as the most important medieval Serbian monastery (the “mother-church of all Serbian temples”) as well as a major artistic center of the Serbs. The site is known for its collection of Byzantine-style art and is considered remarkably well preserved by visitors.
The medieval monuments in Kosovo actually consist of four separate sites: the Decani Monastery, the Patriarchate of Pec Monastery, Our Lady of Ljevis, and Gracanica Monastery. Each of the four edifices underscore the height of Byzantine-Romanesque religious culture, with the particular art housed in these four sites having had a significant role in the later development of art in the Balkans. Unlike the other three listed sites, the monuments in Kosovo have the added distinction of being Heritage Sites deemed to be in danger due to lack of proper protection and instability in the region. There is the additional complication of this site being in Kosovo, which is itself aiming to be admitted as a full member state of UNESCO on its own. If admission is granted, this will result in this particular site being listed under Kosovo rather than Serbia (as it currently is).
Finally, Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius, is by far the oldest of the four sites, though it was added most recently. Roman Emperor, Caius Valorous Galerius Maximianus, commissioned the fortified palace in the late third and early fourth centuries. Gamzigrad-Romuliana is considered to represent a significant example of Roman architecture during the time of Roman Serbia.
UNESCO also maintains lists of tentative sites that each State Party intends to put forth for consideration of inclusion on the list. Serbia currently has twelve sites on the list, some of which have been languishing there since 2002.
In all, there are innumerable sites of various cultural, historical, and natural significances in Serbia; the UNESCO listings are just a very select few. That being said, the four listed sites clearly highlight the high regard of Serbian art and the prominence of Roman Serbia in human history.
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