UNESCO World Heritage for France

UNESCO World Heritage Sites represent some of the best natural, cultural and historic attractions in world travel. Below are details of the 40 cultural, natural and mixed sites inscribed for France to date (a red World Heritage symbol denotes a site currently regarded as endangered). For more details of these properties, click on the links to the UNESCO website and the photographic galleries of these sites from OurPlace (where available). Also, check out UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage for France below.


1979 - Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley Cultural site
1979 - Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay Cultural site
1979 - Palace and Park of Versailles Cultural site
1979 - Chartres Cathedral Cultural site
1979 - Vézelay, Church and Hill Cultural site
1981 - Palace and Park of Fontainebleau Cultural site
1981 - Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the "Triumphal Arch" of Orange Cultural site
1981 - Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments Cultural site
1981 - Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay Cultural site
1981 - Amiens Cathedral Cultural site
1982 - From the Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, the production of open-pan salt Cultural site
1983 - Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve Natural site
1983 - Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière and Place d'Alliance in Nancy Cultural site
1983 - Abbey Church of Saint-Savin sur Gartempe Cultural site
1985 - Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct) Cultural site
1988 - Strasbourg – Grande île Cultural site
1991 - Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Remi and Palace of Tau, Reims Cultural site
1991 - Paris, Banks of the Seine Cultural site
1992 - Bourges Cathedral Cultural site
1995 - Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge Cultural site
1996 - Canal du Midi Cultural site
1997 - Pyrénées - Mont Perdu Mixed site
1997 - Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne Cultural site
1998 - Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France Cultural site
1998 - Historic Site of Lyons Cultural site
1999 - Belfries of Belgium and France Cultural site
1999 - Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion Cultural site
2000 - The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes Cultural site
2001 - Provins, Town of Medieval Fairs Cultural site
2005 - Le Havre, the City Rebuilt by Auguste Perret Cultural site
2007 - Bordeaux, Port of the Moon Cultural site
2008 - Fortifications of Vauban Cultural site
2010 - Pitons, cirques and remparts of Reunion Island Natural site
2010 - Episcopal City of Albi Cultural site
2011 - The Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape Cultural site
2011 - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps Cultural site
2012 - Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin Cultural site
2014 - Decorated Cave of Pont d’Arc, known as Grotte Chauvet-Pont d’Arc, Ardèche Cultural site
2015 - The Climats, terroirs of Burgundy Cultural site
2015 - Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars Cultural site


Intangible Cultural Heritage

Recently UNESCO has begun to document the world's Intangible Cultural Heritage which includes "traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts". The current listings for France are shown below - click on the links for more details.


Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

2008 - Processional giants and dragons in Belgium and France
2009 - Aubusson tapestry
2009 - Scribing tradition in French timber framing
2009 - Maloya
2010 - Gastronomic meal of the French
2010 - Craftsmanship of Alençon needle lace-making
2010 - Compagnonnage, network for on-the-job transmission of knowledge and identities
2011 - Equitation in the French tradition
2012 - Falconry, a living human heritage
2012 - Fest-Noz, festive gathering based on the collective practice of traditional dances of Brittany

List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding

2009 - Cantu in paghjella, a secular and liturgical oral tradition of Corsica