New World Heritage Sites in Latin America

The World Heritage Committee also approved the extension of one site that already made part of the list in Mexico. Dholavira, a city located in India is one of the new places designated as World Heritage. The cultural landscape of Hawraman/Uramanat in Iran is also among the new World Heritage sites. Also, the Jōmon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan and the landscape of Rosia Mountain in Romania.

In Latin America, these are the new sites that have been officially declared as part of the World Heritage List.

1. Sítio Roberto Burle Marx

Located in the West of Rio de Janeiro, this site is a reflection of the project that was carried out by the landscape architect which took over 40 years. Its purpose was to create a living piece of art and a landscape laboratory, using native vegetation and with a touch of the modernist movement. The project, which began in 1949 is a landscaped garden that contains the essential elements of the Burle Marx style. It is the first modern tropical garden that was been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

2. Chankillo Archaeoastronomical Complex

Located North of the Central Coast of Peru, in the valley of Casma, this archaeological site has various constructions in a desert landscape and works as a perfect solar calendar. It includes a temple, an observatory, a ceremonial space, and 13 towers that signal the solar trajectory. Scientists believe the temple was built to worship the sun.

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3. The Church of Atlántida by Engineer Eladio Dieste

Located in Uruguay, the Church of Atlántida as well as its Bell Tower and its underground Baptistery are located in Atlantida Station, 45km away from Montevideo. The design of the church was inspired by the early Christian and medieval religious architecture. It was inaugurated in 1960. The UNESCO remarked that the church is an example of the great achievements of modern Latinamerican architecture during the second half of the XX century.

4. Settlement and Artificial Mummification of the Chinchorro Culture

The site is located in the region of Arica and Parinacota. It has three components, Faldeo Norte del Morro de Arica, Colón 10, both in the city of Arica, and Desembocadura de Camarones, in a rural setting about 100 km further south. Altogether, the mentioned places serve as evidence of a culture of marine hunter-gatherers that resided on the arid and hostile northern coast of the Atacama Desert, in the extreme north of Chile, from approximately 5450 BC. until 890 BC. The site features the oldest known archaeological evidence of artificial mummification of bodies with cemeteries containing both artificially mummified bodies and some that were preserved due to environmental conditions.

5. The Franciscan Ensemble of the Monastery and Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Tlaxcala

The site was constructed from 1537 until 1540 after the alliance between the Spanish people and the Tlaxcalans. It forms part of the first construction program that started in 1524 for evangelism and colonization of the Northern territories of Mexico. According to UNESCO, the site helps to comprehend the development of a new architectural model that influenced urban development until the XVIII century.