UNESCO Heritage

UNESCO approved the convention on the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage in the year 1972. The idea behind the convention was to select cultural monuments and natural areas of world significance in order to preserve them for future generations. The former Czechoslovakia joined the convention in the year 1990 and the Czech Republic took on all the responsibilities flowing from the convention in the year of its formation in 1993.

At present, there are 12 sites in the Czech Republic on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

In view of its small territory Czechia has a high concentration of such sites. Thus Czech monuments have found themselves listed alongside the pyramids of Giza and the Acropolis of Athens.

The Bohemian Paradise Geopark

Since October 2005 a substantial part of the Bohemian Paradise (Český raj) tourist district, including the protected landscape area of Bohemian Paradise, the oldest protected landscape area in the Czech Republic (this year marks the 50th anniversary of its founding), is one of UNESCO’s European geoparks. For the time being, Bohemian Paradise is the sole geopark in the European Union’s newest member countries. It thus finds itself in the same group as, for example, the famous Petrified Forest of Greece’s Lesvos Island.

Biosphere reservations

In addition to this prestigious list of monuments, there is also the worldwide network of UNESCO biosphere reservations in the framework of the "Humankind and the Biosphere" global system, which consists of interesting ecosystems. The Czech Republic now has biosphere reservations in the following areas: Třeboň district, Pálava, Křivoklát, Šumava, the Giant Mountains and the White Carpathians.

Other treasures of Czech heritage that are working to be included in this list:

the city of Pardubice
Renaissance buildings in Slavonice
the Czechoslovak fortifications at Hlučín - Darkovičky near Opava
the medieval Jeroným mine in the district of Sokolov
Landek Hill near Ostrava
the paper mill at Velké Losiny
the rock formations in the Bohemian Paradise
the system of artificial lakes in the area of Třeboň
the hotel and transmitter on Mt. Ještěd, which won the Perret Prize
Cheb Castle
Nativity rock sculptures at Kuks
Hvězda summer palace and game reserve, Müller villa, Břevnov monastery (as extended monuments of the UNESCO Historic Centre of Prague
Karlštejn Castle
Luhačovice spa
Great Moravian fort at Mikulčice
Industrial complexes in Ostrava (Michal mine at Michálkovice, Anselm mine at Petřkovice – Mining museum, Vítkovice steelworks and Hlubina mine, Větrná shaft at Vrbice)
Terezín fortress (Rožmberk Lake and Rožmberk fortification, Svět Lake, Golden Canal, Nová (New) River, Stará (Old) River – all encompassed in the Rožmberk Lake System, a national cultural monument; town of Třeboň encompassing a municipal conservation area)
the triad of West Bohemian spas (Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně, and Františkovy Lázně)
the horse farm in Kladruby nad Labem
facility for growing and processing hops and the production of beer in Žatec