List of World Heritage sites in Belgium

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.^[1] The Kingdom of Belgium accepted the convention on 24 July 1996, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list.^[2]

Currently, there are 13 sites in Belgium inscribed on the list and 16 sites on the tentative list. The first sites in Belgium to be added to the list were the Flemish Béguinages, the Grand Place in Brussels and the lifts on the Canal du Centre, all three of them inscribed at the 22nd UNESCO session in 1998.^[3] Further sites were added in 1999, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2012, 2016 and 2017.^[2] In total, there are 12 cultural sites, as determined by the organization's selection criteria. The Sonian Forest, as a part of the extension to the site of Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, is the only natural site. Three of the sites are transnational entries.^[2]

List of sites

The table lists information about each World Heritage site:

Name: as listed by the World Heritage Committee

Location: in Belgium

Period: time period of significance, typically of construction

UNESCO data: the site's reference number; the year the site was inscribed on the World Heritage List; the criteria it was listed under: criteria (i) through (vi) are cultural, while (vii) through (x) are natural; sites meeting both criteria are categorized as "mixed sites",^[4] the column sorts by year.

Description: brief description of the site

Name	Image	Location	Period	UNESCO data	Description
Belfries of Belgium and France*		Belgium and Northern France	11th to 17th centuries	943; 1999, 2005 (extended); ii, iv (cultural)	A total of 56 belfries are listed as World Heritage. Among them are 33 Belgian belfries: Antwerp (Cathedral of Our Lady & Antwerp City Hall), Herentals, Lier, Mechelen (St. Rumbold's Cathedral & city hall), Bruges, Diksmuide, Kortrijk, Lo-Reninge, Menen, Nieuwpoort, Roeselare, Tielt, Veurne, Ypres, Aalst, Dendermonde, Eeklo, Ghent, Oudenaarde, Leuven, Tienen, Zoutleeuw, Sint-Truiden, Tongeren, Binche, Charleroi, Mons, Thuin, Tournai, Gembloux and Namur.[5]
Flemish Béguinages		Flanders	13th century	855; 1998; ii, iii, iv (cultural)	Béguinage (French) or begijnhof (Dutch) are collections of small buildings used by Beguines. These were various lay sisterhoods of the Roman Catholic Church, founded in the 13th century in the Low Countries, comprising religious women who sought to serve God without retiring from the world. The list includes 13 béguinages: Bruges, Dendermonde, Diest, Ghent (Klein Begijnhof, Groot Begijnhof), Hoogstraten, Kortrijk, Leuven (Groot Begijnhof), Lier, Mechelen (Groot Begijnhof), Sint-Truiden, Tongeren and Turnhout.[6]
Historic Centre of Brugge		Bruges, West Flanders	12th to 19th centuries	996; 2000; ii, iv, vi (cultural)	Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the north-west of Belgium. Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam, it is sometimes referred to as "The Venice of the North". Bruges has a significant economic importance thanks to its port. At one time, it was considered the "chief commercial city" of the world.[7]
La Grand-Place, Brussels		City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital	1695-1699	857; 1998; ii, iv (cultural)	The Grand Place is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guildhalls, the city's Town Hall, and the Breadhouse. The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels. It measures 68 by 110 metres (223 by 361 ft).[8]
Major Mining Sites of Wallonia		Wallonia	19th to 20th centuries	1344; 2012; ii, iv (cultural)	During the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, mining and the heavy industry that relied on coal formed a major part of Belgium's economy. Most of this mining and industry took place in the sillon industriel ("industrial valley" in French), a strip of land running across the country where many of the largest cities in Wallonia are located. The named locations of this World Heritage Site are all situated in or near the area of the sillon industriel. Mining activities in the area declined during the 20th century, and today the four mines listed are no longer operational. Nowadays they are each open to visitors as museums.[9]
Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta		Brussels and Saint-Gilles, Brussels-Capital	19th to 20th centuries	1005; 2000; i, ii, iv (cultural)	The architect Victor Horta was well known for creating buildings in the Art Nouveau style fashionable at the time. Four of his most notable surviving works, Hôtel Tassel, Hôtel Solvay, Hôtel van Eetvelde and Maison & Atelier Horta, are listed as World Heritage Sites.[10]
Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes		Mons, Hainaut	Neolithic	1006; 2000; i, iii, iv (cultural)	The Neolithic flint mines at Spiennes are Europe's largest and earliest neolithic mines, located close to Walloon village of Spiennes, southeast of Mons. The mines were active during the mid and late Neolithic (4300–2200 BC).[11]
Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai		Tournai, Hainaut	12th century	1009; 2000; ii, iv (cultural)	Notre-Dame Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church, see of the Diocese of Tournai in Tournai. Begun in the 12th century on even older foundations, the building combines the work of three design periods with striking effect, the heavy and severe character of the Romanesque nave contrasting remarkably with the Transitional work of the transept and the fully developed Gothic of the choir. The transept is the most distinctive part of the building, with its cluster of five bell towers and apsidal (semicircular) ends.[12]
Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Complex		Antwerp, Antwerp	16th to 17th centuries	1185; 2005; ii, iii, iv, vi (cultural)	The Plantin-Moretus Museum is a museum in Antwerp about early-modern printing in general and the famous printers Christophe Plantin and Jan Moretus in particular. It is located in their former residence and printing establishment, Plantin Press, at the Friday Market.[13]
Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe*		Brussels-Capital, Flanders and Wallonia	N/A	1133; 2017; ix (natural)	The Sonian Forest is the only Belgian component to the multinational inscription 'Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpatians and Other Regions of Europe'. The list includes 63 beech forests in Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Ukraine.[14]
Stoclet House		Woluwe-St-Pierre, Brussels-Capital	1911	1298; 2009; i, ii (cultural)	The Stoclet Palace was a private mansion built by architect Josef Hoffmann between 1905 and 1911 in Brussels, Belgium, for banker and art lover Adolphe Stoclet.[15] It was one of the most refined and luxurious private houses of the twentieth century[16] and was lavishly decorated inside, including works by the artist Gustav Klimt.[17]
The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement*		Antwerp, Antwerp	1927	1321; 2016; i, ii, vi (cultural)	The Maison Guiette is the Belgian component of the multinational inscription 'The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement'. The building was listed among 16 other buildings of Le Corbusier in Argentina, France, Germany, India, Japan and Switzerland. Maison Guiette was designed by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier in 1926 and it was finished in 1927. It served as the home and workplace of Belgian painter René Guiette. It is the only remaining building designed by Le Corbusier in Belgium. It is also known as Les Peupliers, named after the street where the building is situated.[18]
The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx		Hainaut	1888-1917	856; 1998, iii, iv (cultural)	The lifts on the old Canal du Centre are a series of four hydraulic boat lifts near the town of La Louvière in the Sillon industriel of Wallonia. Along a particular 7 km (4.3 mi) stretch of the Canal du Centre, which connects the river basins of the Meuse and the Scheldt, the water level rises by 66.2 metres (217 ft). To overcome this difference, the 15.4-metre lift at Houdeng-Goegnies was opened in 1888, and the other three lifts, each with a 16.93 metres (55.5 ft) rise, opened in 1917.[19]

Tentative list

In addition to the sites inscribed on the World Heritage list, member states can maintain a list of tentative sites that they may consider for nomination. Nominations for the World Heritage list are only accepted if the site was previously listed on the tentative list.^[20] As of 2017, Belgium lists 16 properties on its tentative list.^[21]

Name	Image	Location	UNESCO data	Description
Ghent historic town centre		Ghent, East-Flanders	856; 2002; ii, iv (cultural)
Antwerp historic town centre		Antwerp, Antwerp	857; 2002; ii, iv, vi (cultural)
Historic buildings of the University of Leuven		Leuven, Flemish Brabant	1712; 2002; ii, iii, iv, vi (cultural)
Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert		City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital	5355; 2008; ii, iv (cultural)
Bloemenwerf by Henry van de Velde		Uccle, Brussels-Capital	5356; 2008; i, ii (cultural)
Palace of Justice		City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital	5357; 2008; i (cultural)
High Fens landscape		Liège	5358; 2008; v (cultural)
Roman road from Bavay to Tongeren		Belgium	5359; 2008; iii, iv (cultural)
Prince-Bishops' Palace		Liège, Liège	5361; 2008; ii, iii (cultural)
Battlefield of Waterloo		Braine-l'Alleud, Walloon Brabant	5362; 2008; ii, iii, vi (cultural)
Battle of Waterloo Cyclorama		Braine-l'Alleud, Walloon Brabant	5364; 2008; i, ii, iv, vi (cultural)
The Mosane Citadels		Wallonia	5365; 2008; ii (cultural)	Includes the citadelles in Dinant, Namur and Huy.
Hoge Kempen landscape		Limburg	5623; 2011; iv, vi, viii (cultural and natural)
Koloniën van Weldadigheid (Agricultural pauper colonies)		Antwerp	5841; 2013; v, vi (cultural)	Together with The Netherlands. In total 7 colonies were selected for the list, among them are the colonies of Merksplas and Wortel in Belgium.
Cemeteries and memorials of the Great War*		Belgium and France	5886; 2014; iii, iv, vi (cultural)	Together with France. A total of 105 elements were selected for the list in France and Belgium. 25 sites are situated in Belgium.
Great Spas of Europe*		Spa, Liège	5932; 2014; ii, iii, iv, vi (cultural)	Collaboration with Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom. The city of Spa is selected to be part of the property.

Location of sites

Historic Centre of Brugge

La Grand Place, Brussels

Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta

Neolithic Flint Mines At Spiennes

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai

Plantin-Moretus Complex

Stoclet House

The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier

Lifts on the Canal du Centre

Location of World Heritage Sites within Belgium.^[2]

See also

• Heritage registers in Belgium
• UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists

References

External links

• World Heritage List
• UNESCO's official list of sites in Belgium