List of World Heritage Sites in Albania

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. Cultural heritage consists of monuments (such as architectural works, monumental sculptures, or inscriptions), groups of buildings, and sites (including archaeological sites). Natural features (consisting of physical and biological formations), geological and physiographical formations (including habitats of threatened species of animals and plants), and natural sites which are important from the point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty, are defined as natural heritage. Albania ratified the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage on 10 July 1989, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list.

As of 2021, there are four sites in Albania inscribed on the list and further four sites on the tentative list. The first site in Albania to be added to the list was the ancient city of Butrint which was inscribed at the 16th UNESCO session in 1992. The historic centre of Gjirokastër was inscribed in 2005 as Museum-City of Gjirokastra. In 2008, the historic centre of Berat was added to the site, to form the Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastër. In 2017, the Gashi River and Rrajcë regions were listed as part of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe that is shared with 17 other countries. In 2019, the site Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region, a World Heritage Site in North Macedonia since 1979, was expanded to include the Albanian part of the coast.

World Heritage Sites

UNESCO lists sites under ten criteria; each entry must meet at least one of the criteria. Criteria i through vi are cultural, and vii through x are natural.

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. As of 2021, Albania recorded four sites on its tentative list.

See also

• Cultural heritage of Albania
• List of Intangible Cultural Heritage elements in Albania
• UNESCO Memory of the World Programme Lists

References

1. Lists of World Heritage Sites
2. World Heritage Sites by country
3. List of World Heritage in Danger
4. List of World Heritage Sites in Spain
5. List of World Heritage Sites in Croatia
6. List of World Heritage Sites in Southern Europe
7. List of World Heritage Sites by year of inscription
8. List of World Heritage Sites in Greece
9. List of World Heritage Sites in Belgium
10. List of World Heritage Sites in North Macedonia
11. List of World Heritage Sites in Eastern Europe
12. List of World Heritage Sites in Azerbaijan
13. Tourism in Albania
14. List of World Heritage Sites in Montenegro
15. List of World Heritage Sites in Western Europe
16. Albania
17. List of Intangible Cultural Heritage elements in Albania
18. Cultural heritage of Albania
19. Architecture of Albania
20. National symbols of Albania