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. As of 2016, there are 12 World Heritage Sites located in the country.^[2]

World Heritage 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

Criteria; the criteria the site was listed under by the World Heritage Committee

Year; the year the site was inscribed on the World Heritage List

Description; brief description of the site

Name	Image	Location	Date	Type (Criteria)	Year	Description
Belfries of Belgium and France		Belgium, France !Belgium and Northern France	11th-17th centuries	Cultural (ii, iv)	1999, extended in 2005	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.[3]
Flemish Béguinages		Flanders !Flanders	13th century	Cultural (ii, iii, iv)	1998	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.[4]
Historic Centre of Brugge		West Flanders, Bruges !Bruges, West Flanders	12th-19th century	Cultural (ii, iv, vi)	2000	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.[5][6]
La Grand-Place, Brussels		Brussels, Brussels !Brussels, Brussels	1695-1699	Cultural (ii, iv)	1998	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).[7]
Major Mining Sites of Wallonia		Wallonia !Wallonia	19th-20th century	Cultural (ii, iv)	2012	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.[8]
Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta		Brussels, Brussels !Brussels, Brussels	19th-20th century	Cultural (i, ii, iv)	2000	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.[9]
Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes		Hainaut, Mons !Mons, Hainaut	Neolithic	Cultural (i, iii, iv)	2000	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).[10]
Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai		Hainaut, Tournai !Tournai, Hainaut	12th century	Cultural (ii, iv)	2000	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.[11]
Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Complex		Antwerp, Antwerp !Antwerp, Antwerp	16th-17th century	Cultural (ii, iii, iv, vi)	2005	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.[12]
Stoclet House		Brussels, Woluwe-St-Pierre !Woluwe-St-Pierre, Brussels	1911	Cultural (i, ii)	2009	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.[13] It was one of the most refined and luxurious private houses of the twentieth century[14] and was lavishly decorated inside, including works by the artist Gustav Klimt.[15]
The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement		Antwerp, Flanders, Antwerp !Antwerp, Antwerp	1927	Cultural (i, ii, vi)	2016	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.[16]
The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx		Hainaut !Hainaut	1888-1917	Cultural (iii, iv)	1998	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.[17]

Tentative list

In addition to 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.^[18] As of 2016, Belgium lists seventeen properties on its tentative list:^[19]

References

External links

• UNESCO's official list of sites in Belgium

World Heritage Sites in Belgium
The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier1 Belfries of Belgium and France2 Flemish Béguinages Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs Historic Centre of Brugge La Grand-Place, Brussels Major Mining Sites of Wallonia Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Complex Stoclet House
1 Listing shared with six other countries, which includes Belgium's Maison Guiette; 2 Listing shared with France.

Lists of World Heritage Sites in Europe
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