Fortress As A World Heritage

On the occasion of this special exhibition titled Leading Fortresses of the World, which is being held to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the Inscription of Namhansanseong as a UNESCO World Heritage, we have displayed the materials about twenty-two world heritage sites that we used for comparative research while pursuing the inscription of the fortress as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 

Our analysis of these sites has helped us to establish the value of Namhansanseong as a world heritage site and lay the groundwork for our research into major sites around the world that have been rehabilitated, after being placed at great risk of destruction by war and natural disasters, and selected as outstanding examples of restoration and preservation efforts.  

 

As a result of our efforts, Namhansanseong was successfully registered as a UNESCO World Heritage in 2014 in recognition of its outstanding universal value.

 

As such, we are very pleased to hold be able to hold this special event as a way of presenting and maximizing the results of our research. The number of world heritage sites about which relevant materials are displayed at this exhibition comes to twenty-three in total, including seven in Asia, four in the Middle East, eleven in Europe, and one in South America.

 

Visitors to the exhibition will surely have the pleasure of discovering the originality of these marvellous world heritage sites, including Namhansanseong, and the harmonious way in which they blend in with their beautiful natural surroundings.

 

We at the Namhansanseong Culture & Tourist Initiatives will continue striving to protect the fortress as a cultural heritage, to enhance its value, and to conduct educational programs that exploit the cultural heritage in an intelligent and effective manner.

Located 25km southeast of downtown Seoul, Namhansanseong was originally built as a defense structure. During the Joseon Period (1392-1910), diverse facilities were built here and the walls were expanded to transform it into a temporary capital for use in the event of an emergency. The structure incorporated all the concepts of military defense engineering available at that time, including the castle systems of China and Japan, as the techniques for building castles and fortresses were changing with the adoption of firearms from the West. Since then it has served as a defense facility for the areas close to Seoul, and people have continued to live within the area. Traces of former military, civilian, and religious facilities can still be seen there.

Criterion (ⅱ): The design and construction of Namhansanseong incorporated all the military defense engineering concepts available in Southeast Asia in the seventeenth century. The fortress was built in consideration of the new threat posed by the adoption of firearms from western countries, based on a review of the castle systems of Korea and China. The construction of the fortress was an important turning point in fortress design in Korea.

Criterion (ⅳ): Namhansanseong is a good example of a fortified city. The installation of facilities to enable the fortress to be used as a temporary capital in the event of an emergency was carried out by Buddhist monks in the seventeenth century. The defense of the fortress was also assumed by them.

Country: Republic of Korea Location: Extending across Gwangju, Seongnam, and Hanam, Gyeonggi-do Coordinates: N 37° 28′ 44″, E 127° 10′ 52″ Inscription year: 2014 Inscription criteria: ⅱ, ⅳ

The Great Wall of China is a vast defense facility whose construction was begun during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang to defend the country against invasion by northern tribes, and continued right up until the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Universally recognized as one of the grandest military facilities in the world, it is a superb architectural heritage, in addition to being a historically and strategically important defense facility.

Criterion (ⅰ): Completed during the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall of China is an architectural masterpiece of magnificent scale. It is said to be the only manmade structure on the Earth that can be observed from the Moon. It is a perfect architecture that blends in with its natural surroundings.

Criterion (ⅱ): During the Spring and Autumn period, the Chinese built a defensive wall along the country’s northern border, establishing their own methods of construction and spatial structures. China’s expansion became even more conspicuous due to the mass mobilization and movement of people for the construction work.

Criterion (ⅲ): The Great Wall is a living testament to the civilization of ancient China. During the Western Han Dynasty, a part of the Wall in Gansu Province was built by means of soil compaction, which is acclaimed as a unique yet universal method of construction.

Criterion (ⅳ): The Great Wall of China is a complex and encompassing cultural asset built over a long period of time. It is a military structure that has been preserved and maintained for over 2,000 years purely for its defensive purpose. It shows that the skills used in its construction continued to develop amid changes in defense tactics and the political situation.

Criterion (ⅵ):The Great Wall of China has become the most important and symbolic structure in the country’s history. The main purpose of the Wall was to fend off hostile forces and protect Chinese culture from invaders. Diverse stories about the people who were mobilized for the Wall’s construction are contained in Yinma Changcheng Kuhang (飮馬長城窟行) written by Chen Lin in about 200 AD, the poems of Du Fu (712~770), and novels written during the Ming Dynasty.

Country: China Location: Extending across Liaoning, Jilin, Hebei Provinces Coordinates: N 40° 25′ 0.012″, E 116° 4′59.988″ Inscription year: 1987 Inscription criteria: ⅰ, ⅱ, ⅲ, ⅳ, ⅵ

Macao, which came under the control of Portugal in the mid-sixteenth century, was returned to China in 1999. The Historic Centre of Macao, which is packed with many Portuguese and Chinese-style religious and public buildings, is the place where the local inhabitants had their first contact with Westerners. The area displays numerous traces of the country’s exchanges of culture, architecture, and technologies with western countries. Leading landmarks of the area are a lighthouse and Guia Fortress, which is one of the oldest forts in China.

Criterion (ⅱ): Macao is an area in which exchanges took place between China and Portugal over several centuries in the areas of culture, science, technology, art, and architecture under the special relationship established between the two countries.

Criterion (ⅲ): Macao is an area that has witnessed exchanges between China and western countries since the sixteenth century as a center of activity for trading businesses, missionaries, and scholars engaging in diverse academic disciplines. Traces of those exchanges can be seen in culture conversion featuring the core part of the center.

Criterion (ⅳ): Macao is a fine example of an architectural heritage bearing testimony to the encounter between Chinese and western civilizations that took place over a period of more than 450 years. Former sea routes linking Macao with cities in Portugal attest to this heritage.

Criterion (ⅵ): Macao has long served as a channel for exchanges of culture, religion, science, and technology developed in China and Western countries. Philosophies developed through this process have played a decisive role in pushing ahead with changes in China, including the establishment of an early modern republic.

Country: China Location: Macao Special Administrative Region Coordinates: N 22° 11′ 28.651″, E 113° 32′ 11.26″ Inscription year: 2005 Inscription criteria: ⅱ, ⅲ, ⅳ, ⅵ

The Old Town of Lijiang is perfectly adapted to the uneven topography of the area, and has become a key commercial and strategic site. One of its most features is an ancient water-supply system that still functions effectively today. The town displays great universal value and authenticity. Its architecture is noteworthy for the blending of elements from several cultures that have come together over many centuries.

Country: China Location: Old Town of Lijiang Coordinates: N 37° 45′ 1″, E 4° 46′ 47″ Inscription year: 1997 Inscription criteria: ⅱ, ⅳ, ⅴ

Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in Southeast Asia. Extending over some 400 km2, including a densely forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the ninth to the fifteenth century, including the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple.

Criterion (ⅰ): The Angkor complex represents the entire spectrum of Khmer art from the ninth to the fourteenth centuries, and includes a number of indisputable artistic masterpieces (e.g. Angkor Wat, Bayon Temple, and Banteay Srei).

Criterion (ⅱ): The Khmer art developed at Angkor had a profound influence over much of Southeast Asia and played a fundamental role in its distinctive evolution.

Criterion (ⅲ): The Khmer Empire of the ninth to the fourteenth centuries encompassed much of Southeast Asia and played a formative role in the political and cultural development of the region.

Criterion (ⅳ): Khmer architecture evolved largely from that of the Indian subcontinent, from which it soon became clearly distinct as it developed its own special characteristics, some independently evolved and others acquired from neighboring cultural traditions. The result was a new artistic horizon in oriental art and architecture.

Country: Cambodia Location: Siem Reap Province Coordinates: N 13° 25′ 60″, E 103° 49′ 60″ Inscription year: 1992 Inscription Criteria: ⅰ, ⅱ, ⅲ, ⅳ

St. Petersburg, dubbed the 'Venice of the North' due to its numerous canals and more than 400 bridges, is the result of a vast urban project begun in 1703 under Peter the Great. Later known as Leningrad (in the former USSR), the city is closely associated with the October Revolution. Its architectural heritage reconciles the very different Baroque and pure neoclassical styles, as can be seen in the Admiralty, the Winter Palace, the Marble Palace and the Hermitage.

Criterion (ⅰ): In the field of urban design, Saint Petersburg represents a unique artistic achievement in the sheer ambition of the program, the coherency of the plan, and the speed of its execution. From 1703 to 1725, Peter the Great raised – from a landscape of marshes, peat bogs and rocks – architectural styles in stone and marble for his capital, Saint Petersburg, which he wished to be the most beautiful city in all of Europe.

Criterion (ⅱ): The ensembles designed in Saint Petersburg and the surrounding area by Rastrelli, Vallin de la Mothe, Cameron, Rinaldi, Zakharov, Voronikhine, Rossi, Montferrand and others exerted great influence on the development of architecture and monumental arts in Russia and Finland in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Criterion (ⅳ): The palaces of Peterhof (Petrodvorets) and Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin), which were restored following their destruction during the Second World War, figure among the city’s most significant constructions.

Criterion (ⅵ): Saint Petersburg was twice directly and tangibly associated with events of universal significance. The construction of Saint Petersburg, between 1703 and 1725, symbolizes the opening of Russia to the western world and the emergence of the empire of the Tsars on the international scene. The Bolshevik Revolution triumphed in Petrograd in 1917 (the city had been renamed in 1914).

Country: Russian Federation Location: Saint Petersburg Coordinates: N 59° 57′ 0″, E 30° 19′ 5.988″ Inscription year: 1990 Inscription criteria: ⅰ, ⅱ, ⅳ, ⅵ

Itchan Kala is the inner town (protected by brick walls some 10 m high) of the old Khiva oasis, which was the last watering hole for caravans before crossing the desert to Iran. Although few very old monuments remain, it is a coherent and well-preserved example of the Muslim architecture of Central Asia.

There are several outstanding structures such as the Djuma Mosque, and the mausoleums, madrasas and two magnificent palaces built at the beginning of the nineteenth century by Alla-Kulli-Khan.

Criterion (ⅲ): With the coherent and well-preserved urban ensemble of the inner town of Khiva, Itchan Kala bears exceptional testimony to the lost civilizations of Khorezm.

Criterion (ⅳ): Several monuments of Itchan Kala constitute remarkable and unique types of architectural ensembles, built according to the ancient traditions of Central Asia. The attributes are outstanding examples of Islamic architecture of Central Asia. The Djuma Mosque, with its covered courtyard designed for the rugged climate of Central Asia, is unique in its proportions and the dimensions of its inner structure (55m x 46m), faintly lit by two octagonal lanterns and adorned with 212 columns. The madrasahs making up the social areas boast majestic proportions with simple decoration, forming another type of Islamic architecture specific to Central Asia.

Criterion (ⅴ): The traditional domestic architecture of Khiva represents an important example of human settlements in Central Asia by virtue of its design and construction. Its enclosed houses, with their courtyard, reception room with portico or avian supported by delicately sculptured wooden posts, and private apartments, are also an important attribute of the site that can be studied from the perspective of its eighteenth- and twentieth-century morphological variants.

Country: Uzbekistan Location: Khiva, Khorezm Province Coordinates: N 41° 22′ 41.988″, E 60° 21′ 50.004″ Inscription year: 1990 Inscription criteria: ⅲ, ⅳ, ⅴ

The oasis of Bahla owes its prosperity to the Banu Nebhan, the dominant tribe in the area from the twelfth to the end of the fifteenth century. The ruins of the immense fort, with its walls and towers of unbaked brick and its stone foundations, constitute a remarkable example of this type of fortification and attest to the power of the Banu Nebhan.

Criterion (ⅳ): The Bahla Fort and the oasis settlement with its perimeter fortification are an outstanding example of a type of defensive architectural ensemble that enabled dominant tribes to achieve prosperity in Oman and the Arabian Peninsula during the late medieval period.

Country: Oman Location: Oasis of Bahla, 25 km west of Nazwa Coordinates: N 22° 57′ 51.012″, E 57° 18′ 3.996″ Inscription year: 1987 Inscription Criterion: ⅳ

Tels (prehistoric settlement mounds) are characteristic of the flatter lands of the eastern Mediterranean, particularly Lebanon, Syria, Israel and eastern Turkey. Of the more than 200 tels found in Israel, Megiddo, Hazor and Beer Sheba are representative of those that contain substantial remains of cities with biblical connections. The three tels also present some of the best examples in the Levant of the elaborate Iron Age underground water-collection systems created to serve dense urban communities. Surviving traces of their construction over the millennia reflect the existence of a centralized authority, prosperous agricultural activity, and the control of important trade routes

Criterion (ⅱ): The three tels represent an interchange of human values throughout the ancient Near East, forged through extensive trade routes and alliances with other states, and manifest in building styles which merged Egyptian, Syrian and Aegean influences to create a distinctive local style.

Criterion (ⅲ): The three tels are a testimony to a civilization that disappeared long ago - that of the Canaanite cities of the Bronze Age and the biblical cities of the Iron Age – but which continues to manifest itself in their expressions of creativity with regard to town planning, fortifications, palaces, and water collection technologies.

Criterion (ⅳ): The Biblical cities reflect the key stages of urban development in the Levant, which exerted a powerful influence on the later history of the region.

Criterion (ⅵ): The three tels are mentioned in the Bible, and thus constitute a religious and spiritual testimony of Outstanding Universal Value.

Country: Israel Location: Megiddo, Hazor and Beer Sheba Coordinates: N 32° 35′ 49.992″, E 35° 10′ 55.992″ Inscription year: 2005 Inscription criteria: ⅱ, ⅲ, ⅳ, ⅵ

The 'Pearl of the Adriatic', situated on the Dalmatian coast, became main port of an important Mediterranean sea power from the thirteenth century onwards. Although severely damaged by an earthquake in 1667, Dubrovnik managed to preserve its beautiful Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque churches, monasteries, palaces and fountains. Damaged again in the 1990s by armed conflict, it is now the focus of a major restoration program coordinated by UNESCO.

As a fortified city, Dubrovnik retains a medieval-style castle wall, streets, plaza, impressive public and religious buildings, and private houses. Dubrovnik is deemed to have outstanding value in consideration of its urban, cultural, and historical messages, in addition to the unique artistic value of its buildings.

Country: Croatia Location: County of Dubrovnik-Neretva Coordinates: N 42° 39′ 2.016″, E 18° 5′ 29.004″ Inscription year: 1994 Inscription Criteria: ⅰ, ⅲ, ⅳ

The origins of Tallinn date back to the thirteenth century, when a castle was built there by the crusading knights of the Teutonic Order. It developed as a major centre of the Hanseatic League, and its wealth is demonstrated by the opulence of the public buildings (the churches in particular) and the domestic architecture of the merchants' houses, which have survived to a remarkable degree despite the ravages of fire and war in the intervening centuries.

Criteria (ⅱ), (ⅳ): The town plan and the buildings within it constitute a remarkable example of a well-preserved medieval trading center and an economic/social community with its own unique style.

Country: Estonia Location: County of Harju Coordinates: N59 25 59.988, E24 43 60 Inscription year: 1997 (revised in 2008) Inscription criteria: ⅱ, ⅳ

Budapest contains the remains of such monuments as the Roman city of Aquincum and the Gothic castle of Buda, which have had a considerable influence on the architecture of various periods. It is one of the world's outstanding urban landscapes and illustrates the great periods in the history of the Hungarian capital.

Criterion (ⅱ): While Aquincum played a crucial role in the diffusion of Roman architectural forms in Pannonia, then in Dacia, Buda Castle played an essential part in the diffusion of Gothic art in the Magyar region from the fourteenth century. During the reign of Matthias Corvinus, Buda became an artistic center comparable, due to its influence, to that of Cracow, which was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage in 1978.

Criterion (ⅳ): Buda Castle is an architectural ensemble which, together with the nearby old district (the Buda Castle Quarter), illustrates two significant periods of history which were separated by an interval corresponding to the Turkish invasion. The Parliament is also an outstanding example of a great official building on a par with those of London, Munich, Vienna and Athens, exemplifying the eclectic architecture of the 19th century while symbolizing the political function of the second capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Country: Hungary Location: Budapest Coordinates: N47 28 56.712, E19 4 14.412 Inscription year: 1987 (expanded in 2002) Inscription criteria: ⅱ, ⅳ

Situated on the banks of the Vltava River, the town was built around a thirteenth-century castle with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements. Český Krumlov is an outstanding example of a small central European medieval town whose architectural heritage has remained intact thanks to its peaceful evolution over more than five centuries.

Criterion (ⅳ): Český Krumlov was an economically important city for about five centuries. It has stood out among small cities in Europe since the Middle Ages, thanks to its many historically valuable buildings. It displays a well-developed urban infrastructure of a city located in the basin of the beautiful Vltava River.

Country: Czech Republic Location: South Bohemian Region Coordinates: N48 49 0, E14 19 0 Inscription year: 1992 Inscription criterion: ⅳ

At its height the Roman Empire extended into three continents. Its borders reflected the waxing and waning of Roman power over more than one millennium. The Limes Germanicus (Latin for ‘Germanic frontier’) was a defensive wall built to defend the Roman Empire from Germanic tribes in the period 83-260 AD. The emperor Augustus started building forts along the border after the catastrophic defeat of three Roman legions at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 BC. However, it is now thought that the Limes Germanicus was not intended as a defensive structure against Germanic tribes, but rather as a mean of controlling the movements of ordinary people or tradespeople.

Criterion (ⅱ): Hadrian’s Wall exerted great influence on the formation of the border in Britain for about 300 years. The border now forms part of the area between the Tyne and Solway rivers.

Criterion (ⅲ): This military area is a good example of a large Roman outpost established in conquered territory. Small civilian settlements in Chesterholm, Vindolanda were used as places of residence for soldiers and their families rather than as fortified trenches in peacetime.

Criterion (ⅳ): Hadrian’s Wall is a good example of a fortified border. It shows an ambitious and consistent defense system of the Roman Empire made perfect by engineers for generations. This cultural heritage is undoubtedly a good referential material with universal value in many respects, including military architectural technique, strategic design in a monarchical period, land use in a border area, and spatial organization-related policy.

Country: Germany Location: Saalburg Coordinates: N54 59 33.4 W2 36 3.6 50°16 '18.8"N 8°33'59.6"E Inscription year: 1987 (2005; 2008) Inscription criteria: ⅱ, ⅲ, ⅳ

Owing to its strategic position, Luxembourg was, from the sixteenth century until 1867, when its walls were dismantled, one of Europe's greatest fortified sites. It was repeatedly reinforced as it passed from one great European power to another: the Holy Roman Emperors, the House of Burgundy, the Habsburgs, the French and Spanish kings, and finally the Prussians. Until their partial demolition, the fortifications were a fine example of military architecture for centuries.

Criterion (ⅳ): Fortified cities in Luxembourg such as this played an important role in European history for centuries. Important historic sites like remarkable forts set against a natural background and old quarters have been preserved in good condition.

Country: Luxembourg Location: Luxembourg Coordinates: N49 36 36, E6 7 59.988 Inscription year: 1994 Inscription criterion: ⅳ

The Fortifications of Vauban consist of twelve groups of fortified buildings and sites along the western, northern and eastern border of France. They represent the finest examples of the work of Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707), a military engineer of King Louis XIV. The serial property includes towns built from scratch by Vauban, citadels, urban bastion walls and bastion towers. There are also mountain forts, sea forts, a mountain battery and two mountain communication structures. This property is inscribed as bearing witness to the peak of classical fortifications, typical of western military architecture. Vauban also played a major role in the history of fortification in Europe and on other continents until the mid-nineteenth century.

Criterion (ⅰ): Vauban’s work bears witness to the peak of classic bastioned fortifications, typical of western military architecture of modern times..

Criterion (ⅱ): Vauban played a major role in the history of fortification. The many imitations of his standard models of military buildings in Europe and on the American continent, and the dissemination in Russian and Turkish of his theoretical thinking, along with the use of the forms of his fortification as a model for fortresses in the Far East, bear witness to the universality of his work.

Criterion (ⅳ): Vauban’s work illustrates a significant period of human history. It is a work of the mind applied to military strategy, architecture and construction, civil engineering, and economic and social organization.

Country: France Location: Vauban Coordinates: N50 16 57, E2 45 32 Inscription year: 2008 Inscription criteria: ⅰ, ⅱ, ⅳ

Built by the Moors in a defensive position at the heart of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Cuenca is an unusually well-preserved medieval fortified city. Conquered by the Castilians in the twelfth century, it became a royal town and bishopric endowed with important buildings, such as Spain's first Gothic cathedral, and the famous casas colgadas (hanging houses), suspended from sheer cliffs overlooking the Huécar River. Taking full advantage of its location, the city towers above the magnificent countryside.

Criteria (ⅱ), (ⅲ): The site has preserved its original townscape remarkably intact along with many excellent examples of religious and secular architecture from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries. It is also exceptional because the walled town blends into and enhances the fine rural and natural landscape within which it is situated.

Country: Spain Location: Autonomous Community of Castile-La Mancha Coordinates: N 39° 52′ 0.8″, W 4° 1′ 45.9” Inscription year: 1986 Inscription Criteria: ⅱ, ⅲ

Córdoba's period of greatest glory began in the eighth century after the Moorish conquest, when some 300 mosques and innumerable palaces and public buildings were built to rival the splendours of Constantinople, Damascus and Baghdad. They are defensive structures of the city, particularly the Torre Fortaleza de la Calahorra and the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, are famous.

Country: Spain Location: Autonomous Community of Andalusia Coordinates: N37 52 45.1 W4 46 47 Inscription year: 1984 (expanded in 1994) Inscription Criteria: ⅰ, ⅱ, ⅲ, ⅳ

The site, extensively fortified from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, represents the largest bulwarked dry-ditch system in the world. Within its walls, the town contains barracks and other military buildings as well as churches and monasteries. While Elvas contains remains dating back to the tenth century AD, its fortification began when Portugal regained its independence in 1640. The fortifications designed by the Dutch Jesuit padre Cosmander represent the best surviving example of the Dutch school of fortifications anywhere. The site also contains the Amoreira aqueduct, built to enable the stronghold to withstand lengthy sieges.

Criterion (ⅳ): Elvas is an outstanding example of a garrison town and its dry-ditched bulwarked defense system, which developed in response to disruptions in the balance of power within seventeenth-century Europe. Elvas can thus be seen as representing the universal aspiration for autonomy and land shared by European nation states in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Country: Portugal Location: Elvas (revised) Coordinates: N38 52 50.23, W7 9 47.96 Inscription year: 2012 Inscription Criterion: ⅳ