To preserve the world’s most treasured tangible and intangible cultural monuments, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) uses strict criteria when selecting world heritage sites to be inscribed on its lists.  The UNESCO World Heritage List includes cultural assets whose uniqueness, beauty and significance for people’s lives transcends national and regional boundaries and which constitute heritage of all humanity. They are places which we inherited from our ancestors and which we carefully preserve for future generations.

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Among the carefully selected landmarks to be preserved and promoted due to their immense value for humanity, their artistic, cultural, social and historic importance, four sites in Serbia have earned the distinction of being declared UNESCO World Heritage sites.  The World Heritage List includes medieval Serbian monasteries Studenica and Stari Ras with Sopoćani, medieval Serbian monuments in Kosovo and Metohija - namely, monasteries Dečani, Patriarchite of Peć, Gračanica and church Our Lady of Ljeviš, as well as unique tombstones specific to this part of the world, known as stećci.  For more information, visit our medieval monasteries page.  The magnificent Gamzigrad / Felix Romuliana palace, a landmark from classical antiquity has also secured their place on the list. 

Three Serbian traditions found their place on the UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity: Slava - a celebration of a family patron saint’s day; Kolo - a traditional folk dance in which dancers hold hands, forming a circle and Singing to the accompaniment of the gusle.  To this day, skilled guslars sing about numerous events from national history as a symbol of national memory and a means of preserving centuries-long cultural identity.  For more information, visit our intangible cultural heritage page.

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Among numerous collections, archives, manuscripts and documents from all over the world, UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register lists documentary heritage found in Serbia’s museums and archives which corresponds to the strict selection criteria regarding significance and outstanding universal value: The Miroslav Gospel, a manuscript from 1180, the Nikola Tesla’s Archive, and the Telegram of Austria-Hungary`s declaration of war on Serbia.  For more information, visit our memory of the world page.