List of World Heritage Sites in Eastern Europe


The UNESCO has designated 94 World Heritage Sites in nine countries of Eastern Europe; defined here to mean the former Eastern Bloc countries not including the Baltic states or former Yugoslavia and Albania or the parts of Germany that once comprised East Germany : Russia, Belarus, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria. The uniquely positioned Caucasian countries of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan are not included here but in Western Asia, and Kazakhstan is included in Central Asia.
Russia is home to the most inscribed sites with 20 sites in Eastern Europe out of 29 sites in the whole country, two of which are transborder properties. Eight sites are shared between several countries with some of them located partially in Northern or Western Europe: the Curonian Spit, Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst, Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, Belovezhskaya Pushcha / Białowieża Forest, Fertö / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape, Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski, the Struve Geodetic Arc, and Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region. Moldova has only part of the Struve Geodetic Arc transborder site. The first sites from the region were inscribed in 1978, when Kraków's Historic Centre and the Wieliczka Salt Mine, both in Poland were chosen during the list's conception. Each year, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee may inscribe new sites on the list, or delist sites that no longer meet the criteria. Selection is based on ten criteria: six for cultural heritage and four for natural heritage. Some sites, designated "mixed sites," represent both cultural and natural heritage. In Eastern Europe, there are 69 cultural, 8 natural, and no mixed sites.
The World Heritage Committee may also specify that a site is endangered, citing "conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List." None of the sites in Eastern Europe is currently listed as endangered; two sites, Wieliczka Salt Mine and the Srebarna Nature Reserve, have formerly been listed as endangered but lost this status subsequently; possible danger listing has been considered by UNESCO in a number of cases.

Legend

World Heritage Sites

SiteImageLocationCriteriaArea
ha 		YearDescription
Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of EuropeNatural:
; buffer zone 2007Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians are used to study the spread of the beech tree in the Northern Hemisphere across a variety of environments and the environment in the forest. The addition of the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany in 2011 included five forests totaling that are added to the of Slovakian and Ukrainian beech forests inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2007. The site was further expanded in 2017 to include forests in 9 additional European countries.
Ancient City of NessebarCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 1983
Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its ChoraCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 2013
Architectural Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra in Sergiev PosadCultural:
, 		—1993This is a fine example of a working Orthodox monastery, with military features that are typical of the 15th to the 18th century, the period during which it developed. The main church of the Lavra, the Cathedral of the Assumption, contains the tomb of Boris Godunov. Among the treasures of the Lavra is the famous icon, The Trinity, by Andrei Rublev.
Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at NesvizhCultural:
,, 		—2005
Assumption Cathedral and Monastery of the town-island of SviyazhskCultural:
, 		—2017The Assumption Cathedral is located in the town-island of Sviyazhsk and is part of the monastery of the same name. Situated at the confluence of the Volga, the Sviyaga and the Shchuka rivers, at the crossroads of the Silk and Volga routes, Sviyazhsk was founded by Ivan the Terrible in 1551. It was from this outpost that he initiated the conquest of the Kazan Khanate. The cathedral's frescoes are among the rarest examples of Eastern Orthodox mural paintings.
Auschwitz Birkenau, German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp Cultural:
—1979Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was the largest of the German concentration camps, consisting of Auschwitz I ; Auschwitz II–Birkenau ; Auschwitz III–Monowitz, also known as Buna–Monowitz ; and 45 satellite camps.
Bardejov Town Conservation ReserveCultural:
, 		—2000
Belovezhskaya Pushcha / Białowieża ForestNatural:
1979
Boyana ChurchCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 1979
Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy AvenueCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 1987
Castle of the Teutonic Order in MalborkCultural:
,, 		1997The Castle in Malbork was built in Prussia by the Teutonic Knights, a German Roman Catholic religious order of crusaders, in a form of an Ordensburg fortress. The Order named it Marienburg. The town which grew around it was also named Marienburg. The castle is a classic example of a medieval fortress, and on its completion in 1406 was the world's largest brick Gothic castle.
Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak KarstNatural:
; buffer zone 1995
Centennial Hall in WrocławCultural:
,, 		; buffer zone 2006
Church of the Ascension, KolomenskoyeCultural:
—1994The Church of the Ascension was built in 1532 on the imperial estate of Kolomenskoye, near Moscow, to celebrate the birth of the prince who was to become Tsar Ivan IV. One of the earliest examples of a traditional wooden tent-roofed church on a stone and brick substructure, it had a great influence on the development of Russian ecclesiastical architecture.
Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of DerbentCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 2003The Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent were part of the northern lines of the Sasanian Persian Empire, which extended east and west of the Caspian Sea. The fortification was built in stone. It consisted of two parallel walls that formed a barrier from the seashore up to the mountain. The town of Derbent was built between these two walls, and has retained part of its medieval fabric. The site continued to be of great strategic importance until the 19th century.
Churches of MoldaviaCultural:
, 		—1993
Churches of Peace in Jawor and ŚwidnicaCultural:
,, 		; buffer zone 2001The Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica in Silesia were named after the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 which permitted the Lutherans in the Roman Catholic parts of Silesia to build three Evangelical churches from wood, loam and straw outside the city walls, without steeples and church bells. The construction time was limited to one year.
Churches of the Pskov School of ArchitectureCultural:
; buffer zone 2019
Historic Centre of KrakówCultural:
; buffer zone 1978Kraków Old Town is the historic central district of Kraków, Poland. It is one of the most famous old districts in Poland today and was the center of Poland's political life from 1038 until King Sigismund III Vasa relocated his court to Warsaw in 1596. The entire medieval old town is among the first sites chosen for the UNESCO's World Heritage List, inscribed as Kraków's Historic Centre.
Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky IslandsCultural:
1992The Solovetsky archipelago comprises six islands in the western part of the White Sea, covering 300 km2. They have been inhabited since the 5th century B.C. and important traces of a human presence from as far back as the 5th millennium B.C. can be found there. The archipelago has been the site of fervent monastic activity since the 15th century, and there are several churches dating from the 16th to the 19th century.
Curonian SpitCultural:
—2000Human habitation of this elongated sand dune peninsula, 98 km long and 0.4–4 km wide, dates back to prehistoric times. Throughout this period it has been threatened by the natural forces of wind and waves. Its survival to the present day has been made possible only as a result of ceaseless human efforts to combat the erosion of the Spit, dramatically illustrated by continuing stabilisation and reforestation projects.
Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie MountainsCultural:
,, 		—1999Sarmizegetusa Regia was the capital and the most important military, religious and political centre of the Dacians. Erected on top of a mountain, the fortress was the core of the strategic defensive system in the Orăştie Mountains, comprising six citadels. Sarmizegetusa Regia was the capital of Dacia prior to the wars with the Roman Empire.
Danube DeltaNatural:
, 		1999
Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs Cultural:
, 		2000
Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining RegionGermanySaxony, Germany and
Czech Republic


Cultural:GeOre
,, 		; buffer zone 2019The mountains in south-west Germany and north-west Czechia have been a source of metals including silver, tin and uranium beginning in the 12th century. The cultural landscape of the region was shaped by mining and smelting innovations.
Ensemble of the Ferapontov MonasteryCultural:
, 		—2000The Ferapontov Monastery, in the Vologda region in northern Russia, is an exceptionally well-preserved and complete example of a Russian Orthodox monastic complex of the 15th-17th centuries, a period of great significance in the development of the unified Russian state and its culture. The architecture of the monastery is outstanding in its inventiveness and purity. The interior is graced by the magnificent wall paintings of Dionisy, the greatest Russian artist of the end of the 15th century.
Ensemble of the Novodevichy ConventCultural:
,, 		; buffer zone 2004The Novodevichy Convent, in south-western Moscow, built in the 16th and 17th centuries in the so-called Moscow Baroque style, was part of a chain of monastic ensembles that were integrated into the defence system of the city. The convent was directly associated with the political, cultural and religious history of Russia, and closely linked to the Moscow Kremlin. It was used by women of the Tsar's family and the aristocracy. Members of the Tsar's family and entourage were also buried in its cemetery. The convent provides an example of the highest accomplishments of Russian architecture with rich interiors and an important collection of paintings and artefacts.
Fertö / Neusiedlersee Cultural LandscapeCultural:
; buffer zone 2001
Gardens and Castle at KroměřížCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 1998
Historic and Architectural Complex of the Kazan KremlinCultural:
,, 		—2000Built on an ancient site, the Kazan Kremlin dates from the Muslim period of the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate. It was conquered by Ivan the Terrible in 1552 and became the Christian See of the Volga Land. The only surviving Tatar fortress in Russia and an important place of pilgrimage, the Kazan Kremlin consists of an outstanding group of historic buildings dating from the 16th to 19th centuries, integrating remains of earlier structures of the 10th to 16th centuries.
Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of MonumentsCultural:
,,, 		—1990The 'Venice of the North', with 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, 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.
Historical Centre of the City of YaroslavlCultural:
, 		—2005Situated at the confluence of the Volga and Kotorosl Rivers some 250 km north-east of Moscow, the historic city of Yaroslavl developed into a major commercial centre from the 11th century. It is renowned for its numerous 17th-century churches and is an outstanding example of the urban planning reform Empress Catherine the Great ordered for the whole of Russia in 1763. While keeping some of its significant historic structures, the town was renovated in the neoclassical style on a radial urban master plan. It has also kept elements from the 16th century in the Spassky Monastery, one of the oldest in the Upper Volga region, built on the site of a pagan temple in the late 12th century but reconstructed over time.
Historic Centre of Český KrumlovCultural:
; buffer zone 1992
Historic Centre of PragueCultural:
,, 		; buffer zone 1992
Historic Centre of SighişoaraCultural:
, 		—1999
Historic Centre of TelčCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 1992
Historic Centre of WarsawCultural:
, 		1980Warsaw's Old Town was established in the 13th century. Initially surrounded by an earthwork rampart, prior to 1339 it was fortified with brick city walls. The town originally grew up around the castle of the Dukes of Mazovia that later became the Royal Castle. The Market Square was laid out sometime in the late 13th or early 14th century, along the main road linking the castle with the New Town to the north.
Historic Monuments of Novgorod and SurroundingsCultural:
,, 		—1992Situated on the ancient trade route between Central Asia and northern Europe, Novgorod was Russia's first capital in the 9th century. Surrounded by churches and monasteries, it was a centre for Orthodox spirituality as well as Russian architecture. Its medieval monuments and the 14th-century frescoes of Theophanes the Greek illustrate the development of its remarkable architecture and cultural creativity.
Historic Town of Banská Štiavnica and the Technical Monuments in its VicinityCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 1993
Holašovice Historical Village ReservationCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 1998
Holy Trinity Column in OlomoucCultural:
, 		2000
Hortobágy National Park – the PusztaCultural:
, 		—1999
Jewish Quarter and St Procopius' Basilica in TřebíčCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 2003
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Architectural and Park Landscape Complex and Pilgrimage ParkCultural:
, 		—1999The town is named after the religious complex founded by Governor of Kraków Mikołaj Zebrzydowski on December 1, 1602. The complex is known as the Kalwaria Zebrzydowska park. The city of Zebrzydów was established in 1617 in order to house the growing number of pilgrims visiting the religious complex.
Krzemionki Prehistoric Striped Flint Mining RegionCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 2019A Neolithic and early Bronze Age complex of flint mines for the extraction of Upper Jurassic banded flints located about eight kilometers north-east of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. It is one of the largest known complex of prehistoric flint mines in Europe together with Grimes Graves in England and Spiennes in Belgium.
Kyiv: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv-Pechersk LavraCultural:
,,, 		; buffer zone 1990Saint Sophia Cathedral was a cathedral temple of Kyiv in 1037-1299. It is an outstanding architectural monument of Kyivan Rus'. The cathedral includes an ensemble of supporting structures such as a bell tower, the House of Metropolitan, and others. Kyiv Pechersk Lavra since its foundation as the cave monastery in 1051 has been a preeminent center of the Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Eastern Europe.
Kizhi PogostCultural:
,, 		—1990The pogost of Kizhi is located on one of the many islands in Lake Onega, in Karelia. Two 18th-century wooden churches, and an octagonal clock tower, also in wood and built in 1862, can be seen there. These unusual constructions, in which carpenters created a bold visionary architecture, perpetuate an ancient model of parish space and are in harmony with the surrounding landscape.
Kremlin and Red Square, MoscowCultural:
,,, 		—1990Inextricably linked to all the most important historical and political events in Russia since the 13th century, the Kremlin was the residence of the Great Prince and also a religious centre. At the foot of its ramparts, on Red Square, St Basil's Basilica is one of the most beautiful Russian Orthodox monuments.
Kutná Hora: Historical Town Centre with the Church of St Barbara and the Cathedral of Our Lady at SedlecCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 1995
Lednice-Valtice Cultural LandscapeCultural:
,, 		1996
Levoča, Spišský Hrad and the Associated Cultural MonumentsCultural:
; buffer zone 1993
Litomyšl CastleCultural:
, 		—1999
L'viv – the Ensemble of the Historic CentreCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 1998
Madara RiderCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 1979
Medieval Town of ToruńCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 1997Toruń has many monuments of architecture beginning from the Middle Ages, including 200 military structures. The city is famous for having preserved almost intact its medieval spatial layout and many Gothic buildings, all built from brick, including monumental churches, the Town Hall and many burgher houses. In 1236, due to frequent flooding, the city was relocated to the present site of the Old Town. In 1264 the nearby New Town was founded. In 1280, the city joined the mercantile Hanseatic League, and thus became an important medieval trade centre.
Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural EnvironmentCultural:
, 		1996
Mir Castle ComplexCultural:
, 		—2000
Monastery of HorezuCultural:
; buffer zone 1993
Muskauer Park / Park MużakowskiCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 2004
Old City of ZamośćCultural:
; buffer zone 1992Jan Zamoyski commissioned the Italian architect Bernardo Morando to design the city that would be based on the anthropomorphic concept. The main distinguishing features of the Old Town have been well preserved since its establishment. It includes the regular Great Market Square of 100 x 100 meters with the splendid Townhall and so-called Armenian houses, as well as the fragments of the original fortress and fortifications, including those from the period of the Russian occupation in the 19th century
Old Village of Hollókő and its SurroundingsCultural:
1987
Pilgrimage Church of St John of Nepomuk at Zelená HoraCultural:
; buffer zone 1994
Pirin National ParkNatural:
,, 		; buffer zone 1983
Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian MetropolitansCultural:
,, 		; buffer zone 2011
Rila MonasteryCultural:
; buffer zone 1983
Rock-Hewn Churches of IvanovoCultural:
, 		1979
Srebarna Nature ReserveNatural:
; buffer zone 1983The site had been listed as endangered 1999–2003 due to the prevention of seasonal flooding and agricultural use causing a decline or disappearance of the water and passerine bird populations.
Struve Geodetic ArcCultural:
,, 		—2005The Struve Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian. This helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. It is an extraordinary example of scientific collaboration among scientists from different countries, and of collaboration between monarchs for a scientific cause. The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points. The listed site includes 34 of the original station points, with different markings, i.e. a drilled hole in rock, iron cross, cairns, or built obelisks.
Thracian Tomb of KazanlakCultural:
,, 		; buffer zone 1979
Thracian Tomb of SveshtariCultural:
, 		1985
Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural LandscapeCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 2002
Tugendhat Villa in BrnoCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 2001
Villages with Fortified Churches in TransylvaniaCultural:
; buffer zone 1993
Virgin Komi ForestsNatural:
, 		1995The Virgin Komi Forests cover 3.28 million ha of tundra and mountain tundra in the Urals, as well as one of the most extensive areas of virgin boreal forest remaining in Europe. This vast area of conifers, aspens, birches, peat bogs, rivers and natural lakes has been monitored and studied for over 50 years. It provides valuable evidence of the natural processes affecting biodiversity in the taiga.
VlkolínecCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 1993
Western CaucasusNatural:
, 		1999The Western Caucasus, extending over 275,000 ha of the extreme western end of the Caucasus mountains and located 50 km north-east of the Black Sea, is one of the few large mountain areas of Europe that has not experienced significant human impact. Its subalpine and alpine pastures have only been grazed by wild animals, and its extensive tracts of undisturbed mountain forests, extending from the lowlands to the subalpine zone, are unique in Europe. The site has a great diversity of ecosystems, with important endemic plants and wildlife, and is the place of origin and reintroduction of the mountain subspecies of the European bison.
White Monuments of Vladimir and SuzdalCultural:
,, 		—1992These two artistic centres in central Russia hold an important place in the country's architectural history. There are a number of magnificent 12th- and 13th-century public and religious buildings, above all the masterpieces of the Collegiate Church of St Demetrios and the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin.
Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt MinesCultural:
; buffer zone 1978The Wieliczka Salt Mine, located in the town of Wieliczka in southern Poland, lies within the Kraków metropolitan area. The mine continuously produced table salt from the 13th century until 2007 as one of the world's oldest operating salt mines, for most of this time span being a part of the undertaking żupy krakowskie. It is believed to be the world's 14th-oldest company. The site had been listed as endangered 1989–1998 due to a humidity problem.
Wooden Churches of MaramureşCultural:
—1999
Wooden Churches of Southern MałopolskaCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 2003The wooden church style of the region originated in the late Medieval, the late sixteenth century, and began with Gothic ornament and polychrome detail, but because they were timber construction, the structure, general form, and feeling is entirely different from the gothic architecture or Polish Gothic.
Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain AreaCultural:
, 		; buffer zone 2008
Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and UkraineCultural:
, 		—2013