Talayotic Menorca has been officially inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List this September 18 during the 45th Session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), thus recognising its exceptional universal value.
This inscription also demonstrates the good conservation of the island's prehistoric heritage and the capacity of the competent administration to guarantee its integrity in the future. In this regard, it should be noted that the Consell Insular de Menorca, as the institution with jurisdiction over the island's historical heritage, has played a leading role, always with the support and advice of the Government of the Balearic Islands and the Spanish Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Sport.
"With this recognition Menorca once again occupies a prominent place on the world stage. Menorca's heritage is now recognised by UNESCO as a representative of universal values, as an example of authenticity and integrity. We are a benchmark of good management and conservation of natural and archaeological heritage. 30 years after Menorca was declared a Biosphere Reserve, the island is once again an international protagonist. Few places in the world have this double recognition from UNESCO. We can be very proud of what we are and what we have achieved," said the president of the Consell Insular de Menorca, Adolfo Vilafranca.
Menorca, World Heritage
As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Talayotic Menorca is considered the unique testimony of an island prehistoric culture with an exceptional repertoire of monuments illustrating the different stages of prehistory.
The high density of prehistoric sites, their unusual level of conservation and the unique constructions of Menorca - the funerary navetas, circular houses and taulas, together with the talayots and other structures - are considered by UNESCO to be an
exceptional example of cyclopean architecture and its evolution over 1,500 years, which represents an important source of knowledge about the life of the Talayotic people.
The declaration of Talayotic Menorca is an
outstanding contribution to the recognition of the islands on the World Heritage List, specifically with regard to their prehistory and more specifically to the Bronze and Iron Ages. This inscription fills a gap in the world's ancient island cultures, helping to forge a more representative and balanced list of world heritage.
The distinction achieved will be an incentive for the dissemination of Menorca's prehistoric heritage, which is still not sufficiently well known at an international level. On the other hand, it is hoped that the inscription will help to attract new resources for the conservation and scientific research of the vestiges of the Talayotic culture.
Chronology of the candidacy
The first steps were taken in 2009, when the Institut Menorquí d'Estudis proposed to the Consell Insular de Menorca to begin the procedures to obtain UNESCO recognition. In 2010, the plenary session of this institution unanimously approved the initiation of the process, and in 2011 the drafting of the dossier began.
In January 2013, Talayotic Menorca was inscribed on the Ministry of Cultural Affairs' Tentative List, and in 2015 it became Spain's official candidacy. In 2016 a first dossier was submitted to UNESCO, but ICOMOS recommended reformulating the document and submitting the candidacy to a new cycle of evaluation, a criterion that was ratified at the 41st World Heritage Committee, held in Krakow in 2017.
From that moment on, the process of reformulating the dossier began, following the recommendations of ICOMOS, the most important of which referred to the need to introduce landscape aspects and the creation of a specific body for the management of the properties.
The new document was submitted to UNESCO in 2021, and the inscription was to be raised at the 2022 World Heritage Committee, which was to be held in Kazan (Russia). However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to the cancellation of that meeting. After a period of uncertainty, the 45th Committee was convened in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and it is at this meeting that Talayotic Menorca has been inscribed on the World Heritage list.
Now, the
Talayotic monuments and their associated landscapes have been recognised as of today as a legacy of humanity to be preserved for future generations.