A total of 139 First World War cemeteries and memorial sites on what was the Western Front in Belgium and France have been added to UNESCO ‘s World Heritage List. The decission to add the sites to the list was taken on Wednesday during the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee. 27 of the 139 sites are in our region, in the Westhoek area of West Flanders.
The addition of the cemeteries and memorials means that Belgian heritage now features no fewer than 16 times on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The list came about as a result of the UN’s 1972 World Heritage Convention, the aim of which is to better preserve heritage that has a unique and universal value to humanity for future generations.
Speaking about the daily sounding of the Last Post at the Menin Gate in Ieper (West Flanders) the Flemish Heritage Minister Matthias Diependaele (Nationalist) told journalists that commemorating the Great War is "a living tradition that is part of our identity”. Mr Diependaele added that "It is so important that we continue to tell the story of the First World War, a story that connects people from all over the world with each other and with our region. The large number of tourists that visit the Westhoek for the memorials every year shows that we are telling a universal story. Flanders is putting itself on the map with this message of peace".