Experts will conduct a preliminary assessment for the inclusion of the Brest Fortress in the UNESCO World Heritage List

Documents were submitted for a preliminary assessment of the nomination for the inclusion of the Brest Hero Fortress memorial complex in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Belta writes about it.

The Ministries of Culture of Belarus and Russia have been working together since 2023 to include the sites in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The parties are preparing an application for the transnational serial nomination “Memorials to the Heroes of the Great Patriotic War: Brest Fortress and Mamaev Kurgan”. The procedure involves several stages, which are associated with the preparation of documentation and argumentation about objects that they are unique to the whole world and have universal value for world history.

In 2024, Brest Fortress was included in the preliminary list, and specialists began preparing documents for the evaluation of objects by UNESCO experts. Materials submitted in September by the Ministry of Culture of Belarus. The documents are now in the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. The fact is that the consideration does not go quickly. It is expected to begin in October. Following the review, consultations will be held with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Experts will assess the prospects for further development of the nomination, the memorial complex explained.

Brest residents worked closely with colleagues from the historical and memorial complex "Battle of Stalingrad" in Volgograd, employees of the Russian Research Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage named after D. S. Likhachev.

“We await a response after consideration. We hope that our documents are written in accordance with the requirements. The criteria that are exhibited are very clearly limited, even by the number of printed symbols and illustrations. We hope to receive recommendations for further work. If all goes well, the next stages envisage the direct arrival of UNESCO experts and their work at the sites of memorials, as well as writing a nomination dossier, the Brest Fortress said.

The path to inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List takes several years. At each stage, applicants are given a specific task to perform. International experts approach the assessment scrupulously.

About 700,000 people visited Brest Fortress this year. In addition to Belarusians, representatives of 43 countries visited the legendary Citadel above the Bug. Its history, monuments and museums were met by residents of the post-Soviet countries, citizens of Great Britain, Ghana, Germany, Greece, Israel, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Cuba, Romania, China, North Korea, Republic of Korea, Laos, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Nepal, Pakistan, Portugal, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, USA, Turkey, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, Estonia. Resurgent from ruins. Memorial "Brest fortress-hero" - 55 years