Armenia's Areni-1 Cave added to UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

Armenia's nomination of the Areni-1 Cave: Prehistoric Life and Winemaking in the Arpa River Valley has been added to UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List, the country's Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports reported on Friday.

The decision was announced during the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, taking place in Busan, South Korea, from July 19 to July 29. Armenia is participating in the session as a committee member for the first time.

According to the ministry, Armenia's delegation is headed by its Permanent Representative to UNESCO Aram Hakobyan and includes Harutyun Vanyan, head of the ministry's Department for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, along with five national experts.

The ministry said the nomination was prepared through cooperation between the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the Areni-1 Cave Research Foundation and the Armenian Enotourism Council, under a previously signed memorandum of understanding. The project was financed by the Armenian Enotourism Council, which the ministry described as another successful example of public-private partnership.

The newly inscribed nomination, along with Armenia's previously registered submissions, is available on UNESCO's website.

With the addition of the Areni-1 Cave nomination, Armenia has expanded the number of sites on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List by four over the past three years, bringing the total to eight, including the four sites first registered in 1995.