| Every nation must cherish its culture, history and traditions and pass them on to new generations. This is the essence of heritage, which is indispensable for understanding the present and planning the future. Our cultural and natural heritage is constantly threatened with destruction by natural forces and social and economic change. There are cultural and natural assets of purely local interest, and there are those that are of world-wide importance, because they are unique.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) took the decision in 1972 to protect and preserve unaltered these places of exceptional interest. It was at this time that the World Heritage Committee was formed and its list of protected sites inaugurated. This now contains some 650 World Heritage Sites. The original two categories - cultural and natural heritage - were supplemented first by the mixed and then by the cultural landscape categories. This category applies where there is a close link between culture and the natural environment, and where together they form an asset worthy of protection. The member countries themselves decide which sites they want to nominate for the World Heritage list, and the Committee makes the decision on the basis of the recommendations.
Hungary is proud to have 8 places considered special enough to be included on the list of exceptional and universally important sites. This section is intended to help you find these places and get to know them. We describe their characteristics in the order they appeared on the list, showing the year of inclusion. We also provide a short introduction to those four sites that have been proposed for later inclusion. A further 13 nominations are in preparation and, for the sake of completeness, we have listed these also
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