World Heritage Identification Number: 1091
World Heritage since: 2004
Category: Cultural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇰🇵 Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Continent: Asia
UNESCO World Region: Asia and the Pacific
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The Complex of Koguryo Tombs: A Unique Testimony to Ancient Korean Culture
The Complex of Koguryo Tombs, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, offers a captivating glimpse into the rich cultural heritage of ancient Korea. Located primarily in the cities of Pyongyang and Nampo, this significant archaeological site is home to approximately 30 individual tombs that date back to the later period of the Koguryo Kingdom (3rd century BC to 7th century AD).
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The property includes several group and individual tombs - totalling about 30 individual tombs - from the later period of the Koguryo Kingdom, one of the strongest kingdoms in nowadays northeast China and half of the Korean peninsula between the 3rd century BC to 7th century AD. The tombs, many with beautiful wall paintings, are almost the only remains of this culture. Only about 90 out of more than 10,000 Koguryo tombs discovered in China and Korea so far, have wall paintings. Almost half of these tombs are located on this site and they are thought to have been made for the burial of kings, members of the royal family and the aristocracy. These paintings offer a unique testimony to daily life of this period.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (i): The wall paintings of the Koguryo Tombs are masterpieces of the culture and period of the Koguryo kingdom; the construction of the tombs demonstrates ingenious engineering solutions.
Criterion (ii): The special burial customs of the Koguryo culture had an important influence on other cultures in the region, including those in Japan.
Criterion (iii): The Koguryo Tombs are an exceptional testimony of the Koguryo culture, its burial customs as well as its daily life and beliefs.
Criterion (iv): The complex of Koguryo Tombs is an important example of burial typology.
Encyclopedia Record: Goguryeo tombs
Goguryeo tombs, officially designated as the Complex of Koguryo Tombs, are tombs in North Korea. In July 2004, they became the first UNESCO World Heritage site in the country. The site consists of 30 individual tombs from the later Goguryeo kingdom, one of Three Kingdoms of Korea, located in the cities of P'yŏngyang and Namp'o. Goguryeo was one of the strongest ancient Korean kingdoms located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Manchuria. The kingdom was founded in the present day area of North Korea, and part of Manchuria around 37 BCE, and the capital was transferred to P'yŏngyang in 427 CE.Additional Site Details
Area: 234.73 hectares
(ii) — Significant interchange of human values
(iii) — Unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
Coordinates: 38.86305556 , 125.415
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Unknown author, Public domain
