World Heritage Identification Number: 208
World Heritage since: 2003
Category: Cultural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: Yes
Country: 🇦🇫 Afghanistan
Continent: Asia
UNESCO World Region: Asia and the Pacific
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Exploring the Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley
The Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, offer a unique insight into the rich cultural history of ancient Bakhtria, spanning from the 1st to the 13th centuries. This valley, located approximately 130 kilometers (81 miles) northwest of Kabul at an elevation of 2,500 meters (8,200 feet), serves as a testament to the integration of various cultural influences within the Gandhara school of Buddhist art.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley represent the artistic and religious developments which from the 1st to the 13th centuries characterized ancient Bakhtria, integrating various cultural influences into the Gandhara school of Buddhist art. The area contains numerous Buddhist monastic ensembles and sanctuaries, as well as fortified edifices from the Islamic period. The site is also testimony to the tragic destruction by the Taliban of the two standing Buddha statues, which shook the world in March 2001.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (i): The Buddha statues and the cave art in Bamiyan Valley are an outstanding representation of the Gandharan school in Buddhist art in the Central Asian region.
Criterion (ii) : The artistic and architectural remains of Bamiyan Valley, and an important Buddhist centre on the Silk Road, are an exceptional testimony to the interchange of Indian, Hellenistic, Roman, Sasanian influences as the basis for the development of a particular artistic expression in the Gandharan school. To this can be added the Islamic influence in a later period.
Criterion (iii): The Bamiyan Valley bears an exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition in the Central Asian region, which has disappeared.
Criterion (iv): The Bamiyan Valley is an outstanding example of a cultural landscape which illustrates a significant period in Buddhism.
Criterion (vi): The Bamiyan Valley is the most monumental expression of the western Buddhism. It was an important centre of pilgrimage over many centuries. Due to their symbolic values, the monuments have suffered at different times of their existence, including the deliberate destruction in 2001, which shook the whole world.
Encyclopedia Record: Buddhas of Bamiyan
The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two monumental Buddhist Reliefs in the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan, carved possibly around the 6th-century. Located 130 kilometres (81 mi) to the northwest of Kabul, at an elevation of 2,500 metres (8,200 ft), carbon dating of the structural components of the Buddhas has determined that the smaller 38 m (125 ft) "Eastern Buddha" was built around 570 CE, and the larger 55 m (180 ft) "Western Buddha" was built around 618 CE, which would date both to the time when the Hephthalites ruled the region.Additional Site Details
Area: 158.9265 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
(vi) — Directly associated with events or living traditions
Coordinates: 34.84694 , 67.82525
