France: 'Nice, the beautiful' city receives UNESCO's World Heritage Site tag

The french city Nice has been added to the UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list by the UN’s cultural wing on Tuesday. The decision came under UNESCO’s continuous efforts to preserve the world’s culturally historic sites. UNESCO on its official Twitter handle declared the inscription of the Nice city, also known as the winter resort town of the Riviera, France in the world heritage site list. The city has been nicknamed, ‘Nice, the beautiful’ by the European aristocrats from the 18th century for its beauty.

The French city is known for its mild climate and beautiful tourist destinations. The city has now joined the list with France's more than 40 world heritage sites, which include the Mont Saint Michel and the banks of the river Seine in Paris, the Amiens cathedral, and stretches of the Loire valley. On the announcement, the mayor of the city, Christian Estrosi said that the history of Nice is open as well as deeply rooted at the same time. It has Mediterranean, Alpine as well as European and cosmopolitan architecture. He further described the landscape of the city as, ‘unique’ and a model for many other cities.

The greater Nice has a population of over one million and is the second biggest city on the French- Mediterranean coast, Marseille is the most populous city. However, France stands at the fifth spot in terms of population. The city is the first choice of tourists and travellers and records more than several million visitors per year. It has one of the busiest airports in France.

Dholavira, the centre of the Harappan Civilization in India also receives the World heritage site tag

Earlier on Tuesday, the UN cultural body also declared the ancient city of Dholavira, the southern centre of the Harappan Civilization in India as a World Heritage Site. With this addition, India’s total number of World Heritage sites has raised to 40. Following the announcement, UNESCO had informed that Dholavira’s water management system, multi-layered defensive mechanisms, extensive use of stone in construction, and special burial structures set the ancient city apart from other cultural sites.
The UN cultural agency said in a statement, “The ancient city of Dholavira is one of the most remarkable and well-preserved urban settlements in South Asia dating from the 3rd to mid-2nd millennium BCE (Before Common Era)". Earlier, the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO had given India a new world heritage site in the form of the Rudreswara/Ramappa Temple in Telangana, which dates back to the 13th century.
Image: Twitter/@UNESCO