Palestine Church may enter UNESCO list

The 2012 World Heritage Committee is to assess the Palestinians’ suggested site in its meetings that kicked off on June 24 and will run until July 6.

The Church of the Nativity, located in Bethlehem, is one of the oldest operating churches in the world and believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.

The first basilica was built in 327 under Emperor Constantine, thereafter, the structure was destroyed in a fire and the current basilica was rebuilt in 565 under Emperor Justinian I.

If approved, the site would be listed as the “Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem.”

About 33 sites, from among 936 places in 153 countries, have been nominated to be reviewed at this year’s meeting of the World Heritage Committee of 22 experts in St. Petersburg, Russia.

World Heritage site is a title that is given to the locations, which have “outstanding universal value” to all of humanity, according to the UNESCO description.

“We must keep in mind the indisputable reality that the outstanding universal value of World Heritage sites is based on local values, local experience and most importantly on local conservation efforts,” World Heritage Committee chairperson Eleonora Valentinovna Mitrofanova said during the opening ceremony of the event on June 24, 2012.

FGP/PKH

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