The hill forts of old Kernavė
Sand dunes of the Curonian Spit)
At the recent UNESCO meeting in South Africa, Vilnius was elected to host the 30th World Heritage Committee Meeting in
2006. At the same time Inga Marčiulionytė, Lithuanians permanent Ambassador to UNESCO, was elected as the next
chairperson of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
Vilnius Old Town behind the Dawn Gate
Since regaining its independence in 1990, Lithuania has already had four sites included in the World Heritage List -
Vilnius Historic Centre (in 1994), Curonian Spit (in 2000), Kernavė Archaeological Site (in 2004) and this year (2005) is
one of the countries sharing the listing of the Struve Geodetic Arc. The latter is a chain of triangulation stations,
established by the astronomer F.G.W. Struve in early 19th century, stretching nearly 3,000 km through 10 countries from
the mouth of the Danube in the Black Sea to Norway. It was the first attempt to accurately measure Earths dimensions and
was an important milestone in the development of earth sciences.
In addition to the World Heritage sites, the UNESCO living cultural heritage list also includes two Lithuanian items -
the craftsmanship of traditional Crosses and the tradition of choral festivals (shared with Estonia and Latvia).
Further information: http://whc.unesco.org , www.unesco.lt "Lietuvos Rytas"
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