The landscape of Champagne has joined the list of World Heritage

The Committee of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided to put «Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars» into the list of world heritage.

Twenty-one members of the State Parties to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention unanimously voted for inclusion of «Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars» on the World Heritage List in the category of «Living Cultural Landscapes».

The Committee members recognized their exceptional universal value.

«A feeling of great satisfaction and collective delight! My thoughts immediately turn to all those who worked on the application, all the partners who supported this slightly crazy undertaking, and the local people whose area has just received worldwide recognition. Inclusion on the list is a form of recognition but also a responsibility to the world’s nations, so we must ensure that we are worthy of it. We are duty-bound to preserve and maintain this landscape, know-how and heritage so that we can pass it on to future generations. We have a date with history, our very own history!» - said Pierre Cheval, president of the Association «Paysages du Champagne», which has collected and managed the area’s application for eight years.

The ensemble «Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars» is not a standard vineyard landscape. It a living evidence of lands organization where from the beginning of XVIII century the special type of production and own specifics of commercial activity have begun to set up that scared the territory.