site.btaKazanlak Municipality Mayor Galina Stoyanova Outlines Initiative to Include Additional Valley of the Thracian Kings Tombs on UNESCO List

Kazanlak is preparing to have eight more tombs from the Valley of the Thracian Kings added to the UNESCO list alongside the Kazanlak Tomb, Kazanlak Municipality Mayor Galina Stoyanova said at the launch of the new issue of LIK magazine Bulgaria in UNESCO. 

These tombs have been conserved, integrated into the local community, and are visited by tourists, and will form an additional ensemble to the Kazanlak Thracian Tomb, she said. 

The municipality is working with the Ministry of Culture and local stakeholders so that after being entered in the national list, the tombs may also be included in the UNESCO list.

Stoyanova expressed appreciation for the opportunity to return to Paris after 2015, when artefacts from the Kazanlak Thracian tombs were displayed in the Louvre as part of the national Thracian culture exhibition. She noted that now, a decade later, Kazanlak and the Kazanlak Tomb are at the centre of the 47th session of UNESCO, over which Bulgaria is presiding.

She recalled that the tomb was discovered in 1944 and is among the first Bulgarian monuments to have been inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1979. Stoyanova pointed out that it is appropriate for LIK magazine to acknowledge the anniversary of this inclusion.

She thanked BTA and BTA Director General Kiril Valchev for organizing the event and for the worthy presentation of sites from Bulgaria that are not only preserved but also shown in their best light to tourists from around the world.

The 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee runs until July 16 at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris under the presidency of Bulgaria. As part of the session, Bulgaria will present elements of its cultural and natural heritage. The July issue of LIK magazine, dedicated to Bulgaria and UNESCO, was also officially presented at UNESCO.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded on November 16, 1945. Bulgaria became a member on May 17, 1956, the same year its National Commission for UNESCO was established. The Commission coordinates activities between Bulgarian institutions and UNESCO.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee is one of the two governing bodies responsible for implementing the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It is composed of representatives from 21 countries elected from among the 196 States Parties to the Convention.