Journey to 'crowned' World Heritage

To obtain the "crown" of the World Cultural Heritage Complex of Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac, few people know that it was a 13-year journey, with many difficult and challenging stages.

The scenery is like a fairyland on top of Dong Pagoda. Photo: Nguyen Quy.

The Complex of Monuments and Landscapes of Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac was officially recognized as a World Cultural Heritage by the World Heritage Committee (UNESCO) at the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee. This is a great honor for Vietnam, especially for the three localities that own the heritage (Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh), opening up opportunities to enhance tourism development based on cultural foundations.

Since 2012, Quang Ninh province has begun to develop a scientific dossier to submit to UNESCO for recognition of Yen Tu Monuments and Landscape Complex as a World Heritage Site and submitted the application to UNESCO in 2014. The initial dossier is expected to cover relics in the two provinces of Quang Ninh and Bac Giang (old). Later, relics in Hai Duong province (old) will be added.

In 2015, Mr. Pall Dingwall - expert of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Professor Hea Un Ri - expert of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) made the first surveys at heritage sites in the three localities.

Yen Tu pine road. Photo by Thu Hoang.

After this field trip, on August 18, 2015, a workshop to identify the global values of Yen Tu was held in Quang Ninh to seek early opinions from ICOMOS experts on the preparation of a world heritage dossier for the Yen Tu Complex of Monuments and Landscapes. The experts all affirmed that it would take at least 5-10 years to complete a dossier, and even nearly 20 years for some countries. This shows that the preparation of the dossier requires great determination from all three localities in the heritage area.

To speed up the dossier preparation process, at the end of August 2020, a national-level discussion chaired by Quang Ninh province, in coordination with Hai Duong (old) and Bac Giang (old) provinces, was held in Quang Ninh, with the presence of leading experts in the field of heritage and culture to identify the typical and outstanding global values of the Yen Tu Monuments and Landscape Complex.

During the years of complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, the three provinces still took the opportunity to conduct archaeological excavations at a number of relic sites in the area, thereby adding valuable information to the heritage records.

After 2 years of conducting research topics, from June 20, 2022 to July 3, 2022, international experts worked with Vietnamese experts with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of 3 localities with heritage, the Monument Management Boards and conducted field trips to locations in the relic complex spanning 3 provinces at that time. On this occasion, an international scientific conference was held on June 29, 2022 in Hanoi, with the participation of nearly 70 domestic and international delegates to assess the completeness of existing documents, newly supplemented research results, agree on the criteria expected to be met by the dossier; agree on the nominated heritage site, scope, expected boundaries, type of nominated heritage, next plan and roadmap.

On July 19, 2022, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism agreed to change the name of the Scientific Profile "Yen Tu Monuments and Landscape Complex" to "Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac Monuments and Landscape Complex".

The official dossier of the Complex of Monuments and Landscapes of Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac has been completed and submitted to UNESCO for recognition as a World Heritage Site in January 2024. From the 20 original sites included in the dossier, international experts have recommended adjusting the dossier, selecting 12 sites and 2 nomination criteria.

Bo Da Pagoda Tower Garden. Photo by Thu Hoang.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh - Vice Chairman of Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Steering Committee for the preparation of the dossier of the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac Monuments and Landscape Complex said: The success of the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac Monuments and Landscape Complex being listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site is the result of persistent efforts, high consensus and close and effective coordination between all levels, sectors, localities, domestic and international organizations.

In particular, Quang Ninh province was assigned to take the lead role throughout the research process, registering with UNESCO to include in the List of Tentative Nominations for clusters and sites of relics in Quang Ninh province and Bac Giang province (now Bac Ninh province) until 2020, and was assigned by the Prime Minister to add relics in Hai Duong province (now Hai Phong city).

“We are well aware that honor and pride always go hand in hand with responsibility. Quang Ninh will continue to develop and implement the project to preserve, restore and promote heritage values, to ensure sustainability and spread heritage values widely. Along with that, we will strengthen links and coordination with Hai Phong and Bac Ninh to build a unified heritage space, synchronously deploy measures to preserve and promote the values of the World Cultural Heritage Complex of Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac" - Vice Chairman of Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee said.

The Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac relic and scenic complex is located in 3 provinces and cities: Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, including 12 relic sites. Of which, Quang Ninh province has 5 sites: Thai Mieu, Lan pagoda, Hoa Yen pagoda, Ngoa Van pagoda, Yen Giang stake field; Hai Phong city has 5 sites: Con Son pagoda, Kiep Bac temple, Thanh Mai pagoda, Kinh Chu cave and Nham Duong pagoda; Bac Ninh province has 2 sites: Vinh Nghiem pagoda and Bo Da pagoda.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/hanh-trinh-dang-quang-di-san-the-gioi-10310729.html