--- title: UNESCO at 70: See the Original Class of World Heritage Sites description: UNESCO's consitutiton was signed on Nov. 16, 1945 canonical: https://time.com/4110741/unesco-world-monuments-1978/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-16T16:00:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:00:58.400Z article:section: History og:title: UNESCO at 70: See the Original Class of World Heritage Sites og:description: UNESCO's consitutiton was signed on Nov. 16, 1945 og:url: https://time.com/4110741/unesco-world-monuments-1978/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9dd5fff1b4efb898/698870cdf887dca60ce93494/151112-unesco-monuments-07.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Mesa Verde National Park og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: UNESCO at 70: See the Original Class of World Heritage Sites twitter:description: UNESCO's consitutiton was signed on Nov. 16, 1945 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9dd5fff1b4efb898/698870cdf887dca60ce93494/151112-unesco-monuments-07.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See the 12 World Heritage Sites the U.N. Protected First  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 16, 2015 4:00 PM UTC  Part of the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde in Colorado, showing dwellings and kivas. The kivas may be distinguished by their circular shape. Part of the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde in Colorado, showing dwellings and kivas. The kivas may be distinguished by their circular shape.Werner Forman—Universal Images Group/Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 16, 2015 4:00 PM UTC Monday marks the 70th birthday of UNESCO, the United Nations agency that was signed into being in London on Nov. 16, 1945\. The organization, which aims to promote educational, scientific and cultural collaboration between nations, is perhaps best known today for maintaining the [World Heritage List.](http://whc.unesco.org/en/list) That list comprises natural and cultural properties that, according to the World Heritage Committee’s original [operational guidelines](http://whc.unesco.org/archive/opguide77a.pdf) from its establishment in 1977, “can be considered of outstanding universal value for the peoples of the world” and deserve protection. These days, the List is a long one, with over 1,000 properties—but back in 1978, only these dozen sites made the first class of the list.  Colorized exterior view of the Aachen Cathedral in 1927\. Germany. ullstein bild—Getty Images  Quito's Plaza Grande square seen on Sept. 12, 2008, in a week in which the Ecuadorean capital celebrates its 30th anniversary as a World Heritage Site. Founded by the Spanish in 1534, the city of Quito was in 1978 the first capital to be inscribed in the UNESCO's cultural heritage list. Rodrigo Buendia—AFP/Getty Images  Beach with vegetation, Floreana Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. DeAgostini—Getty Images  Krakow Historic Centre in Poland. DEA/W. Buss—DeAgostini/Getty Images  View of the town on Goree Island, off Cape Verde, an important selling-station for the Atlantic slave trade, Senegal, Africa. Werner Forman—Universal Images Group/Getty Images  L'anse Aux Meadows National Historic Site in Newfoundland, Canada, Replicas Of Norse Houses From 1000 Years Ago. Wolfgang Kaehler—LightRocket via Getty Images  Part of the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde in Colorado, showing dwellings and kivas. The kivas may be distinguished by their circular shape. Werner Forman—Universal Images Group/Getty Images  Nahanni National Park Reserve, Northwest Territories, Canada. De Agostini Picture Library—Getty Images  A rock-hewn church in Lalibela, Ethiopia. DEA/C.Sappa—DeAgostini/Getty Images  Semien mountains National Park with arid plateaux separated by valleys and rising to pinnacles, in Ethiopia. Mariusz Kluzniak—Moment/Getty Images  Interior of Wieliczka salt mine in Poland. DEA/W. Buss—DeAgostini/Getty Images  Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. DEA/M. Saini—DeAgostini/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4110741/unesco-world-monuments-1978/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4110741/unesco-world-monuments-1978/"},"headline":"See the 12 World Heritage Sites the U.N. 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