İznik on the way to UNESCO

Works for UNESCO have been accelerated in the northwestern province of Bursa's İznik district, which is Türkiye's only candidate for the 2024 UNESCO World Heritage List.

Gabriela Semova Koleva, an expert from the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the advisory body of UNESCO, which officially started the candidacy process for İznik, has come to the town for field research to examine the current state of historical artifacts and their preservation status.

İznik, which is of great importance for Christianity as it hosts two of the most important ecumenical councils recognized by all churches, is home to the Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman-era works that still survive. Now the Metropolitan Municipality is working for the town to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

İznik was included in the World Heritage Tentative List in 2014, as it is a unique historical city that carries the tangible and intangible values of civilizations. In order to carry out UNESCO works, İznik Area Presidency was established within the body of the Metropolitan Municipality in 2016.

The management plan prepared by the İznik AREA Presidency was approved by the Coordination and Supervision Board in May 2022 and entered into force. İznik's candidacy file, which was prepared in accordance with the UNESCO implementation guide, was submitted to the Culture and Tourism Ministry in August last year.

The management plan, which was completed within a year, was deemed worthy of being a candidate for the permanent list of UNESCO in the evaluation made by the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

On Sept. 19 last year, the ministry sent the file of İznik, which is now the only candidate from Türkiye for the UNESCO World Heritage List, to...