UNESCO adds 25 new World Heritage Sites including Mount Olympus, Normandy's D-Day beaches

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee added 25 new sites at its 48th session in Busan, South Korea. Notable additions include Mount Olympus in Greece, the Normandy D-Day beaches in France, Aqaba Marine Reserve in Jordan, and Alamut Castle in Iran. The sites span cultural, natural, and mixed categories, with each carrying 'outstanding universal value.'

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee added 25 new sites to its list at its 48th session in Busan, South Korea, this week. The designation spans cultural, natural, and mixed sites. Among the newly designated sites are Mount Olympus in Greece, the Normandy D-Day beaches in France, Aqaba Marine Reserve in Jordan, and Alamut Castle in Iran. Mount Olympus, Greece's highest mountain, was named a mixed World Heritage Site. It is home to over 1,700 plant species and features glacial cirques, limestone cliffs, and karstic sinkholes. The Normandy beaches, covering about 80 km of coastline, include Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword, and Pointe du Hoc. They mark the Allied landings during Operation Overlord, with 156,115 troops landing or airdropped. The site also includes the Normandy American Cemetery. Aqaba Marine Reserve, established in 1997, is the world's northernmost tropical coral reef system, with over 150 species of hard coral and 500 species of fish. Alamut Castle and its fortifications were the center of the Nizari Ismaili movement until 1256. UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany called heritage 'a force for cohesion and empowerment.'