MINSK, 16 December (BelTA) - Belarus has four tangible sites and seven intangible elements inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In 2027, Belarus is planning to get another nomination “The Culture of the Belarusian Duda (bagpipe)” to be include on the UNESCO list, BelTA learned from the Culture Ministry of Belarus.
The following sites from Belarus were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List: Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park (a natural heritage object), 1992; Mir Castle Complex (located in the town of Mir, Korelichi District), 2000; Architectural, Residential, and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh, and the Struve Geodetic Arc (located in Brest Oblast and Grodno Oblast), 2005.
Belovezhskaya Pushcha
Architectural, Residential, and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh
Tupishki point of the Struve Geodetic Arc
The following sites are on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List: Augustow Canal; Savior Transfiguration Church and St. Sophia Cathedral in the town of Polotsk; Saints Boris and Gleb (Kalozha) Church; Edifices for Worship of Fortress Type; worship wooden architecture (17th -18th centuries) in Polesie.
Augustow Canal
Savior Transfiguration Church of the Savior and St Euphrosyne Convent in Polotsk
St. Sophia Cathedral
Saints Boris and Gleb (Kalozha) Church in Grodno
The UNESCO Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage now feature seven Belarusian elements. These include the festive Christmas rite Kalyady Tsars in the village of Semezhevo, Kopyl District, Minsk Oblast, 2009; the Celebration in honor of the Budslau Icon of Our Lady (Budslau fest) in Myadel District, Minsk Oblast, 2018; Spring rite of Jurauski Karahod (St. George's Round Dance) in the village of Pogost, Zhitkovichi District, Gomel Oblast, 2019; Tree beekeeping culture, 2020; Straw weaving in Belarus, art, craft and skills, 2022; Vytsinanka, traditional art of paper cutting in Belarus, 2024.
Kalyady Tsars
Budslau fest
Spring rite of Jurauski Karahod (St. George's Round Dance
Tree beekeeping culture
Straw weaving in Belarus
Vytsinanka, traditional art of paper cutting in Belarus
On 9 December 2025, during its 20th session in New Delhi, the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage decided to inscribe the element “Negliubka textile tradition of Vetka District, Gomel Oblast” on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. This brings the total number of Belarusian elements on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List to seven.
Negliubka Textile Tradition of Vetka District, Gomel Oblast
In June 2024, the Brest Hero Fortress Memorial Complex was included on UNESCO’s Tentative List as part of the joint Russian-Belarusian transnational nomination “Memorials to the Heroes of the Great Patriotic War: Brest Fortress and Mamayev Kurgan”.
Brest Hero Fortress Memorial Complex
During the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in November 2025, a meeting of the Culture Commission took place with the participation of Irina Dashchinskaya, Head of the Department for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Heritage at the Culture Ministry. The commission meeting reviewed the draft budget for 2026-2029 and the proposal to rename International Arts Education Week to UNESCO Cultural and Arts Education Week. Reports on the activities of the Intergovernmental Committees for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage were heard. A decision was also made to proclaim an International Day for Underwater Cultural Heritage, to be observed annually on 21 August.
In 2027, during a session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, a nomination for the Belarusian element “The Culture of the Belarusian Duda (Bagpipe)” is planned for consideration
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