HERITAGE: Industrial Landmarks (UNESCO)

The World Heritage List comprises of 851 properties considered the highlights of the cultural and natural treasures of the world. Among these 660 cultural, 166 natural and 25 mixed properties we can also find various sites that might be simply called industrial. Some of them stand as true milestones in the history of the human technical skills and possibilities. Some serve to the community even today. Let us pick few of them and get familiar with their history and the meaning they have nowadays.

ARTICLES

IRONBRIDGE GORGE - BIRTHPLACE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Joe McClain

The Ironbridge Gorge is a deep gorge formed by the river Severn in Shropshire, England. Originally called the Severn Gorge, the gorge now takes its name from its famous Ironbridge, the first iron bridge of its kind in the world, and a monument to the industry that began there. Ironbridge is known throughout the world as the symbol of the Industrial Revolution. It contains all the elements of progress that contributed to the rapid development of this industrial region in the 18th century, from th...

ENGELSBERG IRONWORKS - HISTORY PRESERVED

Nils Kraus

Engelsberg Ironworks is a well-preserved ironworks with intact buildings and industrial equipment dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is an ironworks in Engelsberg, a village in Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland, Sweden. It was constructed in 1681 and developed into one of the world's most modern ironworks in the period 1700-1800. The site comprises the mansion and park, works offices, workers' homes, and industrial buildings. Engelsberg is the only ironworks in Sweden tha...

VERLA’S JOURNEY FROM BOARD MILL TO TOURIST ATTRACTION

Theodore Slate

Verla is a well preserved 19th century mill village and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. The first groundwood mill at Verla was founded in 1872 and continued to operate until 1964. The small mill village of Verla, located near Kuusankoski, south-eastern Finland, has in the last ten years gained public recognition as a splendid visitor site. The site which has gone from board mill to tourist attraction is drawing interest from visitors near and far. Visitors to the museum, formerly a grou...

THE IWAMI-GINZAN SILVER MINE RUINS

Cecilia Garland

On 27th July 2007 the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee decided to register the remains of a silver mine in western Japan on the World Heritage List. It is the nation's first industrial site to receive the honor although Japan already has 13 other sites on the List. The site involves the ruins of a silver mine dug between the 16th and 20th centuries, and covers 442.5 hectares. About one third of silver circulating in the world in the early 17th century was reportedly from Japan. At that time, mo...

VÖLKLINGEN IRONWORKS – TESTIMONY TO THE PAST

Andrew J. Wein

The Völklinger Hütte ("Völklingen Ironworks") is located in the German town of Völklingen, Saarland. In 1994, it was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage site and it is also an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The ironworks, which cover some 6 ha, dominate the whole city of Völklingen. Although they have recently gone out of production, they are the only intact example, in the whole of western Europe and North America, of an integrated ironworks that was built and equ...