Mount Olympus added to UNESCO World Heritage List

In a unanimous decision, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has recognized Mount Olympus as a site of outstanding universal value, inscribing it on the World Heritage List as both a natural and cultural property.

The landmark decision, considered a major achievement for Greece, was adopted during the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee, currently taking place in Busan, South Korea.

The inscription follows sustained efforts by the Greek delegation after the Committee’s advisory experts had initially identified technical shortcomings in the nomination dossier.

The Greek delegation—comprising experts from the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Environment and Energy, the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (OFYPEKA), and Greece’s Permanent Delegation to UNESCO—was led by Giorgos Koumoutsakos, Greece’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO. During the past week, the delegation held intensive consultations with representatives of participating countries, ultimately securing unanimous support for the nomination.

The campaign had been underway for several weeks, with Koumoutsakos conducting a series of diplomatic contacts with numerous national delegations to…