Every nation must cherish its culture, history and traditions and pass them on to new generations. This is the essence of heritage, which is indispensable for understanding the present and planning the future.

Our cultural and natural heritage is constantly threatened with destruction by natural forces and social and economic change. There are cultural and natural assets of purely local interest, and there are those that are of world-wide importance, because they are unique.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) took the decision in 1972 to protect and preserve unaltered these places of exceptional interest. It was at this time that the World Heritage Committee formed and its list of protected sites inaugurated. This now contains some 788 World Heritage Sites.

The original two categories - cultural and natural heritage - were supplemented first by the mixed and then by the cultural landscape categories. This category applies where there is a close link between culture and the natural environment, and where together they form an asset worthy of protection. The member countries themselves decide which sites they want to nominate for the World Heritage list, and the Committee makes the decision based on the recommendations.

Hungary is proud to have eight places considered special enough to be included on the list of exceptional and universally important sites. This section intended to help you find these places and get to know them.