The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.
Cultural heritage consists of monuments (such as architectural works, monumental sculptures, or inscriptions), groups of buildings, and sites (including archaeological sites).
Natural features (consisting of physical and biological formations), geological and physiographical formations (including habitats of threatened species of animals and plants), and natural sites which are important from the point of view of science, conservation, or natural beauty, are defined as natural heritage.
Algeria accepted the convention on 24 June 1974. There are seven World Heritage Sites in Algeria, with a further six on the tentative list.
The vast sandstone plateau has numerous rock formations, created by water and wind erosion. There are Precambrian rocks and sediment sequences that are of high geological interest. There are more than 15,000 rock paintings and carvings in the area, making it one of the richest prehistoric rock art sites in the world.
The images cover the period from around 10,000 BCE to the first centuries of CE. They depict human figures and animals and illustrate the evolution of society and changes of the climate. Some of the depicted animals, such as the hippopotamus, were present in periods with more water, but have now been absent for millennia.
The five ksour (singular ksar) in the M’Zab Valley were founded between 1012 and 1350 by the Ibadites. Ksar is a type of a fortified village adapted to a harsh desert environment.
Each of the five ksour has a mosque that can act as a fortress with a minaret that is also a watchtower, as well as an adjacent cemetery and palm grove. Up to the present day, people have maintained essentially the same building techniques as in the 11th century. In the 20th century, the ksour model influenced architects and urban planners, including Le Corbusier. Mzab Ghardaïa is pictured.
The Roman town of Djémila was founded in the late 1st century under the Emperor Nerva. It was a defensive settlement, located at an elevation of 900 m (3,000 ft). It expanded in the 3rd century and declined with the collapse of Rome in the 6th century.
Today in ruins, there are remains of the forum, temples, basilicas, triumphal arches, and houses, as well as early Christian sites, including a large cathedral and baptistery. A collection of mosaics has been preserved, depicting mythological and everyday motifs.
Qal’at Bani Hammad was founded by the Hammadid dynasty in 1007 in a mountain setting, initially as a military stronghold that became their capital. It was influential in the development of the Arab architecture, including in the Maghreb, Andalusia, and Sicily.
It was abandoned in 1090 under the threat of the Banu Hilal invasion and later demolished in 1152. The main mosque (the remains of the minaret pictured) was one of the largest and oldest in Algeria.
Tipasa was founded in the 6th century BCE as a Punic trading post and port of call. A vast necropolis remains from this period and testifies to the cultural exchanges of peoples in the region. It was conquered by the Romans in the 2nd century BCE. Buildings dating from the Roman period include the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania (pictured).
There are Christian buildings from the 3rd and 4th centuries. In the 430s, the city was taken by the Vandals, retaken by the Byzantines, and declined in the 6th century.
From 2002 to 2006, the site was listed as endangered because of inadequate management of the site, including vandalism, growing urbanisation in the buffer zone, and unsuitable restoration techniques.
Timgad was founded as a Roman military colony by the Emperor Trajan in 100. It had a triumphal arch, temples, markets, and baths. It is a good illustration of Roman urban planning.
The city fell into decline with the Vandal invasion in 430 and was finally abandoned in the 8th century, following the Arab invasion.
The kasbah, or fortified citadel, is located on the Mediterranean coast.
Built on the site of a Phoenician trading post from the 6th century BCE, it got its present layout in the 16th century under the Ottomans. It has old mosques, Ottoman-style palaces, souks, hammams, and traditional buildings that reflect the life in a Mediterranean Muslim city.
At the time of inscription, it was home to around 50,000 people. An interior of a palace is pictured.