The landing beaches and the fortresses of Carcassonne want to be protected by UNESCO

Applications for the Normandy Landing beaches and the fortresses of Carcassonne and around the registration on the UNESCO World Heritage List were « deposited »said the Ministry of Culture on Monday, February 10, adding that the institution will examine them « in July 2026 ».

« These applications were drawn up in close collaboration with the Department of Aude, the City of Carcassonne and the communities concerned for the first, and with the Normandy region for the second »is it specified in a press release. The landing beaches were « The theater of Operation Neptune launched on June 6, 1944 on the Norman coast (which) will lead to the liberation of Western Europe and at the end of the Second World War in Europe », recalls the ministry.

The property offered at registration is made up of a « Vast terrestrial and maritime space which covers the five landings of the landing defined by the Allies in 1944: Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Juno Beach, Gold Beach and Sword Beach, more than 80 kilometers of coastline »indicates the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) Normandy on its site. This coastline is strewn with many vestiges: Bunkers on the Atlantic Wall, wrecks of French, English and German war boats, collectors.

« A unique example of military architecture »

Become « gathering place around a universal message »these beaches carry « The memory of a fight for freedom and peace »according to the ministry. This candidacy, began in 2014, was initially filed in 2018 but its exam by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee planned for 2019 had been postponed, the institution indicating reflecting on « the assessment of sites associated with recent conflicts ». The committee raised this moratorium in January 2023, allowing memorial candidates, submitted before 2022, to be examined outside the quota of a candidacy per year and by state, recalls the ministry.

The UN organization has also adopted several guiding principles concerning in particular the participation of all stakeholders potentially affected by a conflict. Since then, five memory sites have joined World Heritage, including 139 funeral sites from the First World War, located in France and Belgium, and four memorials commemorating the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda. The candidacy of the landing beaches was redesigned in January 2025, after an update of the file, specifies the ministry. « We all hope that this candidacy will lead, it is the logical continuation in the process of memory and commemoration », said Michael Dodds, director of the Normandy Regional Tourism Committee, to AFP.

Other candidate, « The Sénéchaussée de Carcassonne Fortresses system (13th-1st centuries) is made up of eight monuments divided between the departments of Aude and Ariège: the fortifications of Carcassonne and around them the castles of Lastours, terms, terms, Aguilar, Peyrepertase, Quéribus, Puilaurens and Montségur », indicates the ministry.

« Built on rocky peaks in grandiose landscapes », These monuments « illustrate a pivotal period of history and offer a unique example of military architecture giving them an exceptional universal value »adds the instance. These citadels are also called, improperly, Cathar castles.