Konso Cultural Landscape is a 55km2 arid property of stone walled terraces and fortified settlements in the Konso highlands of Ethiopia. It constitutes a spectacular example of a living cultural tradition stretching back 21 generations (more than 400 years) adapted to its dry hostile environment. The landscape demonstrates the shared values, social cohesion and engineering knowledge of its communities. The site also features anthropomorphic wooden statues – grouped to represent respected members of their communities and particularly heroic events – which are an exceptional living testimony to funerary traditions that are on the verge of disappearing. Stone steles in the towns express a complex system of marking the passing of generations of leaders.
Criteria for inclusion as a World Heritage Site
| # | ||
|---|---|---|
| iii | To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared. | All |
| v | To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change. | All |
Nearby
Sites
| Name | Since | Distance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omo tribes and Langano Lakes en fr | 435.8km | site_izi | |||
| Nyero Rock Paintings | 2019 | 580.3km | site_ao | ||
| Sebastopol Artillery Mortar Replica | 2019 | 440.4km | site_ao | ||
| Manyate Coffee Village | 2019 | 244.5km | site_ao | ||
| Lake Turkana | 2018 | 242.1km | site_ao | ||
| Iten, Kenya: Home of the World’s Running Champions | 2017 | 558.6km | site_ao | ||
| Red Terror Martyrs’ Memorial Museum | 2017 | 439.1km | site_ao | ||
| National Museum of Ethiopia | 1978 | 442km | site_brutalism | ||
| Mount Kenya National Park/Natural Forest | 1997 | 606.6km | site_whs | ||
| Lake Turkana National Parks | 1997 | 269.1km | site_whs | ||
| Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley | 2011 | 651.4km | site_whs | ||
| Tiya | 1980 | 373.4km | site_whs | ||
| Lower Valley of the Omo | 1980 | 168.2km | site_whs |
About the source: UNESCO
Within UNESCO's broad remit, this specialised agency of the UN works towards international cooperation agreements to secure the world's cultural and natural heritage, designating venues of exceptional value as World Heritage Sites.