|
LISBON, July 7-- Portuguese leaders on Sunday welcomed the decision of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to add two of the country's archeologist sites to the list of World Cultural Heritage. Earlier in the day, the World Heritage Committee inscribed the National Palace of Mafra and the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus in Braga on UNESCO's World Heritage List during its 43rd session in Baku, Azerbaijan, which runs from June 30 to July 10. "It is a reason for great rejoicing for all the Portuguese," President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said in his welcoming notes published on the website of the presidency. "With this decision, the World Heritage Committee added two Portuguese cultural assets to a list of seventeen of national landscapes and monuments ... recognizing in each case, the exceptional value, integrity, authenticity and preservation capacity of a heritage that is not only local but belongs to Humanity," he noted. The Sanctuary of Bom Jesus in Braga is an architectural and landscape complex built and reconstructed from the 16th century onwards, in which baroque, rococo and neoclassical styles are evident, while the National Palace of Mafra is the most emblematic and magnificent works of King Jo?o V, the president said. Prime Minister António Costa, in his tweet, also welcomed the decision as "another reason for great pride" for Portugal. The UNESCO World Heritage List currently comprises 1,092 sites in 167 countries. | 
