The application of "Cluny Abbey and the network of Cluniac sites" to UNESCO's World Heritage List

The World Heritage Centre is adapting to changes in society and in people's perception of heritage. This is why, for several decades now, a group of sites has had the opportunity to submit a joint application: this is known as a serial application, and it is within this framework that the Cluny application falls. Over the coming years, the challenge will be to compile a list of sites in Europe that will defend the Cluniac candidacy.

An attractive network, which today brings together 200 sites in 8 European countries, and which is joined every year by new municipalities, associations, public and private institutions and individuals who are keen to work together to promote the heritage of the Cluniac monks.

Prestigious partners, as the Federation develops its actions in conjunction with major European public authorities, such as the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Castilla y León regions, and key heritage institutions such as the Centre des Monuments Nationaux.

It's a truly European network, identified on the ground by dedicated signage, which makes local people proud and informs visitors about the Cluniac heritage. What's more, since 2005, the quality of the work carried out by the network of Cluniac sites in Europe has been recognised by the Council of Europe, of which it is a certified Cultural Route.

Relevant initiatives are aimed at everyone, in the digital field with Clunypedia, gentle itineraries with the Chemins de Cluny, serving the younger generation with Cluny Kids, and encouraging exchanges and the discovery of heritage with European gatherings.

And all over Europe, volunteers and enthusiasts are putting on events to keep the Cluny heritage alive and kicking!

United by a shared history and a strong identity, with Cluny Abbey in Burgundy as the common denominator. The European Cluniac sites, united within the European Federation of Cluniac Sites, have been working since 2018 to have their cultural heritage listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From the Middle Ages to the present day, from Scotland to Spain and from Portugal to Poland, the monks of Cluny have developed a formidable network of more than 2,000 sites. With its influence on the religious and cultural life of society at the time, on the shaping of European cities and on political thought, Cluny made a decisive contribution to the emergence of modern Europe. For all these reasons, the technical team is today proposing the following nomination: the Abbey of Cluny and the network of Cluniac sites.

Although their recent UNESCO candidacy has given the Cluniac sites unprecedented media coverage, for almost 30 years they have been helping to create a genuine shared European cultural space, an inexhaustible source of encounters and ambitious cultural, heritage and artistic projects. The UNESCO application is the fruit of this long experience, which it in turn enriches!

Many people think that the Cluniac sites are already on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Why should this be? Because the heritage bequeathed to us by the monks of Cluny is unique in its density and diversity. But above all, because this heritage is alive today more than ever. In hundreds of places across Europe, the Cluniac heritage brings people together, encouraging encounters and exchanges.

The Cluniac network is a recognisable system of ancient monasteries and places dependent on the great abbey of Cluny, which existed from the early Middle Ages to the end of the modern period, with a period of apogee and maximum influence from the ^10th to the ^12th century, during which it :

Advocated the emergence of supra-local religious orders within the Christian Church; Led a movement of renewal in the religious and cultural life of society at the time; Exerted a significant influence on the emergence and/or shaping of European cities; Exerted a major influence on the political harmonisation and protection of social life; Made a decisive contribution to the emergence and characterisation of modern Europe and its states.

Participating Saône-et-Loire sites
Autun
Blanot
Bonnay
Bourbon-Lancy
Charolles
Cluny
Cruzille
Iguerande
Marcigny
Paray-le-Monial
Saint-Gengoux-le-National
Deux-Grosne
Semur-en-Brionnais
Toulon-sur-Arroux
Varenne-l'Arconce

2018 to 2022 
Preparation of the application

2025
Inclusion on national tentative lists

2027
Presentation of the Cluniac site to the World Heritage Committee