Baltic: Kuldiga, Kaunas added to UNESCO World Heritage list

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has added the old town of the western Latvian city of Kuldiga and the modernist architecture of Lithuania’s second-largest city, Kaunas, to the list of World Heritage Sites. Kuldiga sought the designation for more than 20 years, LSM reported. Parts of the city’s historical centre date back to the 13th century. Lithuania’s Minister of Culture, Simonas Kairys, said that the inclusion of Kaunas on the UNESCO list was “unexpected,” BNS reported. He pointed to the historical and political importance of the modernist period in Kaunas for the country’s modern statehood. The UNESCO committee obliged Kaunas to implement certain expert recommendations by December 2025. The Baltic States now have altogether ten World Heritage Sites, including two in Estonia, three in Latvia, and five in Lithuania.