Madrid is already UNESCO’s World Heritage

The city of Madrid forms part already of the World Heritage List, another appeal for international students who are considering to study in Spain. The UNESCO has included in its list the candidacy “Landscape of light” formed by the Paseo del Prado, Buen Retiro and Paisaje de las Artes y las Ciencias. This environment represents an extraordinary urban landscape where culture, science and nature have met since mid-16^th century granting them the status of Exceptional universal value.

Spain is one of the countries with more entries in this list only after Italy and China but to date none of them where in the city only in the region: the Monastery of El Escorial, the town of Alcalá de Henares, the city centre of Aranjuez and the hayedo de Montejo are also considered World Heritage.

Madrid, a city with an exceptional universal value

The list of UNESCO’s World Heritage includes those places with an exceptional universal value.

Madrid’s “Landscape of Light” is the first tree-line boulevard of all European capitals, created in the 16^th century to offer Madrid’s inhabitants a spatial area favouring leisure and relax in a natural environment.

It is also an urban intervention model that combines nature and science as transformation engine of society. During the Age of Enlightenment, that same spacial area was an exceptional urban milestone thanks to the planning of Paseo del Prado as headquarters of a series of institutions to favour scientific research and disseminate that knowledge to society. This model extended to most Spanish cities and Latin America.

Madrid’s green heart

Prado Retiro is Madrid’s green heart. In the city centre it is the resource most contributing to the sustainability of the capital as it purifies air, filters pollution, lowers temperature and offers multiple ecologic elements to the life of citizens. 

Art in the “Landscape of Light”

Prado Retiro offers cultural contributions of a universal value: plastic arts of Museos del Prado, Reina Sofía, Thyssen-Bornemisza, CaixaForum, Artes Decorativas... All of them in addition to the collections of the Bank of Spain, Parliament and many other centres show and store their treasures in buildings conceived with the best architectonic language of the Age of Enlightenment and 19^th and 20^th century preserving this legacy for the enjoyment and esteem of citizens.

Science in this privileged environment

From its transformation during the 18^th century following the desire of Carlos III, Prado Retiro has been the backbone of the Spanish science; the Gabinete de Historia Natural, today the Prado Museum, the Astronomic Observatory and the Royal Botanic Garden …