Although each corner of Castilla y León possesses its own incalculable beauty and artistic wealth, certain buildings and areas stand out and have been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
Three towns -Ávila, Segovia and Salamanca-, the archaeological site at Atapuerca in the province of Burgos, the untouched work of the Roman gold engineers in Las Médulas (León) and one of the roads of greatest interest to the tourist, the Camino de Santiago, all bear this title.
All these sites have been recognised for their monumental nature and great scientific and cultural value and thus have merited special protection by UNESCO, which decided to prevent further irreparable loss of similar artistic treasures after the destruction caused by the Aswan Dam in Egypt in 1960. The then director general of the organisation, Rene Maheu, called on the rest of the world to save the monuments of Nubia. The answer came in the form of the World Heritage Committee Programme. Through the programme countries commit themselves to designating places of universal exceptional value to be included on the World Heritage List. This then alerts countries to the necessity to create their own ways of looking after their sites and allocates them assistance to keep their World Heritage sites safe.
