In 1984 The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), which in 1994 recognized the universal significance of Cordoba’s historic heritage by extending the World Heritage title to the whole area of the city that surrounds it - the Old Quarter, which is the largest of its kind in Europe.
The category of World Heritage Site is granted in order to protect, identify and preserve a cultural or natural legacy which is considered especially valuable for all humankind.
The UNESCO defines heritage as the legacy which we receive from the past, experience in the present and pass on to the future. Therefore, the designation of World Heritage Site involves values of protection and awareness that are not only good influences in themselves, but also act as an instrument to increase public awareness.
At present, members of the UNESCO are in the process of studying the Courtyards of Cordoba, with a view to declaring them an Intangible World Heritage. In the near future, it is intended to nominate the ruins of Madinat al-Zahra a World Heritage Site in order to help in its protection.
