World heritage sites: the walled city of Carcassonne & the Mont Saint Michel and its bay examples

Résumé du document

This essay aims at understanding what the issues in the management of the World Heritage Sites are, through the examples of the walled city of Carcassonne and Mont Saint Michel and its bay. The historical developments, the demands of a heritage site, and obviously the key operational issues in World Heritage Sites management, will be analyzed by discussing different points of view.

The United Nations for Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was born on November 16, 1945. The organization set itself a wide-ranging and ambitious target: "build peace in the mind of men through education, culture and communication" (UNESCO, 1945).

The "convention about the protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage", was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972. This Convention defined World Heritage Sites as "unique sites of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art, or science". In 2006, 830 World Heritage sites were listed of which 644 were cultural, 162 natural, and 24 mixed properties. These sites are spread in 138 States. Since 1978 (date of the first nomination), there have been around 20 to 30 new nominations per year. Far from showing any signs of stopping, nominations tend to multiply.

Extraits

[...] The entry to the Cité of Carcassonne is free. In my opinion, it should stay free, for the reason that it encourages secondary spending. When they pay, visitors' expectations are higher; gratuitousness is always appreciated by tourists in the contemporary consumption society where everything has a price. Furthermore, the numerous domestic tourists who spend Saturday or Sunday wandering in the Citadel or go to a restaurant would not come anymore if they had to pay an entrance fee. UNESCO judges that protection must take priority over promotion of World Heritage Sites (Drost, 1996). [...]

[...] The tourist office and the main shops are inaccessible, as well as the Château Comtal and the museums. Actually, only the restaurants and bars of the Marcou Square are accessible. The only alternative found by Carcassonne municipality is the assistance, one day per year, of the 3rd RPMA paratroopers based in town to drive the wheelchairs. Though, some easy solutions could be considered. Put at the disposal of disabled people a shuttle at the foot of the medieval city. In fact, hotels use this type of transport for their guests and their luggage during the hours when the traffic is not allowed inside. [...]

[...] Situated on a hill, the Citadel of Carcassonne put a large and overpriced car park at the visitors' disposal below. Only residents and hotel guests cars are allowed inside the walls after 6pm during the peak season (from the 1st of April to the 1st of October). Often in July and August, the public car park is overcrowded. In consequence, the tourists have to go to a load shedding car park, what creates large queues in front of the main entrance of the Citadel. [...]

[...] The image of the “medieval town of Carcassonne” is an oversimplification”. (ICOMOS, 1996) Indeed, the walled city brightened up some good initiatives, but no one has taken advantage of its rich history. The Roman period, the Visigoths, the Crusades, the Cathars, the restoration of Viollet-le-Duc, etc.: the themes that could be used are numerous. It could start with guides in period costumes, shows recreating the rituals of the Cathar religion, recreation of the Charlemagne's siege and the Legend of Dame Carcas[4], or broadening activities only proposed to seminar groups for the moment : treasure hunts, medieval evenings in period costumes, etc. [...]

[...] Indeed, in case of enormous queues for the shuttle or other issues which would not have been anticipated, tourists may turn back. As said before, World Heritage Sites are defined as sites of “outstanding universal value” (UNESCO, 1972), does that mean that they should be universally accessible? The access for disabled people is an increasing concern and the ageing population phenomenon won't curb it. Sometimes, initiatives to manage cars may be incompatible with it. “People with mobility impairment can not necessarily walk for a mile or so, from a resituated car park to a heritage attraction” (Robinson et al., 2000). [...]