Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin
Cultural
1360
2012
Cultural
Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin is a UNESCO World Heritage cultural, inscribed in 2012 (WHS 1360).
Criteria & Perimeter
Inscription criteria
(ii)(iv)
Category
Cultural
Summary
Remarkable as a landscape shaped over three centuries of coal extraction from the 1700s to the 1900s, the site consists of 109 separate components over 120,000 ha. It features mining pits (the oldest of which dates from 1850) and lift infrastructure, slag heaps (some of which cover 90 ha and exceed 140 m in height), coal transport infrastructure, railway stations, workers’ estates and mining villages including social habitat, schools, religious buildings, health and community facilities, company premises, owners and managers’ houses, town halls and more. The site bears testimony to the quest to create model workers’ cities from the mid 19th century to the 1960s and further illustrates a significant period in the history of industrial Europe. It documents the living conditions of workers and the solidarity to which it gave rise.
Monuments in the Zone
Selection of protected monuments
- Menhir de Pierre-Pin ou Pierre des Huguenots — Sion-les-Mines
- Maison de Richelieu — Richelieu
- Menhirs de Avrillé — Avrillé
- Hôtel du 18e siècle de Tours — Tours
- Château de la Bonnelière — Saint-Michel-Mont-Mercure
- Hôtel de la Motte-Sanguin — Orléans
- Château de Courtalain et ses dépendances (également sur commune d'Arrou) — Courtalain
- Eglise de Moutiers-les-Mauxfaits — Moutiers-les-Mauxfaits
- Château de Villaines de Louplande — Louplande
- Manoir de la Manorière — Vichères
- Manoir de Laleu de Chouzy-sur-Cisse — Chouzy-sur-Cisse
- Prieuré de Saint-Rémy (ancien) — Saint-Rémy-la-Varenne
- Eglise Saint-Vincent de Neuvy-le-Roi — Neuvy-le-Roi
- Moulin de Couture de Bonneval — Bonneval
- Maison de Orléans — Orléans
Appellations of the Landscape
Most-reviewed Loire appellations
| Appellation | Avg score | Reviews | Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sancerre | 89.3 | 554 | White |
| Muscadet Sèvre et Maine | 88.6 | 237 | White |
| Pouilly-Fumé | 89.6 | 153 | White |
| Vouvray | 88.4 | 153 | White |
| Touraine | 86.3 | 85 | White |
| Chinon | 88.7 | 72 | Red |
| Menetou-Salon | 87.3 | 69 | White |
| Crémant de Loire | 87.5 | 54 | Sparkling |
| Val de Loire | 85.6 | 41 | White |
| Saumur | 88.4 | 40 | White |
| Anjou | 87.6 | 36 | White |
| Rosé d'Anjou | 84 | 35 | Rosé |
Data source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre (data.culture.gouv.fr). Last updated: April 14, 2026.