UNESCO, the United Nations' scientific and cultural organization, has announced that the Lena Pillars, a natural rock formation in Russia's Far East, would be the last addition to its World Heritage List for 2012.
The unique rock towers were formed over thousands of years by freezing winters and baking summers.
The addition of the Lena Pillars Nature Park brings Russia's total of cultural and natural sights recognized on the World Heritage List to 25.
Among the other 25 sites added to the list during the 36th meeting of the World Heritage Committee in St. Petersburg was Gonbad-e Qabus in Iran.
The 53-meter-high tomb built in 1006 in northeast Iran is the only remaining evidence of the ancient city of Jorjan, a center for regional art, culture, and science that was destroyed during the Mongol invasion in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The unique rock towers were formed over thousands of years by freezing winters and baking summers.
The addition of the Lena Pillars Nature Park brings Russia's total of cultural and natural sights recognized on the World Heritage List to 25.
Among the other 25 sites added to the list during the 36th meeting of the World Heritage Committee in St. Petersburg was Gonbad-e Qabus in Iran.
The 53-meter-high tomb built in 1006 in northeast Iran is the only remaining evidence of the ancient city of Jorjan, a center for regional art, culture, and science that was destroyed during the Mongol invasion in the 14th and 15th centuries.