Without destroying it, human communities have made the most of the characteristics of the territory to develop their activities and their way of life.

Land cultivation, quarrying, settlement and urban development, the construction of religious buildings and residential houses: all these have created a landscape in perfect harmony with the topography and resources of the territory.

Here are some of the key dates:

• 35,000 - 10,000 BC
  First traces of the establishment of Human in the Saint-Émilion region
• IIIrd century
  Planting of the "Biturica" vine in the surroundings
• VIII - XIIth century
  Installation of the monk Emilion and construction of churches and cloisters on the territory
• 1199
  Foundation of the Jurade et de la Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion1289
  Delimitation of the current boundaries of the Jurisdiction
• 1884
  Creation of the first wine union
• 1867 & 1889
  Obtaining the gold medal of the Universal Exhibition & Collective Grand Prize of the Universal Exhibition for the wines of Saint-Émilion

• 1931
  Creation of the first cooperative cellar in Gironde
  
• 1948
  Refoundation of the Jurade by winegrowers
  
• 1954
  First classification of Saint-Émilion wines by the "Institut National des Appellations d'Origine"
• 1993
  Beginning of the work for the inscription of the Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion on the UNESCO World Heritage List
• June, 1998
  Submission of the application file of the Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion
• December 2nd, 1999
  Inscription of the Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion on the UNESCO World Heritage List
  



According to UNESCO, Saint-Émilion is "an outstanding example of an historic vineyard landscape that has survived intact". A particular vigilance is given to this exceptional "cultural landscape" so that it can be preserved and can continue.

This is why, since 1993, a Commission (composed of INAO members, representatives of the town council of the municipalities concerned, representatives of the Chamber of Agriculture and Winegrowers) is in charge of validating the plant occupation of a plot or the modification of the structure of a soil.

This inscription represents approximately 5000 hectares of vines spread over the eight villages of the Saint-Émilion Jurisdiction: Saint-Émilion, Saint-Laurent des Combes, Saint-Christophe des Bardes, Saint-Pey-d'Armens, Saint-Etienne de Lisse , Saint Sulpice of Faleyrens, Saint-Hippolyte and Vignonet.

The inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage list continues to make the pride of the winegrowers who have both shaped and preserved the terroir. Nowadays it’s the winegrowers who enable millions of visitors to discover this cultural wealth ; as well as the Great Saint-Émilion Area Tourist Office, the Saint-Émilion Wine Council and the Association Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion, a World Heritage Site.

Indeed, it is not only a remarkable natural heritage but also a considerable historical and architectural heritage with the medieval city of Saint-Émilion, its monolithic church, its underground quarries, its cobbled streets and its numerous religious monuments. In addition, the Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion abounds with Romanesque churches, mills and dovecotes that contribute to the uncontested attraction of this territory.

Good to know:

Since July 2015, two other French vineyards have been listed by the UNESCO :

• The hillsides, houses and cellars of Champagne
  
• The "climates" of Burgundy

A little extra:

The Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion is not the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in New Aquitaine. Find all these wonderful sites here and take advantage of your visit to the Gironde to discover them!

In 1972, the World Heritage Convention became the first international legal instrument to recognize and protect cultural landscapes.

Cultural landscapes represent the "combined works of Man and Nature" referred to in Article 1 of the Convention.

They illustrate the evolution of society and human occupations over the ages, under the influence of the constraints and/or assets presented by their natural environment, and under the influence of successive social, economic and cultural forces, internal and external.

Cultural landscapes fall into three major categories (2008 Operational Guidelines, Annex 3):

• The most easily identifiable is the landscape that is clearly defined, designed and created intentionally by Man, which includes landscapes of gardens and parks created for aesthetic reasons that are often (but not always) associated with religious buildings or ensembles.

• The second category is the essentially evolving landscape. It results from a requirement of social, economic, administrative and/or religious origin and reaches its present form by association and in response to its natural environment. These landscapes reflect this evolutionary process in their form and composition. They are subdivided into 2 categories:

• A relict (or fossil) landscape is a landscape that has undergone an evolutionary process that has stopped, either suddenly or over a period of time, at some point in the past. However, its essential characteristics remain physically visible.
  
  
• A living landscape is a landscape that retains an active social role in contemporary society, closely associated with the traditional way of life and in which the evolutionary process continues. At the same time, it shows clear evidence of its evolution over time. This is the case with the Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion.

• The last category includes the associative cultural landscape.

In the Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion, everything points out that Man and Nature have advanced together, by developing the cultivation of the vine that appeared more than 2,000 years ago.
A cultural landscape like that of the Jurisdiction is shaped by its history and geography. Religious architectures, wine-growing architectures or small familiar architectural heritage from past generations (vine huts, washhouses, watercress, mills, etc.) are all expressions of a society, of its know-how to be kept alive and transmitted to future generations.

It is important to note that the Convention recognizes the interaction between human beings and nature and the fundamental need to preserve the balance between the two.

On July 11th, 2012, the International Coordinating Council of UNESCO's "Man and Biosphere" programme integrated the Dordogne basin into the global network of Biosphere reserves.

The recognition offered by this global network highlights the exceptional territory crossed by the Dordogne, both by its preserved nature, its cultural heritage and its art of living marked by the imprint of the river.

Each biosphere reserve must fulfil three fundamental functions, which are both complementary and mutually reinforcing:

• a conservation function, to contribute to the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variations
  
• a development function, to promote economic and human development that is sustainable from a socio-cultural and ecological point of view
  
• a logistical function, to provide support for research, monitoring, education and information exchange on local, national and global conservation and development issues.

UNESCO thus recognizes the Dordogne basin as an exemplary territory of major interest on a global scale. It also suggests a certain harmony between nature and the people who have exploited it, inhabited it, shaped it, dreamed of it... without damaging it irreparably.

For any further information, you can contact EPIDOR, the Dordogne basin's public territorial institution.