The Couros area – where the Couros campus of UMinho is located – in Guimarães, has just been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This approval was announced today (september 19), during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, placed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Couros campus hosts to the Guimarães Design Institute, the Advanced Post-Graduate Training Center, the “Curtir Ciência” – Guimarães Living Science Center, the Jordão Theater and the Garagem Avenida, where the Theater, Visual Arts and Product Design courses are taught, and soon the Aerospace Engineering course in the former Fábrica do Arquinho. Couros also called the “C block”, where the C stands for “Creativity”, “Culture”, Knowledge" (“Conhecimento” - PT), Science (“Ciência” - PT) and “Community”.

The historic center of Guimarães has been a World Heritage Site since 2001, but now its area has doubled (from 19 to 38 hectares), with a protected area between Veiga de Creixomil and Penha. To the heritage between the walls is added the industrial history of the manufactories and tanneries along the Couros Rive.This location has been carefully renovated over the last two decades and the current management of the various infraestrutures is the result of exemplary coordination between the municipality and UMinho, among other aspects.

The extension of the World Heritage Site in Guimarães, will contribute to a greater internal and external visibility of UMinho, of Guimarães and of Portugal. And more! The valuable heritage will be made accessible to the people who live, work and visit Couros, helping to preserve its identity.

+Info: www.cm-guimaraes.pt/viver/noticias/noticia/zona-de-couros-ja-e-patrimonio-mundial, whc.unesco.org/en/list/1031