Last week, an affirmative vote in India officially made Bethlehem’s Moravian Church Settlements a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The city was voted onto the list along with settlements in Gracehill, Northern Ireland and Herrnhut, Germany. According to a press release, all three will join Christiansfeld, Denmark as the Moravian Church Settlements (MCS).
The designation will preserve the universal influence of the Moravian Church. Historic Bethlehem has preserved what the World Heritage Committee calls “some of the most important structures and sites relating to the Moravians in the New World.”
Ten acres of land make up the Bethlehem site, which includes nine structures, four ruins, and God’s Acre Cemetery. All of these are already located within the Historic Moravian Bethlehem National Historic Landmark District, which is one of only 200 Landmark Districts in the country.
Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds shared the city’s honor to be recognized globally. He added that the UNESCO designation is a “profound testament to the unmatched historical and cultural significance of Bethlehem.”
Officials expect cultural tourism to increase as visitors from around the world come to take in the history, architecture, and traditions still present in the city.
According to Northampton County, the designation comes after several years of fulfilling process requirements.
Moravian Church Settlements – Bethlehem becomes the United States’ 26th World Heritage Site. It also becomes Pennsylvania’s third, joined by Philadelphia’s Independence Hall and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater House.
