UNESCO
Project to have the Pic du Midi Observatory listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Since 2014, the French government, Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier University and the Syndicat Mixte pourla Valorisation Touristique du Pic du Midi have been involved in the project to have the Pic du Midi Observatory listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The approach is based on a mutual desire to protect the observatory for future generations and to counter any attack on the integrity of the site and its activities. UNESCO recognition would acknowledge the exceptional value of the observatory, which would thus become the first and oldest high-mountain astronomical observatory still in operation.
Where do we stand today?
On 10 May 2021, the Prefect of the Hautes-Pyrénées, the President of Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier University and the Syndicat Mixte pour la Valorisation Touristique du Pic du Midi submitted the application for inclusion on France's tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
An application to register all or part of the buildings as Historic Monuments was also submitted on 15 October 2021.
On 12 October, the French World Heritage Committee appointed Michèle Prats, Honorary Inspector General of Public Works, Yves Luginbülh, Geographer, Agricultural Engineer, Emeritus Director of Research at the CNRS, and Jean-Philippe Siblet, Director of the Natural Heritage Department at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, as rapporteurs for the Pic du Midi de Bigorre observatory's application for inclusion on the national Tentative List. They are due to visit the site for assessment in the coming weeks.
The Pic du Midi hopes to join the French government's Tentative List in 2022.
For several years now, the Pic has been working to be listed and recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here is some more information about the eligibility of its application.
The UNESCO ambassador and the head of the World Heritage and Heritage Agreements Unit at the Ministry of Culture were welcomed to the Pic du Midi and the département, with the prospect of the Pic du Midi being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.