Property: Flemish Béguinages

Id. N°: 855

State Party: Belgium

Criteria: C (ii)(iii)(iv)

The Committee inscribed the site on the World Heritage List on the basis of criteria (ii), (iii) and (iv):

Criterion (ii): The Flemish béguinages demonstrate outstanding physical characteristics of urban and rural planning and a combination of religious and traditional architecture in styles specific to the Flemish cultural region.

Criterion (iii): The béguinages bear exceptional witness to the cultural tradition of independent religious women in north-western Europe in the Middle Ages.

Criterion (iv): The béguinages constitute an outstanding example of an architectural ensemble associated with a religious movement characteristic of the Middle Ages associating both secular and conventual values.