UNESCO has officially inscribed the Traditional Vernacular Stone-Architecture of the Black Sea Highlands, a series of remote settlements across the border of Georgia and Turkey, to the World Heritage List. These high-altitude villages are renowned for their multi-story stone towers and dry-stone residential complexes that have been continuously inhabited for over 700 years.
The designation highlights the cultural resilience of the local highland communities who have maintained unique construction techniques designed to withstand seismic activity and harsh alpine winters. UNESCO praised the site for its integration with the natural landscape and its preservation of medieval social structures through architectural form.