UNESCO Names Yogyakarta’s Axis as World Heritage

UNESCO declared the Yogyakarta’s philosophical axis as one of world heritages during the 45th session of World Heritage Committee in Saudi Arabia on Monday.

The participants of the committee’s meeting fully accepted the decision, without any rejection. The decision is a result of cooperation of various stakeholders and a global recognition to the first king of Yogyakartan court Sultan Hamengku Buwono I, who drafted Yogyakarta’s philosophical axis in the 18th century.

The phylosophical axis is an urban planning concept that is based on Javanese culture. The axis holds such high philosophy values, and therefore, it should be preserved with all of its attributes. Yogyakarta special region administration hoped that the declaration of the axis as one of the world heritages can open the opportunities to learn about its universal values.