Presentation of the listed Sites

On 4 July, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided to include the Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars on its world heritage list.
Included here are the vineyards, the totality of Champagne's grape-growing resources and the villages and urban spaces where the production and marketing functions have had a deep impact on the territorial and social structure of Champagne. Aside from the landscape, a major part of the local economy and daily life of the people who live here is organized around this legacy. By virtue of the products that the people make, these sites have a universal status.

The listed sites are spread across 320 communes in the Champagne AOC, spanning the five departments of Marne, Aube, Aisne, Haute-Marne and Seine-et-Marne.

The historic Hillsides
of Hautvillers, Aÿ and
Mareuil-sur-Aÿ:

Here we see hillsides planted with vines and a planned rural wine-growing landscape that represents the grape-growing resourcesrequired for the making of Champagne. Vineyards are the chief element in the production chain here, coupled with architectural legacy and cellars.

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The Saint-Nicaise Hill
in Reims

Credits : Puget Amarante

This site demonstrates the organization of the Champagne production process and how that influences the planning of the built environment. You see here the elements of the production process both above and below ground.

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The Avenue de Champagne
in Épernay.

The Avenue de Champagne is a particularly significant example of an above-ground and below-ground production environmentcreated from scratch. Vineyards, industrial buildings, cellars, showrooms and prestige architectureare drawn together as an integrated whole. You see here the story of Champagne – frombirth, through rapid expansion to the Champagne houses of today – driven by the evolution of production methods and a transport infrastructure that by stages opened the world to Champagne. You see the buildings that stand as the symbols of the Champagne business.

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These three sites together representevery dimension of the Champagne production process.