Coal mines of northern France recognised by Unesco

THERE is a new name on Unesco's world heritage list, the Nord-Pas de Calais mining basin in France, joining the likes of the Palace of Versailles and Mont Saint-Michel.

Three centuries of coal extraction in the region, from the 1700s to the 1900s, have been recognised in an area that consists of 109 separate components over 120,000-hectare.

Unesco claims that the area 'bears testimony to the quest to create model workers’ cities' and includes sites of coal mining buildings, slag heaps and rail transport, as well as housing, schools and other social infrastructure.