Kernavė is the land which represents the origins of Lithuania. The site reveals all the settlements stages of this region over the course of 11,000 years. Life, sometimes booming, in decline at other times, has never stopped functioning in Kernavė. The natural landscape was partially changed so that it could make life more convenient for its inhabitants and to meet the demands of defence. The relief formed during the last glacial period, the spectacular valley of the River Nėris with the authentic traces of activity left by people having lived there for thousands years and the defence system of five mounds, the site of Kernavė can be treated as an example of the integral cultural landscape remaining almost intact up until the present day.
The archaeological site of Kernavė (the State Cultural Reserve of Kernavė) was inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 2004, hence showing the importance of the site, according to the following two criteria established by UNESCO for World Heritage sites:
* Criterion (iii): The archaeological site of Kernavė presents an exceptional testimony to the evolution of human settlements in the Baltic region over the period of some ten millennia. The property has exceptional evidence of pantheistic and Christian funeral traditions.
* Criterion (iv): The settlement patterns and the impressive hill-forts represent outstanding examples of the development of such types of structures and the history of their use in the pre-Christian era.
2004
Nomination File.
Map.
Committee Decision 28 COM 14B.44, Suzhou, China 28 June - 7 July 2004
2011 Kernavė Archaeological site has been given "enhanced protection" status by the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
2013 Periodic Reporting.
2014 UNESCO World Heritage Committee at its 38th session (Doha, 2014) adopted retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value for the Kernavė Archaeological Site (Cultural Reserve of Kernavė).