On Thursday, December 14, 2023, the book "Zacatecas, a Place of Exceptional Universal Value" was presented in the Central Patio of the Zacatecan Museum. Among the authorities present were Anthropologist José Luis Perea González, technical secretary of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH); María de Jesús Muñoz Reyes, director of the Zacatecan Institute of Culture "Ramón López Velarde"; Architect Carlos Alberto Torreblanca Padilla, director of the INAH Zacatecas Center; and Architect Carlos Augusto Torres Pérez, director general of the Regional World Heritage Institute in Zacatecas, a Category 2 Center under the auspices of UNESCO.

 

 

Distinguished guests included Frédéric Vacheron Oriol, former UNESCO representative in Mexico; Alicia Alejandra Acuña Sánchez, Undersecretary of Artisan Development for the Government of the State of Zacatecas; Federico Priapo Chew Araiza, chronicler of the state of Zacatecas; and Alma Rita Díaz Contreras, director of the Museo Zacatecano and host of the event. Authors present included Víctor Hugo Ramírez Lozano, researcher at the Museo Zacatecano, and Juan Carlos Basabe Bañuelos, from the INAH Zacatecas Center.

 

 

The work, edited in collaboration by the Regional World Heritage Institute in Zacatecas, a Category 2 Center under the auspices of UNESCO, the National Institute of Anthropology and History and the Government of the State of Zacatecas, through the Zacatecan Institute of Culture "Ramón López Velarde", was commented by Anthrop. José Luis Perea González, technical secretary of the INAH, by Dr. Faviola Castillo Ruiz, research professor at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, and by Dr. Alfredo Conti, UNESCO consultant and member of ICOMOS Argentina, who highlighted the high value of the work by bringing together the factors, elements and vicissitudes, as well as the actors, that contributed to the inclusion of the Historic Center of Zacatecas in the UNESCO World Heritage List, particularly in the framework of the XXX Anniversary of this important event.

 

 

En sus intervenciones, Alfredo Conti señaló la importancia del concepto de Valor Universal Excepcional y explicó cómo se aplicó al caso de Zacatecas. José Luis Perea mencionó la forma en que la obra se organizó y enfatizó la importancia de Zacatecas, así como del Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, como vehículos estructurantes de la cultura novohispana en el continente americano. Por su parte, Faviola Castillo Ruiz realizó una narrativa de los actores que contribuyeron al libro y destacó la importancia del trabajo en virtud de que favorece la apropiación social y la memoria.

​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

In his closing remarks, Carlos Augusto Torres Pérez emphasized the importance of combined efforts and institutional collaboration to bring projects like this to fruition, which will remain in history. Finally, he invited those present to enjoy a temporary exhibition, inaugurated and prepared for the occasion, focused on the inscription of Zacatecas on the World Heritage List. The exhibition, which will be open until February 2024 at the Museo Zacatecano, will feature the original certificate inscribing the Historic Center of Zacatecas on the World Heritage List.