Gyumri blacksmithing tradition inscribed in UNESCO`s Intangible  Cultural Heritage of Humanity

ArmInfo. During the 18th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the UNESCO for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Kasane, Botswana, December 4 to 9, the committee decided to inscribe the Gyumri blacksmithing tradition in the representative list of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Armenia's foreign office reports. 

Blacksmithing was one of the most popular crafts in Armenia, but as  an urban craft, it gained its full expression in Gyumri and  flourished in the 19th century. The registration of this national  tradition handed down from generation to generation in the  representative list of UNESCO is crucial for ensuring its vitality,  appreciation, and popularization.

The Republic of Armenia ratified the 2003 UNESCO Convention "On the  Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage" in 2006. In the following  years, "Duduk and His Music" (2008), "Armenian Khachkar Art, the  Advice of Khachkar and Khachkar Work" (2010), "Sasna tsrer or the  Performance Manifestations of the Epic of David of Sassoon" (2012),  "Lavash, traditional bread preparation, meaning, and cultural  manifestations in Armenia" (2014), "Kochari, traditional group dance"  (2017), "Armenian calligraphy and its cultural manifestations"  (2018), as well as the elements of "Pilgrimage to the Monastery of  St. Thaddeus the Apostle" (2020), presented jointly with the Islamic  Republic of Iran.