The UN has listed the Church of the Nativity, in Bethlehem, identified by Christian tradition as the birthplace of Jesus, as World Heritage site.
Israel objected to the decision.United Nations Scientific, Cultural, and Educational Organization – UNESCO – said the church, and the pilgrimage route on the site, were placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to damages from water leaks.
The church was first completed on the site in 339 A.D. and the building that replaced it after a fire in the sixth century retains elaborate floor mosaics from the original building.
The site is located ten kilometres south of Jerusalem in an area controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
It includes the church as well as Latin, Greek Orthodox, Franciscan and Armenian convents and churches and towers and terraced gardens.
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, which is meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, until 6 July, also inscribed sites from Israel, Palau, Indonesia, Morocco, China, Senegal and C√¢‚Äû¬¢te d’Ivoire on the World Heritage.