Paris 2024 Olympic Torch Relay to feature 30 UNESCO World Heritage sites

Chartres Cathedral is one of 30 UNESCO World Heritage sites on the Paris 2024 torch relay route. JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP via Getty Images

The Paris 2024 Olympic Torch Relay will feature some 30 UNESCO World Heritage sites with the opening ceremony on 26 July – for the time in the history of the modern Olympics history – taking place within a UNESCO site.

After the Olympic flame was lit in ancient Olympia on 16 April, the torch began its journey across Greece. It will be handed over to the Paris 2024 Organising Committee on 26 April before being transported by boat across the Mediterranean Sea to Marseille on 8 May. There it will continue through a number of French regions and head overseas, arriving in French Guiana for 9 June.

The relay across the oceans will take in New Caledonia, Reunion Island, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe and Martinique before returning to the French mainland on 18 June.

France boasts a total of 52 UNESCO World Heritage sites with 30 of these featuring on the route, starting with Arles and its Roman remains. The Torch Relay ends with the opening ceremony on the banks of the River Seine, itself a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Below is the full list of UNESCO World Heritage sites which will feature on the Paris 2024 Olympic Torch Relay.

  • 12 May – Arles, Roman and Romanesque monuments
  • 16 May – Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne
  • 18 May – St. Marie Cathedral in Auch, part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France
  • 19 May – Gavarnie Cirque, Pyrenees, part of Pyrénées – Mont Perdu
  • 22 May – Saint-Front Cathedral in Périgueux, part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France
  • 23 May – Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion,
  • 23 May – Bordeaux, Port of the Moon
  • 31 May – Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay
  • 12 June – Pitons, cirques and ramparts of Reunion Island
  • 17 June – Volcanoes and Forests of Mount Pelée and the Pitons of Northern Martinique
  • 18 June – Nice, Winter Resort Town of the Riviera
  • 19 June – Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the “Triumphal Arch” of Orange
  • 21 June – Vichy, part of The Great Spa Towns of Europe
  • 25 June – Besançon Citadel, part of the Fortifications of Vauban
  • 26 June – Strasbourg, Grande-Île and Neustadt
  • 30 June – Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Rémi and Palace of Tau, Reims
  • 30 June – Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars
  • 2 July – Belfries of Belgium and France
  • 3 July – Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin
  • 4 July – Amiens Cathedral
  • 5 July – Le Havre, the city rebuilt by Auguste Perret
  • 7 July – Chartres Cathedral
  • 8 and 10 July – The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes
  • 11 July – Vézelay, Church and Hill
  • 12 July – The Climats, terroirs of Burgundy
  • 20 July – Palace and Park of Fontainebleau
  • 20 July – Provins, Town of Medieval Fairs
  • 23 July – Palace and Park of Versailles
  • 26 July – Paris, Banks of the Seine



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