Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa

On Red Mountain, 3,700 metres up in the Lhasa Valley, the White and Red Palaces of the Potala have housed the winter seat of the Dalai Lamas — an institution rooted here since the 7th century — and stand as the great symbol of Tibetan Buddhism and its place in Tibet's traditional government. The listing also embraces the Jokhang Temple, likewise founded in the 7th century, and Norbulingka, the summer palace of the 18th. UNESCO began inscribing the historic ensemble in 1994.