Stand-alone Rock Reliefs

Connected Sites: 18

Definition
'Relief carving' of rock which remains 'in situ'. Where the representation consists of 'line' drawings, patterns or characters scratched, pecked or etched into the rock, this has been categorised under 'Petroglyphs'. Where such carving exists as part of a rock cut architecture ensemble, it is only represented under that 'Connection'.
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Connected Sites

  • El Fuerte de Samaipata
    Inscribed: 1998
    2.91
    43
    7
    only the part with the intricate carvings that is carved directly out of the natural sandstone bedrock
  • Champagne
    Inscribed: 2015
    3.16
    221
    9
    In her cellars in the Saint Nicaise hill, Madame Pommery had a series of bas-reliefs made by Gustave André Navlet between 1882 and 1885. These are sculpted in the soft chalk of the chalk pits and sometimes reach 10 meters long by 6 meters wide. The Veuve Clicquot cellars feature high reliefs sculpted by Navlet. These works, commissioned by Alfred Werlé, successor to Madame Clicquot, were created between 1907 and 1914. Bas-reliefs by Navlet can also be seen in the cellars of the Maison Mercier under the Avenue de Champagne. (Nomination file, p. 103, 106, 152, 261)
  • Mahabalipuram
    Inscribed: 1984
    3.77
    75
    4
    The 'Descent of the Ganges': a large 7th-century Hindu scene with many figures that uses the form of the rock to shape the image
  • Quanzhou
    Inscribed: 2021
    3.40
    59
    4
    The "massive stone statue of Lao Tze (...) is China's largest extant Taoist carved stone statue." The statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple "was carved in the cliff wall inside the stone chamber. (...) The stone relief of Mani is placed in the middle of the cliff wall opposite the entrance." (Nomination file, p. 155, 179-180)
  • Polonnaruva
    Polonnaruva
    Sri Lanka
    Inscribed: 1982
    3.39
    152
    6
    Gal Vihara: four rock relief statues of the Buddha, which have been carved into the face of a large granite gneiss rock.
  • Hattusha
    Hattusha
    Turkiye
    Inscribed: 1986
    3.52
    78
    5
    At Yazılıkaya, a series of reliefs of Hittite gods in procession decorate open-air "chambers".
  • Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines
    Inscribed: 1978
    3.73
    337
    18
    Includes "four chapels and numerous statues carved by miners out of the rock salt, and more recent sculptures by contemporary artists" (wiki)
  • Sassanid Archaeological Landscape
    Inscribed: 2018
    3.12
    19
    2
    Firuzabad, Fars and Bishapur have groups of Sassanian reliefs, the former including the oldest, a large battle scene, now badly worn. (wiki)
    See en.wikipedia.org
  • Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries
    Inscribed: 2018
    2.99
    74
    4
    Rock-carved Seated Buddha, Treasure No. 216 (Beopjusa Temple) - Nomination File
  • Petra
    Petra
    Jordan
    Inscribed: 1985
    4.61
    289
    21
    The camel caravan carved out the Siq
    See universes.art
  • Mount Emei, including Leshan Giant Buddha
    Inscribed: 1996
    3.66
    98
    6
    Leshan, "a 71-meter (233 ft) tall stone statue, built between 713 and 803 (during the Tang dynasty). It is carved out of a cliff face" (wiki)
  • Madara Rider
    Inscribed: 1979
    2.17
    107
    6
    OUV: "The Madara Rider is a unique relief, an exceptional work of art,... It is the only relief of its kind, having no parallel in Europe. It has survived in its authentic state. It is outstanding not only as a work of Bulgarian sculpture, with its characteristically realist tendencies, but also as a piece of historical source material dating from the earliest years of the establishment of the Bulgarian state. The inscriptions around the relief are, in fact, a chronicle of important events concerning the reigns of very famous Khans."
  • Gyeongju
    Gyeongju
    Republic of Korea
    Inscribed: 2000
    3.30
    146
    14
    11 Buddhist rock-cut reliefs; the most impressive is probably the Buddha Rock, a massive natural formation in the T’apkol Valley. (AB ev)
  • Dazu Rock Carvings
    Inscribed: 1999
    3.72
    55
    10
    "Some are in rock-cut cave shrines, in the usual Chinese Buddhist style, but many others are rock reliefs carved into the open rock faces" (wiki)
    See en.wikipedia.org
  • Bisotun
    Inscribed: 2006
    2.68
    29
    2
    Includes a monumental bas-relief that includes an image of King Darius “holding a bow as a sign of sovereignty, and treading on the chest of a figure which lies on his back before him”. It also has a Seleucid reclining Hercules of 148 BC with a Greek inscription.
  • Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream
    Inscribed: 2025
    2.20
    18
    5
    "The Daegok-ri panel is the largest rock art site on the Korean Peninsula, at over 30 metres in length. Within this pictorial grouping, 312 petroglyphic figures have been identified. These include 16 anthropomorphic figures, 69 representations of marine animals and 108 land animals. There are also depictions of boats and various tools, including images of nets and other fishing-related tools. The level of detail of the depictions of animals, both aquatic and land-based, enable the precise species of each animal to be discerned. The whales and stages of whaling depicted in the nominated property illustrate marine fishing practices in prehistoric East Asia." - AB Evaluation
  • Sigiriya
    Sigiriya
    Sri Lanka
    Inscribed: 1982
    3.72
    181
    8
    the paws at the colossal lion gateway to the hill-palace
  • Bamiyan Valley
    Bamiyan Valley
    Afghanistan
    Inscribed: 2003
    3.85
    13
    2
    Two monumental Buddhist statues carved out of a cliff