Kathmandu Valley
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How it came to be
The Kathmandu Valley is a bowl-shaped basin in the Himalaya. Its World Heritage listing covers seven zones: the Durbar Squares of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, the Buddhist stupas of Swayambhu and Bauddhanath, and the Hindu temples of Pashupati and Changu Narayan.
Changu Narayan holds one of the earliest inscriptions in the valley, from the 5th century. The architecture and art of the Newar people, who have lived here for two millennia, reached their peak between 1500 and 1800. Bhaktapur was the Malla capital from the 12th century until the kingdom split in 1482, and in 1702 King Bhupatindra Malla built the five-roofed Nyatapola temple.
In November 1769 Bhaktapur surrendered to the Gorkha armies of Prithvi Narayan Shah. The valley was inscribed in 1979 and was on the List of World Heritage in Danger from 2003 to 2007. The earthquake of 25 April 2015 damaged 116 heritage sites in Bhaktapur alone, 67 of them completely.
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