Brazil's Theatro da Paz and Teatro Amazonas added to UNESCO World Heritage list

UNESCO added Brazil's Theatro da Paz and Teatro Amazonas to its World Heritage list on Monday, recognising two Amazon region theatres linked to the rubber boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Theatro da Paz is in Belem and the Teatro Amazonas is in Manaus. UNESCO said the buildings were a legacy of the Amazon region's “Golden Age” and had played a significant role during the rubber boom from 1879 to 1912.

The World Heritage recognition also extends to the theatres' public squares, Praca da Republica in Belem and Largo de Sao Sebastiao in Manaus.

UNESCO said the French architecture-inspired ensembles were designed as symbols of political and urban ambition. It said Theatro da Paz and Praca da Republica asserted Belem's strategic role as a port and state capital, while Teatro Amazonas was part of Manaus's large-scale urban development during the rubber boom.

The boom brought major wealth to the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest. Historians also say it brought forced labour that decimated Indigenous populations in the region.