The Bahá’í terraces are a series of 19 gardens rising and descending along Mount Carmel around the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa. The completed terraces opened on 23 May 2001. UNESCO’s 2008 World Heritage inscription covers a wider set of Bahá’í holy places in Haifa and the Western Galilee, recognizing their spiritual meaning and their testimony to the faith’s pilgrimage tradition.
Nineteen terraces around the shrine
The gardens form a long landscaped approach to the Shrine of the Báb. One terrace sits level with the shrine, with nine above and nine below it. Stairs and water channels run along the central axis, while planted areas frame the shrine on the mountain slope. The design was led by architect Fariborz Sahba as part of a broader development of gardens and administrative buildings on Mount Carmel.
The Bahá’í World News Service’s account of the terraces gives the 19-terrace arrangement and notes that the gardens opened to the public in 2001. The date is also recorded in the Bahá’í community’s photographic archive.
What UNESCO included
On 8 July 2008, UNESCO inscribed “Bahá’i Holy Places in Haifa and the Western Galilee” on the World Heritage List. The property includes the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa, the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh near Acre, surrounding gardens, and associated buildings and monuments. UNESCO describes seven locations visited as part of Bahá’í pilgrimage; the inscription is broader than the Mount Carmel terraces alone.
UNESCO cites criteria (iii) and (vi): the sites provide testimony to the Bahá’í pilgrimage tradition and have religious meaning as tangible sacred places. Its official listing states the inscription date and explains the property’s scope. The designation recognizes the heritage value of the places; it does not determine political or legal status.
Visiting the gardens
The terraces are part of an active religious site and a public garden. The official Bahá’í World Centre information provides current visitor arrangements. For the connected history of the shrine itself, read how the Báb’s remains reached Haifa.