On 4th December 1997 Torun was included to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The report by a Lithuanian professor Jonas Glemza, who paid an expert visit to Torun in October 1996, confirms the extraordinary high standard of Torun’s Old Town and strongly points out its Medieval and Gothic legacy. The following are the most important remarks:

• The valuable architecture of the historical city – medieval churches, the Town Hall – represent the masterpieces of human craftsmanship genius. They meet all the requirements of medieval system of fortification (walls, gates, the castle ruins, the location of the Old and New Town).
  
  
• In Torun, there are 6 monuments of class 0, 50 of class 1, and 270 of class 2.
  
  
• Torun has been placed on a list of the seven historical centres in Poland.
  
  
• The Old and New Town are part of the nomination (both are the clear examples of medieval arrangement of town), so are the ruins of the Teutonic Knights’ Castle.
  
  
• The criteria for the nomination include: the history of the medieval city, its particular scientific developments, and the significance of the city for the Province of Pomerania.
  
  
• Torun is an excellent example of a medieval river port, which used to connect Poland, Germany, Prussia, Scandinavia, and Lithuania.
  
  
• In the Old and New Town districts many authentic valuable Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings have been well preserved.
  
  
• Torun has also a valuable double-ring system of town fortifications, erected by Prussians – a 19th century monument of a defensive architecture.
  
  
• Among other cities of the Hanseatic League, Torun is a unique place, because here Nicholas Copernicus, one of the greatest scientists of all times, was born.