It has been 20 years since the fist three sites from the Slovak Republic – Historic Town of Banská Štiavnica and the Technical Monuments in its Vicinity, Spiššký hrad and the Associated Cultural Monuments and Vlkolínec – were inscribed on the World Heritage List and equally, it has been 20 years since 9 February 1993 when the Slovak Repub- lic became a member state of UNESCO. What did this period mean for our World Heritage sites and what does our membership in UNESCO mean for the Slovak Republic? The author of this article attmpts to answer at least the fist question. Particular attntion is devoted to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (Convention), World Heritage List, World Heritage Fund, organizational structures for implementation of the Convention, its strategic goals, and the rights and obligations of the Convention member states. Currently, there are already seven sites from the Slovak Republic inscribed on the List, yet what has the ‘honour’ of the World Heritage brought to the individual sites? Firstly, their state of preservation has improved signifiantly, the quality of their protection and general legislation concerning the monuments fund has been enhanced, the system of the World Heritage monitoring has been created and the sites have been clearly delimitated. Secondly, the management of the World Cultural Heritage sites has been strengthened. The state of preservation of the World Cultural Heritage sites has signifiantly improved with the help of the Ministry of Culture specifid subsidy scheme – Let’s renew our house. Having organized numerous international events, the Slovak Republic has made itself visible also in the fild of education about the World Cultural Heritage. The conclusion of the article offrs a brief indication of the near future expectations in the fild of the World Cultural Heritage.