UNESCO's World Heritage Commission removed the Cologne Cathedral from the endangered list after authorities in the western German city scaled down plans to build high-rise buildings near the site and made improvements to the way the area surrounding the cathedral is managed, UNESCO said in a statement.

The famed, 13th-century Gothic cathedral, on which construction was begun in 1248 and completed in 1880, dominates Cologne's skyline. The UN agency named the cathedral a World Heritage Site in 1996, but placed it on the endangered list in 2004. UNESCO argued that four multi-storey buildings being installed across the Rhine River could block dramatic views of the cathedral and ruin the skyline.

New sites could go on the endangered list

The other sites the committee took off the endangered list include Hampi in India, Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary in the west African state of Senegal and Ichkeul National Park in Tunisia.

With the four sites removed from the list, the number of World Heritage in Danger sites shrank from 34 to 30, but the numbers could go back up again, an official of the UN cultural body said.

UNESCO's World Heritage List, created in 1972, includes some 812 sites around the world, from the Giza pyramids in Egypt to the Great Wall of China.

The World Heritage Commission has been meeting since last week in Vilnius, Lithuania. The meeting is due to close on July 16.