UNESCO was established after the World War II at a time of major reconstruction efforts. In the overall context of growing conflicts and intentional destruction in the twenty-first century, new debates and actions by the international community on “reconstruction” of cultural heritage in different contexts emerged. The paper reviews international doctrine and debates by the intergovernmental World Heritage Committee of the 1972 World Heritage Convention following the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan (Afghanistan). The intentional destruction of this important heritage site let also to actions by the international community and to the development of new legal instruments. The paper further retraces the history of the inscription of the site, which was at the time of the destruction not included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. In 2003 the World Heritage Committee inscribed the valley on both the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger as a World Heritage cultural landscape: the “Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley.” Finally, new and emerging debates around rehabilitation and reconstruction are highlighted.