UNESCO World Heritage Sites Worth Visiting
We have all heard about UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but do we really know what that means? Here is a brief explanation if you are not quite sure.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. A World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as having special cultural or natural significance.
I have chosen to highlight 10, five on the list of which I have been lucky enough to visit!
Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa
The fossil hominid paleoanthropological sites are located about 50 km from Johannesburg, South Africa. The sites are home to the largest concentration of human ancestral remains anywhere in the world. The sites currently occupy 466 sq km and contains a complex system of limestone caves. The Sterkfontein Caves were the site of the discovery of a 2.3-million-year-old fossil nicknamed “Mrs. Ples”, which was found in 1947. The find helped corroborate the 1924 discovery of the juvenile skull known as the "Taung Child" in a site where excavations still continue. Nearby, the Rising Star Cave system contains the Dinaledi Chamber in which were discovered fifteen fossil skeletons of an extinct species provisionally named Homo naledi. Sterkfontein alone has produced more than a third of early hominid fossils ever found prior to 2010. The Dinaledi Chamber contains over 1,500 fossils, the most extensive discovery of a single hominid species ever found in Africa.
Taos Pueblo, Mesa Verde, New Mexico, USA
This Pueblo Indian settlement in northern New Mexico, consisting of ceremonial buildings and facilities, and multi-storey adobe dwellings built in terraced tiers, exemplifies the living culture of a group of present-day Pueblo Indian people at Taos Pueblo. As one of a series of settlements established in the late 13th and early 14th centuries in the valleys of the Rio Grande and its tributaries that have survived to the present day, Taos Pueblo represents a significant stage in the history of urban, community and cultural life and development in this region. Taos Pueblo has been continuously inhabited and is the largest of these Pueblos that still exist, with its North and South Houses rising to heights of five storeys. Taos Pueblo and the people of the Pueblo itself claim an aboriginal presence in the Taos Valley since time immemorial.
Masada, Israel
Masada, an archaeological site of great significance, is a dramatically located site of great natural beauty overlooking the Dead Sea, a rugged natural fortress on which the Judaean king Herod the Great (who reigned between 37 BCE and 4 CE) constructed a palace complex in classical Roman style. After Judaea became a province of the Roman Empire, it was the refuge of the last survivors of the Jewish revolt, who chose death rather than slavery when the Roman besiegers broke through their defences. Masada is an outstanding example of opulent architectural design, elaborately engineered and constructed in extreme conditions. The palace on the northern face of the dramatic mountain site consists of an exceptional group of classical Roman Imperial buildings. The water system was particularly sophisticated, collecting run-off water from a single day's rain to sustain life for a thousand people over a period of two to three years. This achievement allowed the transformation of a barren, isolated, arid hilltop into a lavish royal retreat.
L’Anse Aux Meadows, Canada
L’Anse aux Meadows is the first and only known site established by Vikings in North America and the earliest evidence of European settlement in the New World. The settlement contains the excavated remains of a complete 11th-century Viking settlement, the earliest evidence of Europeans in North America. Situated at the northern tip of Newfoundland, this exceptional archaeological site consists of eight wooden structures built in the same style as those found in Norse Greenland and Iceland from the same period. The buildings include three dwellings, and five workshops. Artifacts found at the site show evidence of activities including iron production and woodworking, likely used for ship repair, as well as indications that those who used the camp voyaged further south.
The Great Wall, China
The Great Wall was continuously built from the 3rd century BC to the 17th century AD on the northern border of the country as a great military defence. With a total length of more than 20,000 kilometres, The Great Wall begins in the east at Shanhaiguan in Hebei province and ends at Jiayuguan in Gansu province to the west. Its main body consists of walls, horse tracks, watch towers, and shelters on the wall, and includes fortresses and passes along the Wall. The Great Wall is an outstanding example of the superb military architecture, technology and art of ancient China. It embodies unparalleled significance as the national symbol for safeguarding the security of the country and its people.
Joggin’s Fossil Cliffs, Canada
The Joggins Fossil Cliffs, a palaeontological site along the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, have been described as the “coal age Galápagos” due to their wealth of fossils dating back 354 to 290 million years ago. The rocks of this site are considered to be iconic for this period of the history of Earth and are the world’s thickest and most comprehensive record dating back 318 to 303 million years with the most complete known fossil record of terrestrial life from that time. These include the remains and tracks of very early animals and the rainforest in which they lived, left intact and undisturbed. With its 14.7 km of sea cliffs, low bluffs, rock platforms and beach, the site groups remains of three ecosystems: estuarine bay, floodplain rainforest and fire prone forested alluvial plain with freshwater pools. It offers the richest assemblage known of the fossil life in these three ecosystems. The site is listed as containing outstanding examples representing major stages in the history of Earth.
Igauçu National Park, Brazil
The park shares with Iguazú National Park in Argentina one of the world’s largest and most impressive waterfalls, extending over some 2,700 m. It is home to many rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, among them the giant otter and the giant anteater. The clouds of spray produced by the waterfall are conducive to the growth of lush vegetation.
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia
This park, formerly called Uluru (Ayers Rock – Mount Olga) National Park, features spectacular geological formations that dominate the vast red sandy plain of central Australia. Uluru, an immense monolith, and Kata Tjuta, the rock domes located west of Uluru, form part of the traditional belief system of one of the oldest human societies in the world. The traditional owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta are the Anangu Aboriginal people. Traditional Anangu law, the Tjukurpa, is the foundation of the Anangu living cultural landscape associated with Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park. The Tjukurpa is an outstanding example of traditional law and spirituality and reflects the relationships between people, plants, animals and the physical features of the land.
Taj Mahal, India
The Taj Mahal is located on the bank of the Yamuna River in the Agra District in Uttar Pradesh. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal. Construction started in 1632 AD and completed in 1648 AD. The mosque, the guest house and the main gateway on the south, the outer courtyard and its cloisters were added subsequently and completed in 1653 AD. The existence of several historical inscriptions in Arabic script have facilitated setting the chronology of Taj Mahal. For its construction, masons, stone-cutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome builders and other artisans were requisitioned from the whole of the empire and also from the Central Asia and Iran.
Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
Ha Long Bay, located in the Gulf of Tonkin, in the northeast of Vietnam, is 165 km from the capital city of Ha Noi. Halong Bay includes over 1600 islands and islets, most of which are uninhabitated and forms a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars. The outstanding value of the property is centred around the drowned limestone landforms, displaying spectacular pillars with a variety of coastal erosional features such as arches and caves which form a majestic natural scenery. The repeated sea surf on the limestone over time has produced a mature landscape of clusters of peaks and towers adding an extra element of beauty to the islands.
Petra, Jordan
Situated between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea and inhabited since prehistoric times, the rock-cut capital city became, during Hellenistic and Roman times, a major trading route for incense of Arabia, the silks of China and the spices of India. Petra is half-built, half-carved into the rock, and is surrounded by mountains riddled with passages and gorges. An ingenious water management system allowed extensive settlement of an essentially arid area during the Nabataean, Roman and Byzantine periods. It is one of the world's richest and largest archaeological sites set in a dominating red sandstone landscape. The fusion of Hellenistic architectural facades with traditional Nabataean rock-cut temple/tombs including the Khasneh, the Urn Tomb, the Palace Tomb, the Corinthian Tomb and the Deir ("monastery") represents a unique artistic achievement and an outstanding architectural ensemble of the first centuries BC to AD.
It was 11 sites! I couldn’t help myself!!