Messel Pit Fossil Site
A former shale-oil mine that contains a wealth of remarkably well-preserved fossils from a 47-million-year-old Eocene ecosystem.
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Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France
Seventy-eight locations along four medieval pilgrimage routes leading to the Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
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The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur
A remarkable astronomical observatory with 19 large masonry instruments dating to the 18th century.
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Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi
A collection of stupas, temples and monasteries that make up the earliest Buddhist sanctuary in the world.
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Khajuraho Group of Monuments
Twenty-two 11th-century temples of the Chandela period, covered in exceptionally accomplished figurative stonework.
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Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi
Remnants of early Islamic India, including Northern India’s oldest mosque and a minaret that is the highest stone structure in India.
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Red Fort Complex
An outstanding example of Mughal architecture on a grand scale, with later British colonial additions.
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Fortifications of Vauban
12 sites designed for Louis XIV by the innovative military engineer Sebastien de Vauban in the late 17th-18th centuries.
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Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley
A collection of shelters used by prehistoric people, many containing impressive Paleolithic works of art.
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Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes
A railway route through the Swiss Alps that represents an outstanding early-20th-century engineering and architectural achievement.
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The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx (Hainaut)
A feat of hydraulic engineering from the Industrial Revolution, used to move vessels between very differing water levels.
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Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes (Mons)
A site dating to thousands of years ago where flint was mined to create axes and other tools.
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Cordouan Lighthouse
A grandiose 17th-century lighthouse meant both for navigation and for projecting an image of royal power.
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Vézelay, Church and Hill
A Romanesque masterpiece and the charming village around it, historically significant in terms of medieval Christianity.
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Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay
A monastic community whose ideals of poverty and self-sufficiency are reflected in the structures they built.
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Bourges Cathedral
A magnificent Gothic cathedral with stunning stained-glass windows.
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Abbey Church of Saint-Savin sur Gartempe
A Romanesque church painted with vivid murals dating to the 11th and 12th centuries, important in the study of medieval Christian art.
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Auschwitz Birkenau: German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945)
A Nazi extermination camp, now a place of remembrance of the atrocities committed by the Nazis in carrying out their so-called “Final Solution.”
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Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra
Two towns that exemplify vernacular urban architecture of the Ottoman era.
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The Ancient Town of Si Thep and its Associated Dvaravati Monuments
Remains of a town and other monuments dating to the Dvaravati Empire, origin of the Si Thep School of Art.
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Temple Zone of Sambor Prei Kuk, Archaeological Site of Ancient Ishanapura
A group of 6th-7th-century Hindu temples where the capital of the Chenla Empire once stood.
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Temple of Preah Vihear
An 11th-century Hindu temple complex in an isolated and dramatic location, with remarkably well-preserved architecture and art.
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Koh Ker: Archaeological Site of Ancient Lingapura or Chok Gargyar
10th-century temples from a short-lived capital city, origin of the Koh Ker style of sculpture.
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Archaeological Sites of Mycenae and Tiryns
Two sets of ruins from the Mycenaean civilization in the Peloponnese, which preceded the Ancient Greeks.
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Butrint
A little-known archeological site in southern Albania with ruins from centuries of occupiers.
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Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls
An ancient and disputed city, holy to three major religions.
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Byblos
Ruins of many layers of civilizations and the birthplace of the Phoenician alphabet.
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Baalbek
An astoundingly large and well-preserved Roman temple complex.
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Archaeological Site of Mystras
Atmospheric ruins of a complete Late Byzantine city.
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Anjar
Remains of an 8th-century Umayyad town that offers insight into Umayyad town planning and architecture.
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Tugendhat Villa in Brno
An outstanding example of Modern architecture of the 1920s, designed by Mies van der Rohe.
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The Great Spa Towns of Europe
Towns in seven countries where an early tourism industry thrived around natural hot springs.
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Shrines and Temples of Nikko
A complex of ornate and colorful religious buildings in a lovely forest setting.
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Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)
A UNESCO site for its symbolism and the hope it represents.
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The Porticoes of Bologna
An architectural element that, over centuries, has become an integral part of life in Bologna and around the world.
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Old City of Acre
An ancient walled city where Ottoman structures were built on top of a Crusader-era fortress.
