Blog | Page 12 of 13 | World Heritage Sites

A bright yellow temple with curving roofs on each story, standing on the shore of a lake.

Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, Uji and Otsu

A set of 17 sites comprising culturally-significant religious architecture and landscaped gardens.

City of Cuzco

Imperial city of the ancient Incas high in the Andes mountains.

Two elephants walking from left to right of the picture. The nearer one has white tusks.

Serengeti National Park

A huge richly-diverse wildlife reserve where the world’s largest animal migration takes place.

In the foreground, stone walls with people walking along the tops. In the background the modern city skyline with its skyscrapers.

Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments, Cartagena

An excellent example of colonial military architecture in an important location for Caribbean exploration and trade.

A young man dressed in walking clothes and carrying a small backpack passes a sign reading "Santiago de la Compostela 790"

Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain

Ancient long-distance pilgrimage routes, still walked today.

The castle is perched on a hill, with a single square tower in its middle. The left'hand wing is brick and/or stone, while the right-hand wing is white plaster with exposed timber beams.

Wartburg Castle

An imposing castle, important because of its role in Martin Luther’s life.

A view of part of the waterfall: the tops of trees in the foreground, in the middle distance a wooden walkway winds over a flat part of the falls, in the background a wall of white falling water coming off a wide flat cliff.

Iguaçu National Park

Biodiverse subtropical rainforest with a spectacular waterfall system.

A boat floats on the greenish-blue water against a bright blue sky. The water is calm and the boat is not moving. It has perhaps 8 people on it. In the water, nearer to the camera, a dolphin can be seen, partly emerging from the water.

Sian Ka’an

A biosphere reserve with a range of ecosystems hosting tremendously diverse fauna and flora.

Looking down a wide path to a large palace: several stories high, it extends past the edges of the photo on both sides. Above the center is a large copper dome.

Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin

An ensemble of stately palaces dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, along with their extensive gardens.

A pretty yellow building with two storeys facing on a pleasant square with greenery and a fountain.

Historic Centre of Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca

A beautiful Spanish colonial city that shows successful blending of cultures.

A very narrow street, only wide enough for 2 people, with whitewashed houses on either side. The houses are painted blue up to about halfway up, and white above that.

Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City: a Shared Heritage

A city that combines old and new: modern town planning that incorporates traditional cultural values.

A view from above of a light brown landscape, like a desert. A few roads cut through it and to the right of them, an outline of a bird with a long beak and lots of simple wing and tail feathers. Below that is the shadow of the airplane.

Lines and Geoglyphs of Nazca and Palpa

Huge images and straight lines drawn in the desert by pre-Columbian people.

Sunset over buildings (and one taller tower).

Stone Town of Zanzibar

An historic port city of multiple cultural and architectural influences as a result of its importance in the slave trade.

A pyramid on a hill on the left, with a steep stairway up to it. The stairway continues down the hill, in a series of steep stairways with landings between them. Large walls support the sides of the hill, also made of stone. A few areas low on the hill have brown roofs sheltering whatever ruins are underneath.

Tikal National Park

Pre-Columbian Mayan ruins deep in the rainforest, important in terms of both archeology and biodiversity.

A shoreline of reddish sand, looking down the beach with water on the right and a red cliff on the left. A camper van is parked on the sand.

Shark Bay, Western Australia

A unique natural environment of dramatic landscapes and ecosystems representing evolutionary history.

A path through dense growth, including what looks like fern trees on the right hanging over the path. The narrow path has a shallow channel cut next to it through which water flows.

Laurisilva of Madeira

Old-growth laurel forests, important for hydrological balance and biodiversity.

A large coral, looking like a messy sort of leafy thing, against a background of blue water.

Ningaloo Coast

A remote place of rugged beauty in its fringing reef and its arid mountains, gorges and canyons.

A scene of mountains covered with green growth with, in the foreground a hawk flying.

Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia

Where the best coffee in the world is produced: a stunning and culturally rich region set in the heart of Colombia.

A section of Versailles gardens, with neatly-rimmed evergreens in a conical shape, low hedges in curved lines and very colorful flowers between the hedges.

Palace and Park of Versailles

Elegant and grand 17th-century royal residence and park, seat of the French monarchy from Louis XIV to Louis XVI.

A row of low white buildings with occasional archways in the wall in front of them sit on the edge of a lake. The lake water is absolutely still, so the houses are mirrored perfectly in the water.

Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui – Xidi and Hongcun

Picture-perfect traditional rural villages, unchanged since the feudal period.

An ornate gate (without doors): red roof with curved roof lines, supported by 4 red pillars, with decorative painting under the roof. Beyond that, a neat grass-covered mound.

Complex of Koguryo Tombs

Underground burial chambers, some with bright wall paintings, that offer insight into Korea’s Korguryo kingdom.

Front view of Leon Cathedral: white plaster, symmetrical and only two storeys, wider than it is high. An arched roof in the center, squat turrets on either side.

León Cathedral

A cathedral that mixed European and regional influences in a new Latin American society.

The building has an arched portico along the ground floor, decorative statues and other decoration between the windows on the upper floor, three decorative gables in front of the green roof, the middle gable the largest.

Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of Bremen

Testimony to civic autonomy and market freedoms of a Hanseatic League city.

The entrance to the cave is set into the side of a hill. The cave is quite large, perhaps 2-3 stories tall, judging by the people standing right inside the entrance., and has four very large square columns holding up the wide rectangular entrance.

Elephanta Caves

Caves devoted to the Hindu deity Shiva, containing art dating to the 5th and 6th centuries.

An image of Jesus washing the feet of the apostles. The Apostles are grouped on the right, int robes of blue and capes of red or white. They have halos around their heads. Jesus is on the left, washing the feet of a man who is presumably sitting, but the painting is rather unsophisticated so the man just looks smaller than the others, who are standing.

Wooden Churches of Maramureş

Elegant timber-built church architecture, filled with bright vernacular religious imagery.

A large ceremonial hall at Changdeokgung Palace: 2 levels of curved roofs, typical of traditional Korean buildings. The walls and window frames below the lower roof and between it and the top roof are painted in bright colors. Stone steps lead up to the ground floor.

Changdeokgung Palace Complex

An exceptional example of Korean palace architecture and design in harmony with the surrounding landscape.

looking along a "road" between two rows of small red houses with white trim. The road is grassy. At the end of the road is a tall white church tower.

Church Town of Gammelstad, Luleå

A perfectly-preserved example of a phenomenon unique to rural Sweden: a town shaped by religious and social necessity.

A relatively flat area in front, then a range of humped rock formation, mostly red with horizontal striations of color

Purnululu National Park

A very remote location with dramatic beehive rock formations.

Statue of Liberty

A potent symbol for Americans and the world, representing freedom and democracy.

A gnarled tree and its roots grow on top of and around a piece of a ruined temple. Walls of the temple are behind.

Angkor

Evocative archeological site with 1000+ temples testifying to an exceptional civilization.

Aerial view of an island: rocky and mountainous, with round coves with very blue water. A cluster of boats are moored in one of the coves.

Komodo National Park

Beautiful home to the Komodo dragon and a richly biodiverse conservation area.

On a gray rock, dark red line drawings: several look like they might be boats, with people in them, or perhaps they're showing oars sticking up. A few human figures at the top holding items: a long stick, perhaps, a gourd or shield. Several 4-legged animals too.

Rock Carvings in Tanum

A collection of ancient petroglyphs dating back to the Bronze Age.

A solitary small house in a hill covered in short grasses, against a sunset sky.

Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland

An island known for its biodiversity, prehistoric ruins, and ancient agrarian landscape.

A view along a valley in Yosemite, trees in the valley, sheer rock face on the opposite side.

Yosemite National Park

Bedrock eroded by glaciers makes for an exceptionally beautiful natural environment of cliffs, sequoia groves, waterfalls and meadows.

Side view of the cathedral, with the spires at the right and a side entrance in front. Incredibly ornate in typical gothic style, with gothic arched windows, flying buttresses and elaborate sculptural details around every available surface.

Cologne Cathedral

An undisputed masterpiece of Gothic architecture.

A church, seen from the side and behind. The right-hand end (the back of the church) is round and brick, with Gothic arched windows in a line around the curve. To the left, the front of the church is painted white, and has a big square spire, also white except for its dark roof.

Historic Centre of Tallinn

An intact medieval fortified city.