history

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kronborg Castle

A symbol of Denmark’s former power as it guarded the narrow entrance to the Baltic Sea. Shakespeare’s inspiration for Elsinore.

Two large rocks, each with runes carved into it, each in a separate glass-sided case.

Jelling Mounds, Runic Stones and Church

The place where King Harald Bluetooth in 965 AD declared Denmark a unified country and announced its Christianization.

In the foreground, the edge of the Great Pit. Beyond that, a row of buildings painted light yellow. The one in the middle is larger than the others, 3 stories with a mansard roof (green copper) and a cupola in the center of the roof. On either side are smaller, simpler yellow buildings with 2 stories. Beyond these buildings is the cluster of the town with a church steeple and in the background are some low hills with what may be a ski jump on the nearest one.

Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun

Remains of a copper mining area that influenced the mining industry worldwide.

The painting is curved at the top, with lots of blue and green. It depicts a very fanciful version of Stockholm, with three grand-looking white churches with turrets and a jumble of smaller white buildings around it., along with scattered very tall trees

Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland

Fancifully decorated farmhouses built for special occasions by prosperous farmers.

Independence Hall

Considered the birthplace of the United States, where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.

Looking up at the white castle with curved roof lines at every story, not just the top.

Himeji-Jo

A magnificent bright white castle dating to the 17th century.

In the foreground, a pond. Beyond the pond, a mosque: very symmetrical, with a gold dome on its top and two tall minarets, one on each front corner of the building. Porticos extending out both sides of the building.

Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex

The first capital of the Golden Horde, a place of historical cultural exchange, and still a pilgrimage destination for Tatar Muslims.

A large building with typical curved roof and festooned with colorful banners.

Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara

A collection of ancient Buddhist and Shinto shrines in the old capital of the Japanese empire.

Gothic arches, flying buttresses, and 3 pointed spires on the roof.

Kutná Hora: Historical Town Centre with the Church of St Barbara and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec

An intact medieval town center and two fine late-Gothic churches.

A number of stupas scattered across a flat landscape.

Bagan

An archeological zone of thousands of Buddhist structures dating to the 11th-13th centuries.

3 houses in the photo, all with an arcade across the ground floor. The central one has ornate decorations on white on gray and an unusual stepped gable.

Historic Centre of Telč

A stunningly beautiful central plaza lined with charming pastel houses.

The top of Assumption cathedral: red brick with shiny silver-colored roofs on the turrets and the domes.

Assumption Cathedral and Monastery of the town-island of Sviyazhsk

A fortified monastery used by Ivan the Terrible in his efforts to defeat the Muslim Khanate of Kazan.

A river crosses the bottom of the picture. On the banks are two buildings: a white two-story house with a series of five gables., and a small white church with a simple spire. Behind them is a flat plain, rocky in places, covered in green in others. A rift in the land is visible crossing the plain.

Þingvellir National Park

Historically important to the nation of Iceland, geologically dramatic as well.

Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco

A centuries-old city center and an ancient agricultural area of canals and floating islands.

Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen Itza

Ancient Mayan ruins in the Yucatan.

View of Prague Castle rising above the old city, as seen from across the river.

Historic Center of Prague

Famous for its astronomical clock, Charles Bridges, picturesque view of Prague Castle and the sheer beauty of the preserved architecture found all over the city.