history

A cobbled street curves ahead, lined by simple two-story houses, each covered in plaster and painted a pastel white or brown.

Jewish Quarter and St Procopius’ Basilica in Třebíč

A historical Jewish neighborhood and a Catholic Basilica illustrate how Jews and Christians co-existed peacefully.

The front of a palace: a symmetrical facade about 3 stories high. It's made of light pinkish stone, ornately carved and/or painted. The central entrance is arched, with a slight point at the top of the arch and a smaller arched doorway within.

Jaipur City, Rajasthan

A planned 18th-century walled city, famous for its pink architecture.

Closeup of the top of an archway and the wall above it. Every inch is carved with extremely detailed decorations : swirls and complicated shapes, along with some Arabic writing.

Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada

A remarkably well-preserved complex of medieval Muslim architecture mixing Moorish and Spanish elements.

The fortress walls on the left, with rounded towers flanking a gate. A stone bridge with multiple arches leads into the gate. Along the wall are two further round guard towers with pointed roofs.

Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne

A classic medieval fortified town with intact walls, a castle, and a Gothic cathedral.

On the left, the facade of a large building, perhaps a church, made of stone with a flat facade but decorative windows. Straight ahead, a view over the red roofs of the city.

Historic Centre of Oporto

A beautiful urban landscape with diverse historical architecture in a range of styles.

A view along a row of buildings in Hoi An, all one or two stories tall, with a flat-topped facade. They're painted in shades of light orange and are very colorful with chains of mostly red paper lanterns hanging down their facades and draped across and above the street as well.

Hoi An Ancient Town

An ancient and well-preserved trading port with traditional wooden buildings that show the traces of indigenous, Chinese, Japanese and European influences.

A pretty row of single story houses: all painted white but with bright paint of various colors around windows and doors.

Paraty and Ilha Grande – Culture and Biodiversity

Colonial architecture, traditional communities, and large and richly diverse nature reserves.

A low-ceilinged room, carved out of rock. At the back are two archways (carved, not built). Two people stand in the left-hand archway, showing that the height is about twice a human's height. The right-hand one is larger, and through it more rough-hewn space can be seen in another "room."

Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum

A mysterious underground burial site dating to 4000 BC.

A row of houses, each painted a different color, mostly in shades of yellows, whites and reds. Each is 3 stories with a peaked roof. The line a wharf where boats are docked..

Bryggen

A beautifully-preserved area of wooden houses and warehouses, once part of the Hanseatic League international trading network.

A palace: not huge, but elegant. Two stories, plus another under the roof, which has a small cupola-like tower in the middle. The walls are yellow with white trim.

Classical Weimar

An influential cultural center in the late 18th and early 19th century as demonstrated today in the quality of its architecture and parks.

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.