UNESCO World Heritage

The world's most wondrous sights and sites manmade and natural, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe! In other words, to paraphrase the bestseller, more than 900 places to see before you die (better get hopping!).

And by the way, UNESCO World Heritage status is granted to not just places but also cultural traditions, crafts, and more - a veritable universe of experiences!

cover photo: Hans Reniers/Unsplash

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Petra, Jordan's jawdropping jewel

This legendary site tucked into the sandstone canyons of a valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba – one of those places, in fact, you could almost believe was invented as a set for an exotic Indiana Jones movie. And while Petra did in fact make a key and dramatic appearance in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, this is no film set. Instead, this fabled UNESCO World Heritage Site is a city hewn out of the living rock, with a history stretching back to the 2nd century AD but…

Started by David Paul Appell

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5 UNESCO Sites among ¨8 of Yemen´s Most Compelling Destinations´

Dan Significantly bigger than California and more than twice the size of the United Kingdom and this wedge of a country of 24 million on the Arabian Sea and running along the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula is troubled, to say the least – one of the world´s poorest countries and embroiled in a bitter, brutal civil war that makes it off limits to tourism for the moment. But it´s still well worth showcasing some of the wealth of historical, cultural, and natural riches Yemen has to…

Started by Max Pesling

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3 spectacular UNESCO sites in Libya

Luca Galuzzi - www.galuzzi.it The territory of what is today Libya, along with Algeria and Tunisia, was once part of ancient Rome´s second most prosperous region after Italy itself, beginning with the Roman Republic´s conquest of Carthage and the rest of the Punic Empire in 146 BCE and lasting until 439, when it was in turn conquered by Germanic Vandals. Its legacy (as well as that of ancient Greece, which had its own colonies along this coast) lives on today in some extraordinary…

Started by Riccardo R

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Martinique´s UNESCO World Heritage Mount Pelée

Just over a half hour up the coast from capital Fort-de-France, the town of St. Pierre was once considered the "Paris of the Caribbean" before it was buried by the 1902 eruption of nearby Pelée, the island´s highest peak at 4,583 feet (1,397 meters). And while a new town grew up nearby, visitors can explore the ruins of the old city, including a jail cell which protected of the eruption´s three survivors, and learn more at the Musée Volcanique. These days the volcano is calm (though still…

Started by David Paul Appell

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Riccardo R January 26, 2023 at 11:05am

Sadly, UNESCO just added three sites to its "endangered" list, in Lebananon (the 1962 trade fair grounds in Tripoli designed by Oscar Niemayer), Ukraine (Odesa's historic centre), and Yemen (kandmarks of the ancient Kingdom of Saba - the last two because of conflict, the first because of neglect/lack of maintenance: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/unesco-world-heritage-sites-...

Three sites 'in danger' added to UNESCO World Heritage List

The historic center of the Ukrainian port city of Odesa was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List as well as its list of sites "in danger" on Wednesd…
John Kipper November 24, 2022 at 11:28am

Last week the Washington Post recently marked the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Site program by publishing a look at two dozen sites in the USA: https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/11/16/unesco-world-herit...
David Paul Appell September 15, 2022 at 3:13pm

One of six UNESCO sites in Pakistan, in southeastern Sindh province a bit over six hours from Karachi, Moenjodaro dates back some 5,000 years to the Bronze Age, and is one of the world's oldest preserved human settlements: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/moenjodaro-pakistan-floods-i...

Pakistan UNESCO site Moenjodaro badly damaged by flooding

One of the world's oldest preserved human settlements has been significantly damaged by torrential rain in Pakistan as the country battles the worst…
José Balido August 28, 2022 at 2:25pm

Tourism to Algeria is still fairly under the radar, but apparently in the past decade the country still ranks in the top five most visited countries in Africa. And part of its allure, besides the welcoming people, is its many historic, cultural, and natural treasures - and there are no fewer than seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites here, with another six on the tentative list. Learn more about them at https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/dz/.

Algeria - UNESCO World Heritage Convention

Algeria - UNESCO World Heritage Convention
María José June 2, 2022 at 9:47am

Of the 1,154 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list to date, 52 in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East are currently listed as endangered for various reasons, including war/civil strife, environmental degradation, neglect, and encroachment by development which compromises some sites' historical/cultural integrity. Here's that troubled list: https://whc.unesco.org/en/danger/

UNESCO World Heritage Centre - List of World Heritage in Danger

UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Riccardo R May 10, 2022 at 11:29am

Plenty of non-Portuguese have heard of fado, but very few of this country's other UNESCO World Heritage song tradition, called "cante alentejano" - polyphonic, a capella, and named after the region where it originated, the Alentejo, which borders Spain. Here's a UNESCO video which gives a good overview: https://youtu.be/_Pn53uSYwOM
Jeffrey Kunst April 2, 2022 at 12:25pm

Samarkand is a UNESCO sites that's a fabled Silk Road "Crossroad of Cultures," and Uzbekh authorities have been restoring and rebuilding mosques, palaces, and other historic landmarks since Soviet times. But National Geographic recently reported that concerns about how they have been going about it in Samarkand have been coming increasingly to the fore. Read about the controversy here: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/the-controversy-b...

The controversy behind this Silk Road city’s ancient wonders

In Uzbekistan, debate simmers around whether restoration in Samarkand preserves or erases history.
Riccardo R March 17, 2022 at 6:40pm

An interesting video of about the royal palaces of Abomey, a UNESCO World Heritage. Located a three-hour drive inland from Benin's capital Porto-Novo and 2½ from its largest city Cotonou, the compound was the centre of the Dahomey kingdom which from 162 through the end of the 19th century became rich and powerful especially thanks to the transatlantic slave trade. Dahomey conquered surrounding peoples, then sold them to European slavers. It's a sobering reminder that the evils of chattel slavery were the responsibility not just of white Europeans by of black Africans victimising other black Africans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XinLxUEcYbU
Jeffrey Kunst February 20, 2022 at 12:18pm

In honor of Black History Month in the USA, MSN's Travel Noire channel cites top historic sites in sub-Saharan Africa, many inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list. https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/beyond-the-pyramids-of-e...
williams dayo December 14, 2015 at 11:42am

Have you ever been to Cote Divoire to visit Grand Bassam , a great old Unesco city.Come and visit this great place and you will love it