Tuesday, June 25, 2013

19 places have now been established as having Outstanding Universal Value

If you're looking to fill up a bucket list, now there are 19 more options of places you should go see! UNESCO (United Nation's Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization-the UN wants the world to be more edumicated!) yesterday added 19 more countries to its list of World Heritage Sites (Places that are important to preserve because of the site's cultural or physical significance. Of the sites that were just named, 5 were naturally and 14 were culturally significant. Here are the places that made the new list:

Natural Sites:
  • El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve
  • Mount Etna in Italy-Europe's largest active volcano
  • Mt. Fuji-highest mountain in Japan
  • Namib Sand Sea-costal desert in Namibia  
  • Xinjiang Tianshan -Mountain range on the boarder between China and Kyrgyzstan.
Historical Sites: 
  • Al Zubarah Archaeological Site-Qatar- Qatar's largest archeological site-excellent example of merchant town in the Gulf from the 18th/19th centuries
  • Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora-Ukraine- Remains of a city founded by the Dorian Greeks in the 5th century BC
  • Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe-Germany- Largest European hillside park
  • Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces-mountain terraces that feed farming systems that nourish buffalos, cattle, ducks, fish and eel
  • Fujisan- Japan-sacred place and source of artistic inspiration 
  • Golestan Palace-Iran-Former royal complex in Qajar, Iran
  • Hill Forts of Rajasthan- series of six forts
  • Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong- monuments from the Koryo Dynasty from the 10th to 14th centuries
  • Historic Centre of Agadez (Niger)- Important crossroad for the caravan trade at the
    southern edge of the Sahara desert
  • Levuka Historical Port Town-First colonial capital of Fiji 
  • Medici Villas and Gardens-Tuscany, Italy-Gardens that represent the Medici family's influence on Italy
  • Red Bay Basque Whaling Station: Canada-16th century Basque whaling station
  • University of Coimbra – Alta and Sofia-Portugal-public university established in 1290.
  •  Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine-Poland / Ukraine= Group of wooden Eastern Catholic/Orthodox churches
 Ultimately I think everything on the Earth is valuable and shouldn't be discounted.  I'm glad that UNESCO recognizes certain places in particular just to remind us that we live on a planet full of notable places!

No comments:

Post a Comment