World Heritage Sites

The UNESCO World Heritage List includes more than a thousand properties of outstanding universal value. They are all part of the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre is responsible for the World Heritage List. The first inscription was in 1978. Since then UNESCO has developed the criteria and added an average of 20-30 sites each year.

It includes 1,248 sites in 170 “States Parties” (countries). A site is categorised as cultural heritage (972 sites), natural (235) or a mix of the two (41 sites).

On this page you will get to learn more about the heritage sites and where they are. Moreover, Sandalsand’s large collection comes on display. There is a four-way path into this collection. First, on a map. Second, in a table. Third, in a video.

Fourth and last, but not least, there are links to articles on Sandalsand which describe each visited site.

The featured illustration with intricate carvings, is a detail from the Monastery of Batalha, Portugal.

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About the World Heritage Sites

Properties on the World Heritage List must (a) be of outstanding universal value and (b) meet at least one of the ten selection criteria. UNESCO writes that until the end of 2004, World Heritage sites were selected on the basis of six cultural and four natural criteria.

With the adoption of the revised Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, only one set of ten criteria exists. All ten criteria are listed below, however Sandalsand has added two headlines (culture and nature) because the set of criteria still relates to two sets.

Culture

(i) to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;

(ii) to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;

(iii) to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;

(iv) to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;

(v) to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;

(vi) to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);

The figures below illustrate how many times each Cultural criterion has been assigned. (Most properties score on two or more criteria; hence the large overall numbers.)

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

(v)

(vi)

Nature

(vii) to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;

(viii) to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth’s history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;

(ix) to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;

(x) to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

The figures below illustrate how many times each Nature criterion has been assigned.

(vii)

(viii)

(ix)

(x)

Some thoughts

An inscription on the World Heritage List is generally regarded as an honorary tribute. It will also boost both commercial and preservation activities in or at the site.

Step one is to raise an awareness worldwide to the importance of preserving these sites for future generations. The next step is to do something about it, in other words to set up a conservation plan for the site. The final step is to live by it. These are very demanding tasks for all parties, and there are undoubtedly both economic and culture factors at play here.

UNESCO’s sign is found on many World Heritage Sites. The one pictured here is from Bryggen, in Bergen, Norway.

Some sites have been removed from the list. There have also been controversies between the WHC and a country relating to the future development of the site (like a particular bridge in Germany). Other removals have been obvious because the criteria are no longer met (such as the extinction of a particular bird in Oman).

With these cases in mind, one should note that the WHC operates a list of 56 properties in danger (2024).

Relative distribution of sites

When we look at the full site map, we immediately notice the prevalence of sites in Europe and North America (in reality Europe mostly). Nonetheless, almost the entire world is covered. That is actually no little achievement for the world community.

The following illustrations follow the WHC categorisation of world regions and show the relative distribution of sites.

Arab States

Africa

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia and the Pacific

Europe and North America

About Sandalsand’s collection

It could be that “heritage tourism” is spreading along with the eco-tourism trend. Sandalsand has only in later years become conscious of it.

It was never my idea to become a collector of heritage sites, but I have nonetheless been to a large number. In recent years I have become more intent to visit a “world heritage” when I travel. I suppose that may be one of the purposes of such an official list in the first place.

In any case, I am not satisfied that I visited the pleasant town of Weimar in Germany without exploring the examples of Bauhaus architecture. Likewise, I went to the town of Pécs in Hungary without a look at the Early Christian Necropolis. (To my possible excuse: Neither of them was on the List at the time of my visit.)

Sandalsand’s own list of visited sites now counts 226 across 70 countries.

It is a representative summary of UNESCO’s. It covers the world, and the majority are in Europe. Also, it features sites in both (all) categories: 206 cultural, 14 natural, and 6 combined sites.

Read about each site in separate articles. They include:

The official and my personal descriptions of the site
A link to the official UNESCO web page
My photographs or video
A link to the article(s) describing the context of my visit(s)

The articles offer short introductions to fabulous destinations around the world. Enjoy!

Sites on YouTube

Watch this Youtube playlist with 73 videos from heritage sites.

Drag and zoom on the map below to find sites visited by Sandalsand in more detail. Click on a marker to reveal the name and open the article about it. You will find the same links further down this page. Find all WHC sites on another Sandalsand map.

I had my doubts what to do with Liverpool. It was once a World Heritage Site, but was delisted by UNESCO following a controversy with the city authorities. It is my hope it will be re-enlisted some time in the near future, so I have kept the article. However, I removed it from this map as well as from the table below.

Here are the same sites in a table but with less information compared to the map markers above. Show more rows at a time, sort the table as you like, or search for a specific term. Click on a link to open that particular post.

Official Number and Title of Site	Country or countries
#0002 – City of Quito	Ecuador
#0020 – Ancient City of Damascus	Syria
#0021 – Ancient City of Aleppo	Syria
#0023 – Site of Palmyra	Syria
#0029 – Cracow’s Historic Centre	Poland
#0030 – Historic Centre of Warsaw	Poland
#0031 – Auschwitz Birkenau – German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945)	Poland
#0032 – Wieliczka Salt Mine	Poland
#0055 – Røros Mining Town and the Circumference	Norway
#0058 – Urnes Stave Church	Norway
#0059 – Bryggen	Norway
#0080 – Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay	France
#0083 – Palace and Park of Versailles	France
#0086 – Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur	Egypt
#0087 – Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis	Egypt
#0089 – Historic Cairo	Egypt
#0091 – Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura	Holy See, Italy
#0093 – Santa Maria delle Grazie (Last SupperÂ by Leonardo da Vinci)	Italy
#0095 – Old City of Dubrovnik	Croatia
#0099 – Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region	Albania, North Macedonia
#0100 – Durmitor National Park	Montenegro
#0121 – Kathmandu Valley	Nepal
#0124 – Historic Town of Ouro Preto	Brazil
#0125 – Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor	Montenegro
#0131 – City of Valletta	Malta
#0148 – Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls	Palestina, Israel
#0169 – Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square	Germany
#0174 – Historic Centre of Florence	Italy
#0204 – Old Havana and its Fortifications	Cuba
#0217 – Ancient City of Nessebar	Bulgaria
#0228 – Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge	France
#0232 – Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi	India
#0233 – Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi	India
#0247 – Hill Forts of Rajasthan	India
#0251 – Agra Fort	India
#0252 – Taj Mahal	India
#0255 – Fatehpur Sikri	India
#0260 – Sangay National Park	Ecuador
#0263 – Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon	Portugal
#0264 – Monastery of Batalha	Portugal
#0267 – Old City of Berne	Switzerland
#0271 – Pilgrimage Church of Wies	Germany
#0272 – Hanseatic City of Lübeck	Germany
#0273 – City of Cuzco	Peru
#0274 – Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu	Peru
#0284 – Chitwan National Park	Nepal
#0286 – Vatican City	Holy See
#0292 – Cologne Cathedral	Germany
#0300 – Historic District of Old Québec	Canada
#0307 – Statue of Liberty	United States of America
#0313 – Historic Centre of Córdoba	Spain
#0314 – Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada	Spain
#0316 – Burgos Cathedral	Spain
#0320 – Works of Antoni Gaudí	Spain
#0326 – Petra	Jordan
#0344 – Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct)	France
#0351 – Painted Churches in the Troodos Region	Cyprus
#0352 – Rock Art of Alta	Norway
#0356 – Historic Areas of Istanbul	Türkiye
#0357 – Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia	Türkiye
#0361 – Historic Centre of Évora	Portugal
#0367 – Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier	Germany
#0369 – Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast	United Kingdom
#0373 – Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites	United Kingdom
#0378 – Mudejar Architecture of Aragon	Spain
#0383 – Cathedral, Alcazar and Archivo de Indias in Seville	Spain
#0392 – Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae	Greece
#0393 – Archaeological Site of Delphi	Greece
#0394 – Venice and its Lagoon	Italy
#0395 – Piazza del Duomo, Pisa	Italy
#0400 – Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrassy Avenue	Hungary
#0404 – Acropolis, Athens	Greece
#0426 – Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret’s Church	United Kingdom
#0428 – City of Bath	United Kingdom
#0430 – Frontiers of the Roman Empire	United Kingdom, Germany
#0438 – The Great Wall	China
#0439 – Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang	China
#0441 – Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor	China
#0455 – Meteora	Greece
#0460 – Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios	Cuba
#0479 – Town of Luang Prabang	Laos
#0485 – Hierapolis-Pamukkale	Türkiye
#0488 – Tower of London	United Kingdom
#0491 – Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus	Greece
#0495 – Strasbourg – Grande île	France
#0500 – Historic Centre of Lima	Peru
#0505 – Monastery of Alcobaca	Portugal
#0509 – Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls	Zambia, Zimbabwe
#0511 – Archaeological Site of Mystras	Greece
#0517 – Archaeological Site of Olympia	Greece
#0518 – Poblet Monastery	Spain
#0522 – Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Ubeda and Baeza	Spain
#0527 – Kiev: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kiev-Pechersk Lavra	Ukraine
#0532 – Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin	Germany
#0537 – Monasteries of Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios	Greece
#0541 – Vilnius Historic Centre	Lithuania
#0543 – Itchan Kala	Uzbekistan
#0545 – Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow	Russia
#0550 – Historic Centre of San Gimignano	Italy
#0558 – Skogskyrkogården	Sweden
#0559 – Royal Domain of Drottningholm	Sweden
#0569 – Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra	Albania
#0576 – Historic City of Ayutthaya	Thailand
#0583 – Fortress of Suomenlinna	Finland
#0600 – Paris, Banks of the Seine	France
#0601 – Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-RÃ©mi and Palace of Tau, Reims	France
#0602 – Historic Centre of Bukhara	Uzbekistan
#0603 – Samarkand – Crossroad of Cultures	Uzbekistan
#0616 – Historic Centre of Prague	Czech Republic
#0617 – Historic Centre of Cesky Krumlov	Czech Republic
#0623 – Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System	Germany
#0625 – Mir Castle Complex	Belarus
#0657 – Architectural Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad	Russia
#0668 – Angkor	Cambodia
#0688 – Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)	Japan
#0689 – As-Salt – The Place of Tolerance and Urban Hospitality	Jordan
#0696 – Kronborg Castle (Kronborg Slot)	Denmark
#0699 – City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortifications	Luxembourg
#0707 – Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa	China
#0717 – Historic Centre of Siena	Italy
#0722 – Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras	Philippines
#0723 – Cultural Landscape of Sintra	Portugal
#0724 – Medieval Monuments in Kosovo	Kosovo (Serbia)
#0730 – Crespi d’Adda	Italy
#0738 – Jongmyo Shrine	South Korea
#0754 – Lake Baikal	Russia
#0755 – Historic Centre of Oporto	Portugal
#0775 – Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)	Japan
#0776 – Itsukushima Shinto Shrine	Japan
#0784 – Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg	Austria
#0786 – Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn	Austria
#0789 – Historic Centre of the City of Pienza	Italy
#0795 – Maritime Greenwich	United Kingdom
#0805 – San Millán Yuso and Suso Monasteries	Spain
#0816 – Changdeokgung Palace Complex	South Korea
#0822 – Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn	Estonia
#0840 – Vinales Valley	Cuba
#0846 – Classical Weimar	Germany
#0847 – Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork	Poland
#0852 – Historic Centre of Riga	Latvia
#0855 – Flemish Béguinages	Belgium
#0857 – La Grand-Place, Brussels	Belgium
#0870 – Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara	Japan
#0875 – Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco	Spain
#0880 – Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing	China
#0881 – Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing	China
#0885 – Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz	Uzbekistan
#0896 – Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin	Germany
#0933 – The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes	France
#0934 – Laurisilva of Madeira	Portugal
#0941 – Archaeological Sites of Mycenae and Tiryns	Greece
#0943 – Belfries of Belgium and France	Belgium
#0946 – Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar	Bosnia and Herzegovina
#0959 – Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaiso	Chile
#0971 – Churches of Chiloe	Chile
#0973 – Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve	Slovakia
#0988 – Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí	Spain
#0990 – Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites	Italy
#0996 – Historic Centre of Brugge	Belgium
#0998 – Central Amazon Conservation Complex	Brazil
#1004 – Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties	China
#1005 – Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels)	Belgium
#1018 – Ephesus	Türkiye
#1026 – Val d’Orcia	Italy
#1033 – Historic Centre of Vienna	Austria
#1046 – Alto Douro Wine Region	Portugal
#1066 – Upper Middle Rhine Valley	Germany
#1067 – Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar	Germany
#1084 – Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew	United Kingdom
#1097 – Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent	Russia
#1100 – Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea	Brazil
#1110 – Historic Centre of Macao	China
#1133 – Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe	Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine
#1143 – Vegaøyan – The Vega Archipelago	Norway
#1152 – Thingvellir National Park	Iceland
#1187 – Struve Geodetic Arc	Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Sweden, Ukraine
#1192 – Qal’at al-Bahrain – Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun	Bahrain
#1195 – West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord	Norway
#1196 – Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh	Belarus
#1202 – Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos	Cuba
#1217 – Vizcaya Bridge	Spain
#1221 – Rideau Canal	Canada
#1229 – Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din	Syria
#1230 – Sulaiman-Too Sacred Mountain	Kyrgyzstan
#1239 – Berlin Modernism Housing Estates	Germany
#1240 – Stari Grad Plain	Croatia
#1245 – San Marino Historic Centre and Mount Titano	San Marino
#1248 – South China Karst	China
#1270 – Historic Centre of Camagüey	Cuba
#1278 – Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong	North Korea
#1298 – Stoclet House	Belgium
#1308 – Paraty and Ilha Grande – Culture and Biodiversity	Brazil
#1313 – Heritage of Mercury. Almadén and Idrija	Slovenia, Spain
#1319 – Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty	South Korea
#1321 – The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement	Argentina, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Japan, Switzerland
#1329 – At-Turaif District in ad-Dir’iyah	Saudi Arabia
#1338 – The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur	India
#1349 – Seventeenth-century canal ring area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht	Netherlands
#1361 – Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah	Saudi Arabia
#1363 – Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps	Slovenia
#1364 – Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy	Bahrain
#1387 – University of Coimbra – Alta and Sofia	Portugal
#1418 – Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration	Japan
#1427 – Mount Etna	Italy
#1430 – Namib Sand Sea	Namibia
#1432 – Okavango Delta	Botswana
#1433 – Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem	Palestina
#1433 – The Grand Canal	China
#1452 – Bursa and Cumalikisik, the Birth of the Ottoman Empire	Türkiye
#1457 – Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape	Türkiye
#1486 – Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site	Norway
#1504 – Stećci Medieval Tombstones Graveyards	Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia
#1533 – Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th Centuries: Stato da Terra – Western Stato da Mar	Croatia, Italy, Montenegro
#1542 – Dilmun Burial Mounds	Bahrain
#1564 – Al-Ahsa Oasis, an Evolving Cultural Landscape	Saudi Arabia
#1588 – Bagan	Myanmar
#1605 – Jaipur City, Rajasthan	India
#1613 – Great spa towns of Europe	United Kingdom
#1618 – Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro, a landscape of Arts and Sciences	Spain
#1635 – Nice, Winter Resort Town of the Riviera	France
#1643 – The works of Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana – Human Centred Urban Design	Slovenia
#1676 – Human Rights, Liberation and Reconciliation: Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites	South Africa
#1708 – Via Appia. Regina Viarum	Italy
#1714 – Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble Exhibiting the Ideal Order of the Chinese Capital	China
#1726 – The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Schachen and Herrenchiemsee	Germany
#1748 – Cambodian Memorial Sites: From centres of repression to places of peace and reflection	Cambodia

Spain - Catalonia - Tarragona - Roman Amphitheater - Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco

It is not down in any map; true places never are.

Herman Melville

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