This weekend, we are introducing a new feature to our maps of WHS: Points of Interest (POIs). These are spots to visit in or near a WHS, based on insider tips aimed at the WH Traveller.

A feature on the WHS maps

These POIs will be added to maps of WHS only, so they are not visible on any other maps on this website.

They will, of course, not replace the formal location(s) of the WHS, as determined by UNESCO or found by us where the info was lacking, the so-called Community Identified Locations. The formal locations can be recognized by their bright colours: a blue monument for a cultural WHS, a green tree for a natural WHS, and a purple mountain for a mixed WHS.

Note: these formal location(s) will in the future be shown as Core Zones, which will demarcate the full inscribed area. This is a long-term project, however, so most WHS locations for the time being will solely be marked as a colourful dot on the map.

The POIs

With the migration, we have already added over 1,000 plaque locations as POIs to our maps of WHS. The plaques are representative of the idea of POIs, as they are only of interest to the avid WH Traveller and you will not find them on any other map.

But we want more: specific Insider Tips that are of interest to WH Travellers.

We don’t need to point out where the railway station is, or the location of the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre – you can find that on any map. We are looking for recommended places to make your visit to a WHS more worthwhile and give it more depth. It does not need to be an exhaustive inventory: pick the spots you'd show to a visiting WH Traveller.

Think of the following categories:

• Entrance or access points that aren’t obvious, even going so far as the address of the “Lady with a key” to get access to that remote church.
• A particularly useful visitor center.
• A museum that is unmissable to understand the WHS.
• A scenic viewpoint or panorama.
• A key monument, or a quirky one that has been described in one of the connections.
• Transportation tips – that one bus stop, the right place to hitch a ride, or free parking.
• Food and accommodation tips: where to taste that local specialty, or the historic building where you can stay the night in the core zone.

Examples

A full example has been elaborated by Nan regarding his hometown WHS, Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District. You can see it when you go to the map on its site page.

The core zone is also indicated here, recognizable by the transparent blue layer. All dark grey icons indicate POIs. As you can see, POIs can also be outside the core zone if relevant. In this case, the harbour icons mark the departure point of the boat trips.

If you click on the icons on the map on the site page, you can view tips on how to get inside the main buildings, get on a tour boat and where to get the best views. We can also store location-specific photos.

Other site maps with POIs that we have already prepared are:

• Old City of Québec (thanks to Frédéric): with the main highlights, the best viewpoints and a great place for a Quebecois lunch.
• Umm Al-Jimal: with a focus on transport options.
• Berlin Modernism Housing Estates with POIs and transport options.
• Champaner-Pavagadh: focusing on the logistics between the different components.

How to submit ideas

Given the huge amount of work required to collect map data for all sites, we want to make this a community task. For now, there are three ways you can suggest a Point of Interest:

1. Name the location in your review. I will then add it to the map.
2. Add a suggestion in the newly created Forum topic for this purpose.
3. Or, cover a whole WHS by yourself if you are a connoisseur of a specific WHS (e.g., if you live inside Historic Vienna, or have just revisited Petra, or have made a lifetime study of Mediterranean Rock Art).

The POIs suggested in #2 and #3 need the exact locations (geographic coordinates or physical address), a title and a very short description each.

For the more advanced in geoadata: if you want to edit your maps directly, you have two choices:

1. Provide a geojson file (one file per site). There are several free online editors.
2. For selected users, we may also share the admin interface and allow for direct edits.

We also have a dedicated WhatsApp group dealing with our maps.

Last but not least, one of the reasons for the migration was to enable better data and more community collaboration. We feel POIs are a key step in this direction.

Last Tuesday, Yemen’s new tentative list was published on the UNESCO website. It contained no less than 31 new entries. This was a remarkable event as (a) we rarely see such large updates, and (b) Yemen is a country at war, with a struggling central government, and all its current WHS, except for the archipelago of Socotra, are In Danger.

The New List in numbers

We could have seen this New List coming, as in December 2024, UNESCO reported on a series of online workshops that were held to revise Yemen’s World Heritage Tentative List.

These workshops resulted in 37 new proposals, of which almost all (31) have now been added to the Tentative List. Four out of nine sites from the old Tentative List also remain active. Four of the new sites were replacements for existing ones (one of those is still double-listed on the UNESCO website). Additionally, two FTWHS were incorporated into the newly listed selection.

The Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention do not put a limit on the number of sites on a State’s Tentative List, but speak of an “important planning tool .. as they provide an indication of future nominations” and that they “should be established selectively”. But in my opinion, Yemen went a bit overboard with its high number of TWHS; probably, they did not want to disappoint anyone who participated at this stage. With 36 entries, Yemen now has the 5th biggest Tentative List of all countries. Also, as we see in other large countries, a wider geographical spread of sites across the country has been achieved than in the past.

Common themes

While reading through all descriptions of the new tentative sites, two common themes stand out:

1. Vernacular architecture in a mountain setting is the Yemeni thing. At least twelve of its TWHS are or include mountainside villages with interesting architecture. Some are built of adobe, others of brick or stone, depending on what material is available locally.
2. Second would be the Incense trade. Yemen was a great producer of frankincense (and myrrh), and these aromatic products were transported over land to its seaports on the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. The trade stimulated the growth of urban centers and the exchange of cultures and ideas. The 12 components of the Old Incense Trade Routes link them all together, including some double entries such as the already inscribed Marib and the TWHS of Shabwa.

Highlights

If I were to get a free ticket to a peaceful Yemen, I would put these new TWHS on my list:

• The historic southern city of Aden got its first two sites. One for its long history of serving as a commercial port, and another for its wetlands that are crucial for birds.
• The sites of the Ma’in Old Kingdom and those of the Kingdom of Qataban include temples of indigenous pagan, pre-Islamic religions.
• The natural site of Erf Mountain, a forested area with juniper trees, leopards and wolves.

Have you visited any of the “new” sites in the past? If you have photos, reviews, or other remarks to share, please do!