In the Trivia category, we have a connection named Buildable in Lego : "WHS that are available as models from the official Lego Shop". It currently covers 15 locations across 12 sites. Unsurprisingly, these are among the most visited and best-known cities and landmarks globally, such as Paris, Rome, and the Taj Mahal. It’s a coincidence that they are also WHS.

Lego Architecture

All WHS Buildable in Lego are part of the Lego Architecture construction sets, aimed at an 18+ audience.

Officially they are split into the Landmark (Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa, etc) and Architect ( FLW , Le Corbusier , etc) series. Additionally, there are the Skylines , essentially a row of iconic buildings from one city. Here we find some doubles, that are also available as single landmark sets: Sydney Opera House is also part of the Sydney skyline, the Eiffel Tower of the Paris one, Big Ben in London, and the Statue of Liberty in New York. I even recognized Mt. Fuji in the Tokyo skyline .

The product range started in 2008. Most products have since been retired, and have become more costly (if you can find …

Since at least 2008 we have distinguished “ WHS Hotspots ” on this website. From the start its connected sites always have been under much debate as exact criteria do not exist, which is a bit hard to handle for people that enjoy order and organization (including myself). We currently have 93 hotspots, spanning 496 unique sites. This means that 43% of the 1154 WHS are in a hotspot.

After the recent surge in interest in the topic of WHS hotspots at the Forum , I spent some time this week upgrading and refreshing these connections. All have a center now, a reference to neighbor hotspots if applicable, and most of them also explanations to locations and how to get there. In addition to the Forum discussions, I used the reviews of the regular public transport travellers to see whether a return day trip would be possible. I’ve linked to access instructions on official websites and to specific reviews describing getting there on public transport.

When is a hotspot a hotspot?

A hotspot is “a cluster of …

Directly after I read the positive ICOMOS evaluation for adding the Cordouan Lighthouse to the World Heritage List, I booked a flight to Bordeaux and a spot on a boat tour that would take me there. So this is how I arrived at my 760th visited WHS only a week after its inscription. It was a shoo-in, an exemplary site especially from a management perspective. It boasts a large core zone which includes the waters surrounding the lighthouse. The buffer zone extends to the coastal areas, so no windfarms will appear here spoiling the view.

A visit involves some practical considerations, especially when travelling on public transport. Clyde already described most of it well, though I only read his review carefully when I was already on a train to the site (so I worried about wet socks for a while). I had chosen a tour departing from Verdon-sur-Mer, which is linked by direct train from Bordeaux. The trains leave every 2 hours, the 9.29 one connected nicely with the 1pm departure of my boat trip. From the tiny Verdon station it takes a half an hour walk to Port Medoc, where the boats from Vedettes La …

The first fully online WHC meeting, officially hosted by China in Fuzhou, went about quite smoothly. Even the logistical hurdle of a secret ballot had been foreseen: a representative of each WHC member state had come to the UNESCO office in Paris in person at a certain time to vote. The voting papers would only be handed out on the spot. Two secret ballots were held (on the delisting of Liverpool and the inscription of the Danube Limes). Members succeeded in handing in invalid votes anyway.

34 new sites were selected in this extended session that covered both the nominations of 2020 (postponed due to Covid) and 2021. Find below some aspects that warrant a closer look.

1. Missing WHS

From our Missing List , we only saw the inscription of the Scrovegni Chapel as part of the Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles and Korea’s Tidal Flats .

2. The third delisting in history

For the first time since the axing of Dresden in 2009, another site has been removed from the World Heritage List. Liverpool – …

I was badly in need of a weekend trip to Italy after 1.5 years of drought on that usually enjoyable travel front. I had hoped for a positive evaluation of Bologna for the 2020/2021 WHC session, as the university city itself appealed to me (the Porticoes not so much). But that wasn’t the case and I turned instead to the Prosecco Hills, my last remaining ‘tick’ in Italy. The Prosecco Hills lie in the foothills of the Alps. So far up north this isn’t the elegant, bright, artistic and life-loving Italy anymore. It’s more like an Austrian/German farmers’ region, with restaurant menu’s heavy on game meat.

I stayed overnight in the city of Vittorio Veneto, easy to reach by train from Venice. It lies directly to the northeast of the inscribed area of the Prosecco Hills. Which leads me to point out the terrible quality of the map belonging to this WHS. Only when you zoom in to the max and have great eyes, you’ll know what is inscribed and what isn’t.

For my WHS visit I took a bus to Follina, some 25km further along road SP635/SP4 a.k.a. the “Strada del Prosecco”. Bus 117 …

At an about 45-minute drive south of Plovdiv, in the pretty Rhodope Mountains, lies the Monastery of Bachkovo . With origins in the 11th century, it is one of the oldest still active monasteries of the Balkan. It is a popular one as well: the site is already well signposted from the main road and there is a large paid car park. The last part of the road to the monastery, which lies - as it should be – on a hill, is flanked on either side by rows of souvenir and food stalls.

The monastery comprises a large complex, most of the places of interest lie within a walled compound. It is best known for its murals. The entrance is free, but I did buy an audio guide in English for 6 Lev (3 EUR) to learn more about its history and features. You can play the guide from your own phone. I had to do some mime to depict “audioguide” to the Bulgarian-only ladies in the monastery shop, who were much more confident in selling candles and postcards.

I started my sightseeing at the cathedral in the center of the main courtyard. Its …

The Mosaics of Philippopolis comprise three former Roman and early Christian structures with well-preserved mosaic floors in Bulgaria’s second city, Plovdiv. I had a pleasant two-night stay in modern Plovdiv; it has a more oriental and less Sovietesque feel than other Bulgarian towns. Because I travelled with a rental car I stayed overnight in a hotel in the outskirts, at the other end of the ‘regatta’ – an artificial rowing canal. I decided to walk all the way to the city center, over 5km, so I saw quite a lot of Plovdiv. Most of the city’s monuments (from Roman, Ottoman and 19th century periods) are covered by the city’s other TWHS . I’ll focus on the mosaics here.

The three structures - Bishop's (or Great) Basilica, Small Basilica and Irene Building - are located a few hundred meters from each other in the south of the city center, where the core of the Roman city was. They only have been accidentally rediscovered since the mid-1980’s during construction works. Slowly they have been excavated and made presentable to the general public.

The remains of the Great Basilica are covered by a large hall. I wondered why …

Kazanlak is a fairly nondescript city in the center of Bulgaria. I drove there directly from another WHS – Pirin National Park. It’s a 4 hour drive. They don't really advertise the fact that they hold a true World Heritage Site within the city limits: a painted Thracian Tomb from the 4th century BC. There are signs here and there, but I mainly had to trust the navigation on my phone. The drive ended at the foot of a long staircase in a residential neighbourhood. So this is it?

The visitor experience of this tomb has changed considerably over the years if we look at the reviews that go back to even before 2009. People used to be still allowed into the original tomb for an extra / unofficial fee. That “tomb”, discovered in 1944, now is no longer recognizable as a tomb: a chapel-like building has been placed around it. It is hermetically sealed. There is a helpful sign next to it that says “Thracian Tomb. Original”. It is worth to peek through the iron bars at the front as the WHS plaque is visible from there.

The replica with a more tomb-like appearance …

With a 2.63 score, Pirin National Park only comes sixth among Bulgaria’s ten WHS, which in itself already aren’t known for receiving high praise (except for the excellent Rila monastery). Most of the reviewers agreed on it being “unremarkable”, wondered about a ski resort in the buffer zone and contemplated that they could see this scenery everywhere in the Alps. All seem to have explored Pirin from the town of Bansko and its nearby Vihren hut. For my visit in late June 2021, I tried another location to see whether this would improve the experience. I choose to start at Bezbog hut, with access to Bezbog Lake and the trail to Popovo Lake.

For Bezbog, you have to take the chairlift from Gotse Delchev hut (be warned that there is also a town called Gotse Delchev, but that lies 30km away). The hut is reached via a paved mountain road some 10km outside of Dobrinishte, the neighbour town of Bansko. The chairlift is operational 365 days a year from 8.30 am to 4 pm. A return ticket costs 20 Lev (10 EUR). To reach Bezbog hut at 2227m altitude, you have to change to another chairlift …

The Prince-Bishops' Palace in Liège has been on Belgium’s Tentative List since 2008. It has been visited so far by 43 of our community members, but was left unreviewed by all. This restraint is probably linked to the very low 22% approval rating they gave it. Last Sunday however I decided to give it a go, as I was also curious about the rest of the city center of Liège which has undergone favourable improvements during the past years.

The palace is a testimony to the 10 centuries when Liège was an independent principiality within Europe. It was governed by prince-bishops, who combined political and religious power. The complex used to include a cathedral as well, but that was demolished in 1793 during the French Revolution-inspired uprising against the prince-bishops.

The long main façade of the building nowadays occupies one quarter of a busy square. Cars, public transport and road works all provide obstacles to really appreciate its setting. The palace is still used for administrative and judicial functions, which prevents ordinary visitors from entering the building. Therefore they miss out on the second, inner courtyard, and the interior decorations. Defendants in court cases, escorted …