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I visited all 10 locations of this tWHS in Spring 2021. Apart from the Mamahatun Caravanserai, just outside Erzurum in East Turkey, the rest are mainly in a rather convenient straight line between Nevsehir (Goreme NP WHS) and Konya (double tWHS + Catalhoyuk WHS), plus another two on the way to Pamukkale WHS. If you're travelling by car this serial nomination is really great for enjoyable stopovers on the way, if not a pleasant overnight stay in one of the caravanserais, since most have been or are being converted into heritage hotels.

The latter point might mean that this tentative WHS will either never make it on the WH list or else those that have been converted to hotels might be removed from the nomination. I have nothing against some of them being used as hotels if this means better preservation on the whole. I even stayed in one of them for 1 night just outside Denizli/Pamukkale WHS, namely the Akhan Caravanserai. Another negative point regarding some of the caravanserais is the sometimes clumsy reconstruction or modernisation with use of concrete, wiring, lighting, drainage systems without much care or attention that these are heritage sites, a recurring problem I noticed in Turkey even for already inscribed WHS. From the 10 caravanserais I visited, the ones with such evident problems, at least when I visited, were the main caravanserai building of Mamahatun near Erzurum, Agzikarahan and Oresin Han (almost complete reconstruction) near Aksaray, and Obruk Han (with a 30 metre …

Both this site and the city of Sighișoara owe much of their existence to King Géza II of Hungary who, in the 12th Century, invited Saxon settlers to migrate to the southern edge of his realm to solidify his territorial claims in what is now Transylvania. The churches of these villages were fortified in the wake of the Mongol invasions in 1241-42 and repeated Ottoman Turkish incursions from 1395 until as late as the 18th Century. Seven of these villages with fortified churches built by the Saxons are inscribed on the WHS list (Biertan, Câlnic, Dârjiu, Prejmer-Tartlau, Saschiz-Keisd, Valea Viilor, and Viscri) but there are around 150 villages with fortified churches in various states of repair in the region. Many Saxons converted to Lutheranism during the Reformation like their Germanic brethren, forming an exclave of Protestantism inside the Catholic lands of what would become the Habsburg Austro-Hungarian Empire but the Saxons retained their ancient status as a privileged class of merchants and craftsmen until the 19th Century. Following World War I, the Treaty of Trianon transferred Transylvania to the Kingdom of Romania. When Romania joined the Axis powers in World War II, local Saxons signed up or were conscripted into the Nazi military and, after their defeat, many survivors fled to Germany as Romania joined the Soviet Bloc. Under the Ceaușescu regime, there was a scheme with the West German government by which Transylvanian Saxons were allowed to emigrate in exchange for money to the Romanian government. The return of …

I visited this WHS in Spring 2021. It is quite remote being around 17-18 hours by car from Istanbul but it certainly didn't disappoint. Possibly since I haven't visited Armenia or Georgia yet, I was able to appreciate this Armenian city in ruins a bit more since all the architectural details and what's left of the few paintings was pretty new to me.

Using Kars as your base still leaves a good 45 minute road trip to get to and from the ruins of Ani. Before starting your visit, keep in mind that toilets and water/food facilities are only available near the entrance gate, and the vast plains and gorges can be quite windy and chilly or extremely dry and hot depending on when you're visiting. The farthest point we hiked to was a good 1.5-2 hrs walk away from the entrance gate. At least when we visited, the entrance gate is never completely closed after sunset and closing hours to avoid locking any visitors in the "open-air museum". The whole atmosphere is kind of surreal, especially when you glance over to the destroyed bridge, and realise that what could easily be a convenient border between Turkey and Armenia (Yerevan is less than 100 km away!), is in fact a highly guarded and sensitive border for both countries. Lots of refugees and migrants live in tents and work in the vast fields not far from the ruins. At the same time, this surreal border between Turkey and Armenia seems …

"It's like Hogwarts!" That was the feedback my Ukrainian student helper gave me when I told him, I would go to Chernivtsi. His feedback swayed me neither this way nor that way. I was going to Suceava. And looking at the map, I noticed Czernivtsi as just being across the border, a mere 80km apart. So of course I was going.

Under the Austrians, both Suceava and Czernivtsi belonged to the same region: the Bukovina (Beech country). Czernivtsi was the capital. The population of Czernivtsi was a mix of Ukrainians, Romanians, Germans and Jewish. And probably more. Even on the fringes of the empire you find the usual template of an Austrian-Hungarian town. A theatre, a train station, squares, ... The Habsburg did a few things well.

On the outskirts of the historic town you find the Residence of Bukovinian & Dalmatian Metropolitans. Nowadays a university, it used to be the seat of the metropolitan, the bishop of the orthodox church of the Bukovina. In a way, it shows the religious tolerance of the Habsburg empire, as the emperor himself was a devout Catholic.

The ensemble combines multiple influences (local, Russian, Ottoman) using 19th century construction techniques. It's not yet an art deco building, but you can see the idea of what is to come in the colorful roof tiles, for me the best part.

When I visited, they had an open door day. There were plenty of tours running (albeit in Ukrainian) and I got …

I visited this tWHS in Spring 2021 as a side trip after visiting also the underground city components of the Goreme NP WHS. I think that some interesting sites around Nigde could easily be added as an extension to the Goreme NP WHS but it would be quite far-fetched IMHO to add Nigde as a completely separate WHS.

Nigde in fact is quite an interesting stopover point away from the busiest areas of the Goreme NP. There are several significant monuments that are located on the Hill of Alaeddin signposted everywhere as Nigde Castle, namely the citadel and its iconic tower, the Alaeddin Mosque, the Mosque of Rahmaniye, the Sungur Bey Mosque, the Covered Bazaar of Sokullu Mehmet Paşa, the Nalbantlar Fountain, as well as some Armenian and Greek Churches. Most of the Islamic monuments date back to the Seljuk era but there are far better sites already on the list or on Turkey's tentative list, above all Konya which definitely possesses OUV when compared to Nigde. This nomination seems very weak and only seems to warrant inscription on the basis of criterion (ii) due to first example of Anatolian geometric stone ornamentation on the Eastern Portal of the Alaeddin mosque (top right photo) which is supposed to reflect the first example of ornamentation in Seljukian Architecture. This type of geometric ornamentation is present all over Turkey and eventually would be covered quite well not only by Konya but especially by the 2 tWHS serial nominations of the Seljuk …

Today I visited Mudurnu and Beypazari. The description says a little town (Beyparazi), but i would rather describe it as a city. The hill with the houses looks nice, you can walk there and do a nice walk, however the better walk is in Mudurnu. If I interpreted right, it is the plastre that should make it world heritage. Both have quite some similarities with Safranbolu by the way.

What I really enjoyed on the way from Mudurnu to Beyparazi is the scenery around Nallihan: beautifull coloured hills, really a joy for the eyes. This was the real highlight of my day. 

I visited this tWHS in Spring 2021 as a side trip from Van Lake, 42 km from Tatvan. The several ornately carved Tombstones of Ahlat were a very pleasant surprise. There are wooden boardwalks you can walk on which make it easier to visit and appreciate the different groups of tombstones and a quaint museum nearby.

The history of the city of Ahlat dates back to 900 BC, the Urartu era, but the tombstones are mostly from the medieval age, that is the 12th to 15th centuries. The city was left to Turkish rule by the local Byzantine governor in 1055. It was later used as a forward station by Alp Arslan forces during his successful military campaign against Byzantine Emperor Remenos Deogenes for the Seljuk control of Eastern Anatolia in 1071. The city was later seriously destroyed once during a capture by Celaleddin Harzemsah in 1229 and shortly after by a major earthquake. There are at least six ancient burial grounds in Ahlat that are the reminders of a long historical past and a glorious cultural heritage. The most important tombstones are in the cemeteries known as Harabe şehir cemetery, Taht'ı Suleyman cemetery, Kırklar cemetery, Kale cemetery, Merkez cemetery and Meydanlık cemetery. Among these, only the Kale cemetery has Ottoman tombs. The Ahlat graveyards were used by both the Seljuks and the Ottomans.

In all there are more than 8,000 graves (some still unexcavated), 1,500 of which are in perfect condition. The vast majority of the tombstones …

I visited this tentative WHS in Spring 2021. Having already visited the Diyarbakir WHS and Sanliurfa tWHS, I wasn't really expecting much of the Van Fortress. Yet just after we drove past the really big albeit closed museum of Van, we were surprised by the sheer size of the impressive fortress also known as Van Citadel, and we decided to drive through some side streets further away to see the whole fortress from afar before climbing to the top and exploring the mound and other components of this tWHS.

The fortifications were built by the ancient kingdom of Urartu during the 9th to 7th centuries BC, overlooking the ancient ruins of Tushpa, the Urartian capital during the 9th century. The lower parts of the walls of the Van Citadel were constructed using basalt without mortar, while the rest was built using mud bricks. Successive groups such as the Medes, Achaemenids, Armenians, Parthians, Romans, Sassanid Persians, Byzantines, Arabs, Seljuks, Safavids, Afsharids, Ottomans and Russians each controlled the fortress at one time or another. Similar fortifications were built throughout the Urartian kingdom, usually cut into hillsides and outcrops in places where modern-day Armenia, Turkey and Iran meet. The Van Citadel is supposed to be one of the largest and most representative of such fortresses which were used for regional control, rather than as a defense system against foreign armies.

An important trilingual inscription of Xerxes the Great from the 5th century BC is inscribed upon a smoothed section of the …

Mudurnu is a nice town to visit, but in my eyes no world heritage.

You can walk there and see nice things, the little museum with old stuff is nice.

But what is really worth the drive is this: Burj Al Babas Villa (check the images on google) just outside Mudurnu if you drive to Beyparazi.

Certainly no world heritage, but one of the most remarkable things i have ever seen .... 

I almost missed this great Greek site, because I didn’t find the entrance first. I expected (as usual) a parking lot and an easy accessible main entrance. Unfortunately the entrance is inside the village. You need to park your car and walk up the hill, right through the village. Not knowing that I passed the village and drove down to the ancient harbour, along the fence of the archaeological site, looking for an entrance. I drove down to the ancient harbour with its tiny village and paid it a short visit. After asking in a hotel I went back to the village and found the entrance right before they were closing. After a short negotiation they let me in, mentioning the exit that could only be opened from the inside, and left. This resulted in me being the absolute only person inside this rather big and beautiful site.

The heart of Assos is the Temple of Athena on the top of the hill. From there you also have a fantastic view over the sea. Down the hill, there is much more to see. The town wall is a highlight, but there is also a Necropolis (road with several tombs), several rather well preserved civic buildings and a huge theatre that uses the topography to its advantage.

As with many archaeological sites I am not sure what Assos exactly adds to the list, that is not covered by other sites, but nevertheless it’s a great place and it feels …

Much has been said about the highlights of Hadrian’s Wall, particularly the area around Housesteads and Vindolanda, and these are indeed best-preserved sections so should be top of the list for anybody who has not visited before. Rather than add to this, I thought I would offer some insight into the more obscure sites for those in the area for longer. Starting at the easternmost edge, the fort of Arbeia guarded the mouth of the River Tyne and features some original foundations as well as a reconstructed gatehouse and barracks. Arbeia is close to South Shields metro station, which has regular connections into the centre of Newcastle via Bede station, from which it is a short walk to the tentative WHS of Jarrow Monastery. Across the Tyne to the north, the fort of Segedunum marks the start of the cross-country Hadrian’s Wall long distance walking path but is less impressive as only the shape of the foundations survives with few original remains but the signage at the nearby Wallsend metro station is in both English and Latin, which offers some amusement. Depending on who you ask, the area is perhaps more famous for Wallsend Boys Club, the football (soccer) club that produced such great players as Alan Shearer. Further west, but still within the urban sprawl of Newcastle, a small shrine (see attached picture), section of vallum crossing, and parts of the wall can all be seen in the area of Benwell. Whilst not the most impressive remains, it is …

I visited 4 of the currently proposed 6 Lycian cities on my trip from Xanthos to Antalya.

Xanthos

Already inscribed as a WHS, this is probably the town most travellers will visit. The site is already covered by the several Xanthos-Letoon reviews.

Patara

Patara served as the Lycian capital and the archaeological site stretches over a large area. After passing the tollbooth to pay the entrance fee, the road leads more than 1km into the site until you reach the parking lot. The area includes a rather well preserved theatre, a heavily reconstructed parliament hall and several remains of other buildings such as baths and temples. If you hike up the hill behind the theatre, you will find a tomb and a view point. I covered the northern part by parking my car near the ancient main gate. From there you can visit the Harbour Bath.

Myra

Myra is located at the northern border of the city of Demre. It can easily be combined with the St. Nicholas Church TWHS in the city center. The site is very small, but very scenic. It consists of a very nice and big theatre and countless tombs built into the rock behind the town. I spent around 40 mins on site and would not know how to extend it much further.

Phaselis

Phaselis is only one hour drive from Antalya. This site by far attracts the most visitors of all the Lycian cities. It is …

I visited Chilika Lake, the largest brackish water lagoon in India, in 2016. I took a taxi from Puri (important pilgrimage site and popular beach resort) to Satapada. There, you can find a harbour with several tourist boats offering tours on the lake.

Chilika Lake is not a national park, so you should not expect unspoiled nature. The part of the lake I visited was extensively used for fishing. On my tour, I saw only a few birds, but midday in April is for sure not the best time of year for bird watching. However, there were some dolphins (Chilika Lake is home to a population of Irrawaddy dolphins). Unfortunately, it was an unpleasant experience as the tourist boats were chasing and surrounding the animals.

My tour was supposed to make stops at two or three islands (one of them with a temple). The first stop was at a small island that was covered with garbage. There, people tried to sell me overpriced pearls (a common scam). My boatman then “forgot” about the other stops. I was not too bothered by this and happy to return to Satapada after about two hours. Perhaps nowadays the situation has improved, but I cannot recommend my boat trip.

And to be honest, Chilika Lake may be an important wetland, but I do not see the outstanding universal value justifying a World Heritage nomination.

So Ukraine wants to add 2 more churches to the existing Kyiv WHS: St. Andrew's Church and St. Cyril's Church.  

St. Andrew's Church is located only a few minutes walk from St. Sophia Cathedral, creating a sort of triangle with St. Sophia and St. Michael's, and well within the popular tourist area of Kyiv. So most likely any visitors to Kyiv have been to St. Andrew's, another neutral museum like St. Sophia. 

On the other hand St. Cyril's Church is located somewhat out of the way and may even seem difficult to get to by public transportation, as there is no metro station nearby. This means that you need to know how to take those mini bus, ubiquitous in Kyiv, unless you want to walk. 

But Kyiv is rapidly changing. 

First, while the city was in lockdown and the public transportation was in halt in 2020, they installed a system with metro card for the first time, with which you can now take metros and minibuses. To my amazement, most of those run-down minibuses are now equipped with the electrical card readers.

Second, perhaps deserving even more amazement, the Google Map Direction now works almost perfectly with all the minibuses.

So all you need to do is, wherever you are in Kyiv, to check the Google Map Direction, and it shows you which metro and/or minibues to take to get where you want to go. Just scan your card with the card readers at …

Kyrgyzstan is not as richly endowed with Silk Road remains as its neighboring countries. The nomadic nature of its inhabitants has resulted in few permanent historic structures. But there are still some that are worth visiting. Tash Rabat's caravanserai is said to be the “best”, but it was too far from my itinerary. I already visited Burana (part of the Silk Road WHS) at the beginning of my journey. I ended it in Uzgen, which is part of the separate Silk Roads Sites in Kyrgyzstan TWHS.

The city of Uzgen is one of the oldest in Kyrgyzstan, dating back to the 2nd or 1st century BC when it was founded as a trading post along the Silk Road. It is described in Chinese sources from that time. It also was the capital of the medieval Kharakhanid Empire, at the center of the fertile Fergana Valley.

Its monuments can be found in a historical-archaeological park in present-day Uzgen’s town center. They comprise a 12th-century minaret and three mausolea from the same period. There’s an entrance fee of 20 Som (0.20 EUR) to this neatly arranged park. A strange detail that I noticed walking around the site is that music comes “from the ground”. There are speakers hidden in the grass, producing cheerful notes. These Disneyesque background effects reminded me of China.

The three mausolea are built so close to each other that they look like one structure. Together they nowadays shelter under a protective roof of corrugated iron. …

[Photos: Left - tomb at Tangya Site. Top Right - ethnic pebble pattern at Laosicheng Site. Lower Right - barbican at Hailongtun Fortress]

An empire can only grow so much until the people at the peripheries felt discontented and neglected by the central government. Maintaining control need more than military prowess. Governing an area so large and with multitude of ethnicities makes it even extra difficult. So, if you are the emperor of a multi-ethnic and vast empire in the 13th century, what would you do to exert control on your dominion?

China as we know today is shaped by how dynastic emperors kept their grip to power all the way from imperial center in the capitals. Since the Yuan Dynasty (13th century) to early Qing Dynasty (20th century), the emperors extended their influence over ethnic minorities by legitimizing the tribal rule. They made the tribal leaders as hereditary rulers and established the Tusi System. The system granted political autonomy, retained the ethnic identity and at the same time allowed the central administration exerted its leadership.

The three inscribed sited represented the Tusi Domains in southwest China. As the center of military and political affairs, these sites reflected the system of governance over the peripheries which was recognized under criterion 3. Spatial layout of these sites showed the imperial Chinese administration and retained cultural traditions of the ethnic minorities, illustrating OUV of criterion 2.

All three sites illustrated a distinctly Chinese imperial management of the ethnic …

I visited this tWHS in Spring 2021 en route from Diyarbakir to Van lake. The arch bridge was built during the Artuqid period in 1146-1155 over the Batman river near the town of Silvan.

It was once the only bridge across the Batman river in this area, and was in continuous use until the 1950s, however in the 1950s a new road bridge was opened which is a real eyesore just behind the old bridge, together with a huge dam, beneath which some local boys were fishing with fishing nets from a small raft. The bridge is the longest spanned stone arch bridge in the world with its pointed arch of 40.86 metres over the deepest part of the river. The total length of the bridge is 281.67 metres, it is 7.15 metres wide. and has a height of 24.50 metres. It also has five arches with the main arch at the middle and there are two carved figures on the western support, one standing and one sitting. It is a very neat bridge but I don't think it's one of Turkey's best (especially since there is the much more impressive one near the Hevsel Gardens), let alone WH material. It was simply a pleasant picnic stopover point between Diyarbakir and Ahlat.

Near misses are always terrible. I vividly remember the sunny day I visited Speyer Cathedral for the first time, I guess ten years ago. And I also know that on the occasion I saved myself the hassle of visiting some Jewish ruins 200m down the road... In addition, I have been multiple times to Mainz, again not ticking of the cemetery. And having lived for years in Mannheim, a visit to Worms would have been in due order, too...

With the 2021 inscription of the ShUM sites I had to go again; my ambition is to have all German sites covered. Of the three locations, I picked Speyer. I had wanted to revisit the cathedral anyhow, the first visit being interrupted by mass. This time - by coincidence - I visited on the German Day of the Monument. As a result the site had guides and was free of charge.

Speyer is a rather small site, the highlight being the Mikva, the Jewish bath. There are ruins of a Synagogue and an onsite museum, providing some context. The signs were mostly in German. The whole town was still decorated with flags for the new inscription.

My Rating

It seems there are now two grumpy old man on the site. However, if Paul and I both come out on the same rating, I feel that I am in good company. ;) My explanation for the low rating is that this should never have been a separate site …

Kong in Northeastern Côte d’Ivoire was once upon a time an important trade outpost when the merchants of the huge Mali empire exchanged salt and textiles from the North with slaves, gold and nuts from the South. The city became quite prosperous under the rule of Seku Quattara. Kong was for 150 years capital of the Kong empire, but as of today little has remained except the two incredibly fascinating mosques, built in Sudanese architecture style with ocher-colored clay. The small Barrola mosque and the large more photogenic mosque of Kong, also called “Missiriba”. We had the chance to visit also the interior with its small mihrab oriented towards Mekka, the prayer carpets, stairs leading to the rooftop, but also a colony of small bats lives here. On the practical side, it is best to fly to Korhogo from Abidjan and rent a private vehicle through one of the hotels there, the Olympe Tourist Complex was very helpful with a reliable driver. However, we could not go any further towards Comoé National Park as this part of the country is considered unsafe at present. 

Since no one has reviewed Valença yet, I thought I might. I cycled around the area on the last day of August 2021. Valença is a fortified city on the banks of Rio Minho in northern Portugal, bordering the spanish city of Tui (nice cathedral). The site is pretty impressive, the forteress is massive. You can really tell how fortify is A Raia (portuguese-spanish border). The historical center is a nice charming classic northern portugal old city with lots of artisanal shops. Regular trains connect Valença with Porto everyday, as well as with Vigo in Spain. There are also buses.

I visited Marvão during an Alantejo road trip in October 2020. We arrived in the morning and lost 7 degrees from warm 20° Elvas. The village is located near Portalegre in the Parque Natural da Serra de Sao Mamede, next to the border with Spain as well. The village is built on a rocky hill and includes a very pittoresque old center as well as an impressive castle looking over the valley. 

Both site are very impressive and enjoyable. I'm really looking forward to visit Almeida one day.