Building a new capital from scratch, often results in a large and consistent set of period architecture. Fatehpur Sikri or Jaipur come to my mind. A capital needs many buildings. You need offices for the government, you need more residential areas for the influx of inhabitants and you need to provide public services. And more likely than not, you will build using the at the time hip architectural style. Kaunas is no different.
After WW 1, the Polish occupied the main city of Lithuania: Vilnius. The temporary capital of the new found country of Lithuania was established in Kaunus. The original historic town was greatly enlarged by new, modernist buildings. They went all in and the amount and consistency of the modernist buildings is unique.
OUV
I feel the modernist architecture is unique and consistent enough to warrant inscription. It's not backward looking, but represents cutting edge architecture of the time.
Getting There
Kaunas lies on the main highway between Vilnius and Klaipeda (Curonian Split). It's a natural stop, if you travel from Vilnius to the coast and plan to tick off all sites in Lithuania In the city, I did everything on foot.
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I visited Timna Park back in May 2018, a few days after all the flash floods in the Negev. The park is a little detour when driving north from Eilat, so it was naturally the first stop in the morning. In the visitor center, you must pay the entrance fee, and you may also watch the film, but if you have a guide as we did, you shouldn't need it. A vehicle is definitely needed to reach the various points of interest within the park. The road winds through Timna Valley, surrounded by tall volcanic hills and littered with countless interesting rock formations (mushrooms, Solomon's Pillars, and all). At the end of the valley is a small manmade lake beside another visitor center.
Now this may not all sound like much. Timna is a beautiful desert landscape, formed by the interaction between sandstone and volcanic rock, and erosional forces. We even sighted a herd of Nubian Ibex. It's a wonderful place of nature, but is it unique? No, not even in the region, as wilder and more beautiful landscapes with intact ecosystems can be found in neighboring Jordan and the Sinai Peninsula. In terms of beauty and vastness, Timna doesn't hold a candle to Wadi Rum. This is why my opinion is that the site doesn't have natural OUV. Then why am I still giving it the thumbs up?
A 10 minute detour from the main valley is the Arches, one of many natural highlights in the park, …
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In the southern part of Italy, several cities and present day world heritage sites owe their founding to Greek colonists: Naples, Siracusa, and Agrigento are a few examples. Another is Paestum and the Vallo di Diano, situated 100km south of Naples. The overall area was also referred to as Magna Graecia and had Greek speakers well into the Middle Ages where it was still part of the Byzantine Empire.
Of the listed "Greeks in Italy" sites, Paestum is most like Agrigento. Both boast many great temple ruins. The main difference I would see is that Agrigento has the more stunning scenery with the temples located on hills overlooking the Mediterranean. The other noticeable difference is that different stones were used for the construction. The orange/brown/golden stones of Agrigento are just a site to behold.
I have to admit that I only visited Paestum and that the site contains more components. Most prominently, the site also includes a medieval monastery as this tries to cover to full time range of Greek settlement in the area. Still, Paestum is the jewel of the site and I would question the decision to include the larger area.
Getting There
Paestum has it's own train station connecting you to Salerno (north) and Reggio di Calabria (south). You can also connect eastwards and travel on to Taranto.
From the train station it's a short walk to the site. The first structures you will see are the massive walls running …
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I visited both Church of Peace making up this WHS in Summer 2019. Since the Church in the Lutheran Parish of Swidnica opens an hour earlier I decided to start there and then proceed to Jawor, in the Silesia neighborhood of Wroclaw.
The Church of Peace in Swidnica is believed to be the biggest wooden church in Europe which is inscribed on the UNESCO WH list. I parked my car just next to the stone wall which surrounds the church grounds. Be sure to bring along some cash if you want to visit the interior (you should!) which now costs 12 zloty.
In accordance with the Treaty of Westphalia that ended the Thirty Years War, Ferdinand III was obliged to build 3 Churches of Peace in the duchies of Swidnica, Jawor and Glogow (destroyed in 1654). The Holy Roman Emperor who ordered them built never expected to see them completed. In fact, he never wanted them built in the first place, for they were Protestant churches. The Habsburgs didn't recognise the equality of Catholic and Evangelical creeds and only treated the Churches of Peace as a mere act of tolerance. Their construction was dictated by Ferdinand III in almost everything. Only wood, sand, clay and straw were allowed as construction materials and the churches were to be built in one year. The fact that these timber-framed churches, built around 1652-1656, were built with such scale and complexity already goes to show that they possess OUV in my opinion.
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Chiang Mai is such a rich city. I don't mean this economically, but culturally. The Lanna nation, although they speak the same language as the rest of Thailand, seems almost a world away. Despite the core similarities in food, it's the differences that stick out. Likewise, despite the core similarities in temple architecture, it's the differences that stick out. I visited Chiang Mai for 3 days back in July 2018, this time not just with my family, but with a group of my parents' college friends too. While the private car and driver in Chiang Mai were a nice change, this turned out to be quite a burden to my in-depth, fast-paced, no-nonsense way of travel, so unfortunately, all I got of the site was a visit to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep and a night at the market within the Old City Walls and Historic Centre of Chiang Mai, which did, at least give me a good idea of the site and its highlight, Doi Suthep Temple (sorry, the name is just so long, so I'm sticking with this from now on).
Doi Suthep is a mountain overlooking the city and was our first stop upon arriving in Chiang Mai. Doi Suthep Temple seems to be on the peak, which took us about 30 minutes drive from the base of the mountain due to a traffic jam, and it would really be quite a long walk if one doesn't have a vehicle to ride. At the entrance, you …
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We visited as a day trip from Merida in August 2019. Having come from the southern Mayan sites of Palenque and Calakmul it is hard to believe this is still the same culture because the style and decor are so different. Uxmal is well restored and there was a good photo display in the tiny museum showing before and after pictures of a lot of the site. Very interesting. They continue to work on it, especially around the Governor's Palace, judging by the most recent photos taken in 2012. It's not really as large a site as it looks but we spent a couple hours to see it all. Unfortunately the overpowering stench of guano prevented us from getting too close or inside many of the structures and at 413 pesos foreigner entry fee now (compared to 197 and 111 pesos for Calakmul and Palenque respectively) it is overpriced and feels like a money grab. It is still a very worthy entry on the WHS list nevertheless. Buses weren't frequent enough for us to risk visiting the other sites included in the nomination.
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Luxembourg was never really on our radar until we had a chance to visit in 2017 and then a second trip in 2018 for Christmas. Luxembourg is the 28th smallest country in the world packs a big punch!
The highlight is the old city of Luxembourg. We fell in love with this city from the first moment of our visit. Built on bluffs above a river, the military fortifications are over 1,000 years old and offer impressive views. There are nearly 20km of underground tunnels, catacombs, and subterranean storage, making this a city within a city. Luxembourg was the greatest fortified city in Europe. We loved walking along the walls and imaging what this city was like hundreds of years ago.
But Luxembourg city is really two cities in one: the stoic upper city of culture and government, and the lower city of restaurants and nightlife. We loved both! They are connected by an elevator and a network of paths.
Our second trip to Luxembourg City came the week before Christmas in 2018. We spent a week enjoying the Luxembourg Christmas markets and holiday festivities. The Christmas markets are incorporated within the military vestiges and highlight the beauty of the old quarters.
We used Luxembourg City as a base to explore the rest of the country. One of the coolest things to discover in the country of Luxembourg was the castle Clervaux. Here, is the permanent home of the “Family of Man” exhibition – a UNESCO …
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Paleolithic cave art has romantic conotations for me. There is very popular Czech (children) book called Mammoth Hunters by Eduard Storch, first published in 1918, but it became famous due to very realistic illustrations by Zdenek Burian in 1937. It is based on archeological excavations in Southern Moravia. The most famous artefact from this place and period is the Venus of Dolni Vestonice, which is around 25-29 000 years old (Gravettian period), and it is the oldest known ceramic statue in the world. Thus, cavemen belong to a common knowledge in Czechia, at least for my generation.
Thus, I was quite surrprised that even older statues (Aurignacian period, ca. 40 000 years old), not ceramic but made from bones, were found in Central Europe and that the places of their origin were inscribed as WHS recently. I did a day trip to Ulm in September 2019. I had no ambitions to see everything, and I wanted to see at least one original artifact in museum and experience the landscape of the core zone.
I visited the museum in Ulm that has quite late opening time (11am). I arrived to Ulm by train quite early (9am), and in a meantime I visited the magnificient cathedral and nearby interesting places (municipal hall, Danube embankment, fishermen district, etc.) The museum is modern and quite interesting but my highlight was obviously the statue of the Lionman (Lowenmensch in German) made from mammoth ivory found in the Lone valley nearby Ulm. There are …
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As a quick stopover between other destinations in the Yucatan, Campeche feels like a quiet, safe provincial city but as a WHS destination, Campeche is relatively uninspiring. As previously mentioned, Spanish colonial towns have been overdone on the list though I suppose the kind of arguments for a major port stop for the Spanish treasure fleet that worked elsewhere make sense to use here. It's just another piece that will feel familiar to anyone that has been to any of the others.
A half a day is enough though we made it a stopover for the night. The historic centre is cute but very small and unfortunately has too much car traffic to be as pleasant as I'd prefer. For a small tip you can walk on a section of the walls. Looking down you realize that many of the painted buildings are still hollow facades with nothing but ruins behind them. Unfortunately Fort San Miguel was closed for renovations so we didn't even get to see the part I had been most looking forward to.
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Auckland is quite a unique city geologically, being situated in the midst of a volcanic field. As a geology enthusiast, I find that non-erosion geological features are quite underrated on and off the World Heritage List, and this site is no exception. This is one of the youngest of these volcanic fields in the world, and therefore the most diverse range of volcanic features preserved, despite its location in a densely inhabited area. Indeed, a lot of scoria, a type of volcanic rock, was extracted and used in local architecture. During my 2013 trip to New Zealand, I visited Mt. Eden via the hop-on hop-off bus. Unfortunately, I hadn't reached the age of making the family itineraries and researching on destinations to know all this about Auckland when I had gone. I had, however, reached the age of rock-collecting, so Mt. Eden was one of my most vivid memories of Auckland, which was a bit forgettable after touring the rest of New Zealand. The peak rises over the city, which surrounds it closely on all sides. The rim, which is the only part accessible for tourists, is lined by road, from which one can look into the crater below. The whole mountain is made up of scoria, a volcanic stone with a pumice-like appearance but with more density. On the other hand, a great clear view of the whole metropolis reveals all the other, smaller volcanoes all around the area. In relativity, it's really quite a dense field with the …
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Guano Islands, Islets, and Capes National Reserve
Guano Islands, Islets, and Capes National Reserve (On tentative list)
While on a trip through Peru with Peru Hop, the final overnight before reaching Lima was Paracas. I jumped at the opportunity they presented me there - a visit to the Ballestas islands, often referred to as Peru's "poor man's Galapagos". The tour took around 2 hours, all of it on a boat and starting at around 7:00 in the morning, leavong from the main pier of Paracas. The boat first passes by a huge geoglyph carved into the hillside, the "Candelabra". As we approach the island, numerous flocks of birds start flying overhead, and the odor of guano gets stronger and stronger. At last, we started to see the islands more clearly, and I realized why the smell was so strong. Thousands of birds covered the surfaces of the island. There were the usual gulls, as well as boobies, cormorants, pelicans, and even penguins. On the little rocks jutting out of the sea, sea lions bark noisily. In fact, the noise from the sheer amount of wildlife is almost as overpowering as the smell of the guano. Apparently, guano used to be harvested on the islands, as evidenced by the ruined buildings, but the industry was stopped to prioritize the wildlife, and I sure am glad with that choice. Such a dense ecosystem was truly a wonder to behold, and even without the diversity of the Galapagos, it's a very rewarding wildlife-viewing site to visit. Though we didn't see them on the tour, they say dolphins and sea turtle …
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I spent few days in Augsburg in September 2019, and I must say it is very nice and very interesting place of Southern Germany. Despite a demage during WWII and modern (re)constructions, the historical core has its charm and refined character. It is relatively large town with several distinct districts: (1) the main axis with the highest concentration of monuments and museums goes from the Augsburger Dom, through Rathausplatz with huge Municipal Hall and Perlach Tower (+ the district adjacent to Rathausplatz in direction the railwaystation), alongside Maximilian street to the area around the monumental church of SS Ulrich and Afra; (2) The Lech District with a net of water canals, towers and other water works; (3) The area around Fuggerei. All together, it took me one full day to explore the most interesting places and museums.
As the main monuments of Augsburg are of national importance and would have no chance to become WHS, the many-kilometers-long system of water canals and other water-works were proposed - and it worked (somehow). This issue reminds me Bologna, where instead of the historical center many kilometers of porticoes are proposed as TWHS, and I will not be surprised if it (sadly) works also in that case.
From the inscribed properties I explored the Lech canals (the entire Lech district is a buffer zone) which are not very spectacular. The most interesting area is probably the ensamble of water-towers around the Red Gate, and also the Butchers Hall is nice building. …
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For such a remote site, Calakmul was surprisingly easy to get to. I had considered leaving it off our itinerary at one point thinking that it would be too time consuming and complicated to visit without a rental vehicle. We visited in August 2019 after making our way to Xpujil from Palenque by bus.
Calakmul might be off the beaten path but it isn't unheard of and Xpujil has become a mini tourist hub for the couple dozen tourists that visit the site. It felt like most foreigners were eating at the pizzeria (with budget accommodation in the back) at the corner of the main roundabout and this place should probably be considered ground zero for getting local info for the region. We might've even been able to find someone with a rental car already but as it turned out the pizzeria knew a guy with a car that could take us to the ruins the next day at a very reasonable rate. In the end we were a group of 6 in 2 cars.
It is a long but not unpleasant ride into the park, once off the main road the scenery is pristine wilderness and you can't help but strain your eyes searching and hoping to see some wildlife cross the road. Aside from the checkpoints there really isn't much along the way but our driver pulled off to the side around 27km in (it is unmarked and has room for maybe 3 cars) where we …
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Growing up as kids, we learned about the Oracle of Delphi. The whole Oracle thing was always a bit confusing – kind of a god or a seer of the future.
Visiting the actual archaeological site was more impressive than we ever thought it would be. Delphi is nestled in a crease of Mount Parnassus. It offers beautiful views of the valleys and mountains of central Greece.
Beginning in the 6th Century B.C., Delphi was essentially the center of the civilization. It was a religious center for the god of Apollo (the most important of the Greek gods). It was a major political center for Greeks and even the Mycenaeans before them. And the supernatural, where pilgrims received predictions of the future.
We really didn’t know what to expect in visiting in Delphi, but we were surprised that this far more to the site than the “Oracle.” This was a fantastic day trip from Athens.
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During my Holy Land trip back in April 2018, I decided a much more in-depth itinerary than most tourists take, and while it did take me and my family to some rather untouristic places, by far the place where we were most out-of-place was Nabi Shuayb. This is the holiest site for the Druze religion as the supposed tomb of the prophet Jethro, and our visit on the 25th of April accidentally coincided with the Druze feast day. And we wondered why the parking was so full of private cars!
The normally serene sanctuary (at least according to the travel blogs I had read) was a bustling crowded mess - of only Druze people. We followed them in covering our heads (with raincoats) and removing our shoes before lining up to see the tomb up close, as well as a rock with Jethro's alleged footprint. And after a quick look of whatever we could, we left, a bit shocked from the strange cultural immersion.
Does Nabi Shuayb have OUV? I'd say yes as it is a great show of Druze culture and religion, which is not represented on the list yet, but as a site, i don't think it can stand an inscription alone, not having enough importance as a structure. The surrounding areas, while beautiful and of great historic value, don't have much tangible cultural claim, and therefore, no OUV. If the Horns of Hittim are inscribed for being the setting of an important war, should we …
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This propriety covers more than 2.5 million hectares in the east of Tajikistan, about 18% of the national territory, at the center of the so-called “Pamir Knot”, a meeting point of the highest mountain ranges on the Eurasian continent. It consists of high plateaux in the east and, to the west, rugged peaks, some of them over 7,000 meters high.
Visit to this propriety is difficult, because it is the remotest part of Tajikistan. Even if independent travel is possible, I would recommend to travel with a local guide or through a guided tour. The roads are very bad (meaning several punctured tires) and slow, and amenities are few (petrol, shops) even if guesthouses are plentiful. Additional to the Tajikistan visa (available as e-visa for most nationalities), a GBAO (Gorno-Badakhahan Autonomous Oblast) permit is needed, is available for an extra fee when applying for the e-visa, and will be checked several times on the way.
The entire Tajik National Park (TNP) was nominated for inclusion into the World Heritage, without need for a buffer zone (according to the IUCN technical evaluation). The propriety map is however confusing, with a division between a “core”, a “traditional use”, a “limited economic use “and a “recreation” zone. As far as I understand, the entire Park is a core zone according to usual WHS definition.
I travelled in a guided tour around the Pamir Highway in June 2019. We passed through the north-easternmost part of the park. We entered it at …
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In a burst of fairly unusual spontaneity, I traversed the length of the WH-inscribed portion of Semmering Railway twice in both directions on consecutive days in December of 2016. I was spending a week and a half in Vienna and one day, being somewhat tired of the city, I got myself a ticket on a slow train to Mürzzuschlag and back.
It is hard to appreciate the magnificence of a railway from inside a railcar. You get to see beautiful landscapes outside the window; you only get glimpses of the tunnel entrances and the viaducts where they bookend the curves. That does very little to help you appreciate the ingenuity of human enterprise in building a transportation route across mountain terrain. Having read Clyde's review, I recognize that taking a car along the railway is the only proper way to "see" it.
The railway museum in Mürzzuschlag is open on very limited schedule in the winter, so I did not linger in town. Instead, on the return leg, I got off the train at Semmering proper for a walk around the village. It was beautifully covered in snow and surprisingly nearly deserted, although I eventually worked my way to the resorts area which was marginally livelier. There is not really anything of significant note in Semmering, although I came upon a viewpoint or two that allowed me to take middling pictures of far-away viaducts with high focal length. Semmering station is the main highlight itself, with a WH …
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We visited Khami in 1990, on a day trip from Bulawyo (hitching). It was great to be alone at the site - there weren't even staff there to take payment and to walk around with no guides(people ,signs or maps). but it did mean we didn't have much information on what we were seeing.
We also hitched to a round church in a local village with lots of murals - biblical stories but where all the key figures were African - it was this which was the highlight of the day ( I wonder if the church is still there? )
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Back in April 2016, my family trip brought me to South America, and in crossing between Bolivia and Peru, we decided on availing of services by Bolivia Hop. On our day with them, we stopped at a viewpoint near the Tiquina Strait overlooking the smaller section of the lake. It was truly a beautiful scene of the green fields tumbling down into the lake. We then reached the strait, where the bus (without us inside), was floated on a raft to the other side, the Copacabana peninsula. Finally, we arrived in Copacabana in time for lunch, a little time to chill by the shore, and of course, a short tour by boat to Isla del Sol. Unfortunately, as my family was unwilling to walk or to separate from me, I wasn't able to hike the trail across the island, but I was able to climb up to a small Inca structure by the pier and walk on the preserved Inca path.
The lake appears to be on the T-list as a mixed site, which is interesting. The various Inca remains on the islands and the pleasant little colonial towns on the shore can constitute a complete site. The whole lake can even be seen as a cultural landscape with many common themes between the minor sites between them. While I'm unsure of exactly which natural aspect the basis of such a claim would be, but it's safe to say the lake is quite a phenomenon in its history, cleanliness, …
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