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I visited this site in 2006 when I didn't think a lot about WHSs yet and hadn't seen many sites. Even then we found it surprising if not ridiculous that this site should be a WHS. The site consists obviously of two sites: Suso the upper monastery is tiny but has a certain charme with visigothic and mozarabic elements that I would certainly appreciate today though they have hardly any OUV on their own. Yuso, the lower monastery, on the other hand, lacks any special character or beauty. There are dozens of more interesting monasteries in Spain alone. 

Even in the nomination the claim for fame does not mainly refer to the architecture: "It was here that the first literature was produced in Castilian, from which one of the most widely spoken languages in the world today is derived". and: "The Spanish language, a principal work of human creativity, was born, in both spoken and written forms and in both prose and verse, within the eremitic communities of San Millan". I think this accumulates several strange assumptions: The fact that the oldest preserved written sentences of Castilian are found here does not prove that this language was created here or even written down for the first time. And to call Spanisch a "principal work of human creativity" is hard to believe. It is one of many Latin dialects and as such not more valuable then any other Roman language. That fact that it was later spread around have of …

I visited this WHS in 2023. Unlike the Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari, the Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak is right in the middle of a very urban setting, almost like Malta's Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni, although at least it has a small park area as a buffer zone. This contains the closed original tomb with a dome and the latest protective structure, rightly marked as the original tomb. Like at the original Lascaux cave in France's Vezere Valley, there's nothing much to see here apart from the UNESCO WHS inscription plaque which is proudly displayed here.

A few hundred metres away, there is the accessible replica tomb which consists of a hallway, a rectangular antechamber and a round burial chamber. The wall with the entrance to the antechamber is covered with stucco. Although the entrance is 1.96 metres high and 0.72 metres wide at the base, its sides tilt smoothlt to a certain height and then they abruptly narrow down in order to form a pointed triangle at the top (do mind your head when going in and especially when going back out!). The entrance between the two chambers is covered with plaster and fully decorated with colourful ornamentation. The burial chamber has a diameter of 2.65 metres and is 3.25 metres high. A beehive-like bell shaped dome is formed by gradually declining the rows of sector bricks and precise reversal of the dome curve in two places, closed at the top with a keystone.

The walls were plastered …

I visited this WHS in 2023 and to make sure I could get the best out of my visit (as well as have safe parking) I booked a hotel just in front of star attraction of this site, the Church of St. Stephen inside the old town proper in the middle of the peninsula, away from the infamous Sunny Beach area. I was allowed access via the main gate to unload my luggages and then I was allowed a private spot in the outdoor parking at the marina.

Undoubtedly Nessabar's forte are its medieval churches, which is why it earned its nickname as "the Bulgarian Ravenna" and "the pearl of the Orthodox world". According widespread local legend there once were more than 40 churches existed only on the small territory of the peninsula and nowadays 10 of them have been preserved and restored. More than the number of churches, what is important is the overall picture they gives us today about the nature and achievements of medieval church architecture. Some are remains such as those of the basilica church of St. Sophia or the basilica church and tower of the Holy Mother of Eleusa, which are important remains of the bishop's residence and part of a monastery complex. Another two churches which are merely a shell but include lots of brickwork decorations are the Church of St. John Aliturgetos and the Church of the St. Archangels Michael and Gabriel. These four churches are free and don't require any ticket.

I visited this WHS in 2023. Knowing that this was one of the lowest ranking WHS in our community, I made sure to visit it first before the Danube Delta in Romania and I decided to spend two nights here to be able to explore more of the reserve at appropriate times of the day (i.e. sunrise and sunset) for more birdlife activity, as opposed to a touch-and-go experience.

Getting here by car in the summer months means visiting when the landscape is dominated by never-ending sunflower fields and the only hazard you'll meet on the road are the several huge harvesters. Srebarna is a very sleepy village, so much so that there is no grocer or an ATM! We stayed at a very low key B&B just next to the Natural Science/History Museum or Srebarna Nature Reserve Visitor Centre (free entrance on Thursdays) is too far to appreciate the best bird activity'; in fact it is best suited for a panoramic view (with binoculars and telescopes) of the nature reserve and to at least see any birds you missed out in the field ... but stuffed! There is a painted UNESCO and Man and Biosphere sign next to the museum entrance and a couple of new UNESCO WHS inscription boards along the ecotrail.

Years after the 2019 meetup I had missed, the overall upkeep of the ecotrail is now fully "eco", i.e. it has been engulfed by nature. Not only are all the remains of wooden handrails, …

Selective Background

Despite being declared a national park in 1962 and an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, this biodiverse hotspot was under attack by its own government in 2017. The Bulgarian government planned to open up 66% and 48% of Pirin National Park's area to construction (for example, ski resorts) and logging respectively. The Association of Parks in Bulgaria and other environmental organizations sued the government, and the Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court suspended the constructions and logging in 2020.

How I got to Pirin

After spending a night at the incredible Rila Monastery (1983 UNESCO World Heritage Site), I took a small bus from the monastery to a small town of Kocherinovo. Along with some elderly men in the town centre, I waited for another small bus to take me to a larger town of Blagoevgrad. In Blagoevgrad, there are approximately eight daily buses to Bansko.

Bankso has a clean inoffensive old town that I understand is quieter in the summer than in the winter (I visited in July 2023). The town itself does not have any significant sights (Sveta Troitsa Church probably being the best among the few sights), but it did have a very helpful tourist information centre, which gave me details about buses to Pirin and about possible hikes there. Buses to Pirin, specifically to Vihren Hut, ran three times a day in the summer and picked up passengers from various locations, e.g., train station, the community centre, and various larger …

I visited this WHS in 2023 using Bansko as my base for 2 nights. From there we woke up early and drove straight to the Vihren Hut, stopping en route to see the impressive Baikushev's Pine, Bulgaria's oldest tree. It was really great to appreciate the changing scenery with the first bright rays of sunlight, from meadows in low altitude, to woodlands full of different kinds of coniferous trees in mid-high altitude, to low coniferous trees, streams, rock and some ice at high altitude. Knowing that the Vihren Hut parking (free) would likely be crowded throughout the day, we parked a couple of metres away along one of the few wider sides of the mountain road to avoid getting blocked by double parking. This worked out well in the summer months but I wouldn't doing this in the winter months unless you have full insurance (snow might still be an issue in May-June so you can imagine what it is like in winter; also keep in mind, if you happen to visit on a rainy day, that Vihren was known as Eltepe (peak of storms) and it was also called Buren (stormy) and Malnienosets (lightning-bringer) for a reason!).

The Vihren Hut or Chalet is already at 1,950 metres and it has all the basic requirements you could ask for including beds, toilets, electricity, tap water, a restaurant/bar/cafeteria, wifi, and information about the trails. From the hut, the Vihren summit (2,914 m) is reachable in around 3-4hrs via the slightly …

The general visitor experience of this remote site has already been well-described by the previous reviewers, but I’d like to add information about what it is like to go there with your own (rental) car.

The site has no less than 4 entrance roads, of which 2 are officially recommended. They lie along the RN40, the seemingly endless road that crosses South America from North to South. The first access is 88km south of the town of Perito Moreno. Here you have to turn into a 27km long gravel road with several steep sections. It seems that the tours always take this access. Online it is stated that most cars can make it, except for those with trailers or heavy loads. However, I saw a handpainted ‘Solo 4x4’ sign when I drove by. So with a regular car, this way of access should not be your first choice.

Instead, drive on for another 32 km on the RN40 in the direction of the town of Bajo Caracoles. Here you will find another access road, it is signposted with a Cueva de las Manos sign and indicated on maps as RP97. This is a wide and well-maintained gravel road, 47km long, that only ascends and descends gradually. You’ll easily drive 50km/h here (the speed limit even is 80!). I saw a YouTube video of a couple driving it on a motorbike and it immediately boosted my confidence that I could manage too in my rental car. And so …

We just visited a few hours ago on February 27, 2024. We asked for a taxi at the reception of our hotel in Victoria, it was going to be a lot of money, 600 rupees just to get there so the receptionist called a friend who was willing to take us there for 400. It was a nice ride of 20 minutes once we got out of the afternoon traffic. When we got there we noticed that they now have a lot of signs, a gate, a schedule (they close at 5 pm!). There is an admission fee, we could pay by credit card. 100 Seychelles Rupees, which is just over $7 today, per person. Our driver was curious so he got in for free. There were two remnants of buildings to see (that could take at best 3 minutes), a statue, and a gorgeous bungalow were Queen Elizabeth took the tea in 1972 with magnificent views over Mahe island. Being just on the edge of Morne Seychellois National Park the few hundred meters that we had to walk we couldn't stop admiring the numerous trees. Plus the one guard that was on site was generous to show us a chameleon in a bush, the only one we saw here (and the first one that our driver saw in his life!). We chose not to make it to the cemetery.

Overall it was a nice 90 min trip, we managed to pay "only" 800 for the full return ride.

I visited this WHS in 2023 as a side trip from Ruse. The Roussensky Lom River is the last deep tributary of the Danube river on its right side. It creates a fan-shaped network in the Danube Plain with picturesque canyons and vertical rocks. Seen from a distance, this landscape reminded me of the landscape of India's Ajanta Caves, however, the overall atmosphere is more comparable to the rock churches of Turkey's Goreme National Park or Greece's Meteora (without the monastery buildings though). It is believed that after Joachim I's return from Mount Athos, he cut out a small church in the rocks in the Lom River valley and later created a large rock monastery close to existing natural caves that were used as monk cells.

After parking deep inside the canyon area, I opted to take the stairs straight to the highlight of this WHS, namely the Church of the Holy Virgin (currently the only accessible one; open daily although might be closed from December to March). Although the church is quite small, when compared to its use at the time among single cells cut in the rock, cave monasteries and rock-hewn chapels, most only accessible by ropes, ladder or dangerous wooden staircases, it is considered as one of the largest churches in the canyon, with a chapel attached to its northern wall. The church is around 30 metres above the river level and in the past there was a defence ditch around it. A wooden enclosure with …

Tiwanaku is a site with fascinating elements, but the sum of those elements do not result in a fascinating site. 

The individual elements, such as the Gate of the Sun, the monoliths, and the heads in the semi-subterranean temple (photo) are striking artifacts. For some visitors, the Gate of the Sun, with a crack in its lintel that adds to its mysterious allure, alone may be worth the price of the admission. However, other than the few interesting elements still standing (or fallen), the site is monotonous.  

Additionally, the site is heavily reconstructed with non-original materials. The walls of the Kalasasaya - the platform on which the Gate of the Sun sits - is not original with the exception of the taller stone pillars. Old drawings and photos of Tiwanaku show the stone pillars standing freely, akin to the ancient stones of Avebury. It is very likely that there were indeed stone walls between these pillars, but those stones were long ago taken from the site to be used for constructing buildings elsewhere, e.g., the church in the nearby village.

The Akapana "pyramid" is also mostly a reconstruction. Indeed, Akapana was never quite completed in antiquity and looked more like a natural hill until recently (A Spanish chronicler said of Tiwanaku, "They build their monuments as if their intent was never to finish them.")

There are two museums at Tiwanaku. One of the museums contain artifacts such as the artificially elongated skulls of the Tiwanku …

Come on Kids, lets explore …. Prefabricated concrete structural classicism!!

Le Havre for a rainy weekend in February probably doesn’t scream “Family Holiday” but this was perhaps our most successful attempt to combine World Heritage Sites with something a 4 year old will enjoy.

There were multiple reasons why this was enjoyable, but at the heart of all of them was how successful this rebuilding project was in creating a livable city. There is a bit of an academic pursuit in pointing out how every block of concrete pillars along ave. de Paris has a different shape or capital, but amazingly this is something that a six year old can latch onto and point out. I doubt Auguste Perret set out to create a city sized “spot the difference” puzzle but that is what we got from it. 

And from what I understand that is sort of the point of what M. Perret set out to do. Creating units that could be easily reproduced and created from standard units, but also which aren’t monotonous. It draws from the ideas of Haussman in Paris that different heights and levels can break up buildings and make them feel more human. I’m sure my kids weren’t reacting to that on an intellectual level, but they didn’t find the km’s of reinforced concrete porticos in any way off putting, and seeing them running around exploring suggested this urban experiment worked well.

However the highlight for my daughters wasn’t Perret’s grid, …

I visited this WHS in 2023. Although it certainly is less colourful than the Thracian tombs of Kazanlak and Alexandrovo, not only is it once again intact (its restoration reminded me a lot of Seokguram in South Korea) but it is also possible to visit its interior, which is most definitely its highlight (even though photography isn't allowed). Apparently the tomb is closed in winter and in summer it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

I drove pretty early to the area, well ahead of the opening hours, so I had some time to kill which I spent exploring the nearby 4th and 3rd century BC razed Getic fortification and citadel remains, which together with the Sveshtari tomb make up what is called the Sboryanovo Archaeological Reserve. No matter how diverse and interesting Thracian heritage might be, time, destruction and rebuilding in times of war and peace, continual habitation, and treasure-hunting have wiped out a lot of it, reducing it to a set of tombs and shrines here, a treasure there, and a shrine in what today appears to be the middle of nowhere (a stark contrast when compared to the Kazanlak tomb!). Today archaeological research of the remains continues, but the trenches and low stone walls are not particularly spectacular. The south city wall can be seen passing through the main road from the Sveshtari Tomb to the village of Malak Porovets. Another piece of the fortifications, from the 3rd to 1st century BC, is in the Polyanata …

I visited this WHS in 2023 as part of the northeastern Bulgaria hotspot. Of the inscribed lot in this hotspot, the Srebarna Nature Reserve seems to be rated as the worst, probably owing to its poor state of upkeep of any trails or tourist infrastructure but also because to the non-birder (and not only) it pales when compared to the Danube Delta nearby.

To me, however, Madara Rider ranked the lowest. It is an interesting site to visit while visiting Bulgaria, but its only highlight, the Madara rider relief, in my opinion lacks OUV and is more of an interesting niche national site. It isn't unique either as similar carbon images have been found in Saltovo, Soulek, Pliska and Veliki Preslav.

The horseman relief, almost life-size, is carved on a 100 metre vertical cliff. The Madara rider is facing right, and can be seen thrusting a spear into a lion lying at his horse's feet, while on the left a dog is running after the horseman. The carving of the rider's halo and garments, as well as the bird in front of the horseman's face, are barely recognizable due to centuries of erosion and the generally poor condition of the monument. This is even more noticeable if you try to approach/climb to the locked metal gate of the ugly green metal-frame platform just beneath it.

The meaning and symbolism of the sculpture are uncertain, as well as its actual masonry tradition and cultural source. The relief probably …

Despite its small size, Ecuador boasts a large number of sights. Even setting aside Galapagos Islands, mainland Ecuador possesses many natural attractions, especially for birdwatchers and hikers. Ecuador also has a number of cultural or human-made sights, and Cuenca is one of its better urban destinations. Although I would not say that Cuenca was the highlight of my 2016 Ecuador trip (hiking the mountain villages of Quilotoa wins that distinction), I do think of the attractive city as a noteworthy part of my itinerary.

I went to Cuenca by bus from a small town called Alausi. I had been in Alausi to embark on La Nariz del Diablo (The Devil's Nose) train, which zig-zags down the rocky slopes of the Andes. I understand that the train ride service did not survive the COVID-19 pandemic and is unfortunately no longer operating.

I arrived in Cuenca at night and, by fortunate happenstances, was greeted by fireworks bursting above Cuenca's most famous landmark, the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception. While the Cathedral - with its unmissable sky-blue domes - dominates most discussions about Cuenca's sights, the historical city has many other churches and monasteries to explore. I specifically found interesting the 'old cathedral' El Sagrario - located across the Cathedral on the other side of the leafy Parque Calderón - and the Museo del Monasterio de las Conceptas. Both of these sites contained religious wood figures, which had faces that were more eerie than divine. If you had your fill of the …

Frederic and Joel covered the site pretty well, so I will try to add a few information from my side as the first reviewer after that visited the site after the inscription.

Important to mention is, that the Escuela Superior de Mecánica de la Armada (ESMA) is a pretty big and interesting campus, that includes five accessible buildings, many none accessible buildings that are still used today, old watch towers and also one of the planes that were used to drop dissident into Rio Plata. But only the Officers Quarters Building at the very corner of the campus is core zone. The rest is buffer zone. I highly recommend to visit the buffer zone as well, as it is very interesting and shows additional testimony of the victims. Our Uber dropped us off in front of the building, but unfortunately the entrance to the campus is almost at the other corner of Av. Del Libertador, which was a 400 meters walk not appreciated by my family.

Entry is free, but children (below 16) are not allowed to enter the inscribed building. Out of the four levels, only two could actually be visited. The officers quarters on level 2 and 3 were closed and I am not sure if it is planned to make them accessible (again). The relatively small number of accessible rooms makes this a relatively short visit. You can however spend lots of time in there watching all the testimony videos that are shown in the …

I see a lot of potential in this nomination. The CTG is the biggest syndicate in Argentina, a country that loves (and is probably partially ruined by) syndicates. This topic is not represented on the list, so it would fill a gap. The building itself was inaugurated 1950 by Juan Perón and was built in Rationalism style. It survived the military dictatorship and is still in use. Unfortunately, it is currently not open to public, but this could change in case of a successful inscription.

I passed the building on a walk through the city centre. It’s just a few blocks from the Casa Rosada (the Argentinian White House) and close to the interesting Mercado San Telmo, the fancy Perto Madero and Siga La Vaca, the one restaurant that every Uber driver recommended to us. It was a short visit of course, as it is only one inaccessible building. At least you can take a picture of the entry area with the stairs through the partial glass door.

If this gets inscribed and opens to public I will definitely be back. I also got inspired to visit the worker’s museum in Copenhagen.

As (T)WHS Travellers, we are blessed that we ‘have to’ visit several sites spread across the Argentinian and Chilean parts of Patagonia. In 11 days, I travelled the area from North to South, covering Los Alerces, Cueva de las Manos, Los Glaciares, and Torres del Paine. Along the way, the landscape changes from forests to glaciers to barren steppe. I finally ended up at Pali Aike NP, the southernmost of the Patagonian (T)WHS. Here windy and cold weather is said to be the norm, but I was lucky to get there on a slightly sunny day, with 11 degrees Celsius and no strong winds.

Pali Aike NP protects the Fell and Pali Aike Caves (the name of the TWHS), and a much larger volcanic landscape. The park lies some 190km from Punta Arenas right at the border with Argentina. I rented a car for the day, as I thought that it would be hard to find a tour going there (seeing the penguin colonies is a much more popular day tour choice). The drive there is easy, just the straight quiet roads that are common in Patagonia. And to top it off, of course, 28km of gravel road to get to the park entrance. This was easily doable in my small rental car. Along the way, there are mostly sheep farms. I had a funny encounter just before arriving at the park gate: a herdsman on horseback was driving all his sheep onward, crossing the road. They ran in …

A visit to Argentina’s contribution to the Workers' Assembly Halls serial nomination at the moment is mostly about what you do NOT get to see. The building of the CGT at 802 Azopardo Street itself is a mildly interesting example of modernist architecture. On its façade it features a mural depicting Eva Peron at a young age, which symbolizes the relationship Juan and Eva Peron had with this labour organization and the building. It’s very much a symbol of the Peronist era, and one wonders what Argentina’s current right-wing government thinks of it and whether they hate it enough to oppose a WH nomination.

Inside, but closed off now to non-members, are two main points of interest. There is the Eva Peron Museum, a reminder that this was the place where Eva’s embalmed body was on display for years after her death. And there is the Salon Felipe Vallese, the main hall decorated by murals depicting scenes of the labour movement.

It will be interesting to see what the focus of the narrative of the overall nomination will be. The title says ‘Assembly Halls’ and indeed what all locations seem to have in common is a multifunctional venue where debates, political meetings, etc took place geared to the ‘working class’. This CGT building apparently has just that in the Salon Felipe Vallese, but it would make no sense to include it in the nomination and keep it closed to the outside world.

Muzharul Islam is a 20th Century Bangladeshi architect. I never heard of him until I saw that Bangladesh had added a number of his buildings to the TWHS list. Three of these buildings are on the campus of Dhaka University. Dhaka University was an enjoyable place to visit. It is quite spread out and is a mixture of buildings from the British era built in the 1920's and more modern buildings built in the 1960's when Bangladesh was East Pakistan. The three buildings by Islam were built in the 1950's and 1960's. It is hard for me to make an informed judgement of these buildings as I tend to find modern 20th century architecture not that exciting and my least favorite WHS tend to be these modern 20th century architectural sites. From my perspective I didn't think Islam's buildings stood out from all the other modern buildings on campus, and I found the original 1920 British buildings to be the most attractive. Though I didn't see anything special in Islam's buildings, I did really enjoy walking around campus, looking at the students, and enjoying the walk around Bangladesh's biggest University. 

In a country that boasts numerous stunning national parks, Gros Morne ranks among Canada's best. The Park - with its varied grand landscapes that overlook the immense Gulf of St. Lawrence - beckons you to explore it over multiple days.

While Gros Morne is located in a remote region, once you get there, the Park itself is well organized for all types of travellers. There are at least 14 well-marked hiking trails that are easily accessible from the road, ranging from an easy 250 metres loop walk to a more challenging 17 kilometres return hike. 

For those who are more adventurous and well-prepared, there are also wilderness backcountry hiking routes, which require permits. Parks Canada describes Gros Morne's Long Range Mountains hike, for example, as "physically and mentally challenging. It is remote, strenuous, and potentially hazardous." I also want to note to travellers who are interested in hiking Canadian national parks that Parks Canada uses the terms "trail" to denote a path that are explicitly created or well-marked and "route" to denote a path that are not established or marked. When hiking a route, you will need to be proficient in using maps, compass, and GPS and be ready to be self-reliant, if you get lost. Parks Canada rarely advertises the routes in their maps and brochures in order to prevent unprepared hikers. 

Within Gros Morne are several villages or towns, which provide visitors with restaurants and lodging. Although these communities cater to visitors, they thankfully retained …