From the World Heritage inscription for the Sydney Opera House: The Sydney Opera House constitutes a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture. Its significance is based on its unparalleled design and construction; its exceptional engineering achievements and technological innovation and its position as a world-famous icon of architecture. It is a daring and visionary experiment that has …
From the World Heritage inscription for the Greater Blue Mountains Area: The Greater Blue Mountains Area (GBMA) is a deeply incised sandstone tableland that encompasses 1.03 million hectares of the eucalypt-dominated landscape just inland from Sydney, Australia’s largest city, in south-eastern Australia. Spread across eight adjacent conservation reserves, it constitutes one of the largest and …
From the World Heritage inscription for the Tasmanian Wilderness: In a region that has been subjected to severe glaciation, these parks and reserves, with their steep gorges, covering an area of over 1 million ha, constitute one of the last expanses of temperate rainforest in the world. Remains found in limestone caves attest to the …
From the World Heritage inscription for the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia: The Gondwana Rainforests contains the largest and most significant remaining stands of subtropical rainforest and Antarctic Beech (Nothofagus moorei) cool temperate rainforests in the world, the largest and most significant areas of warm temperate rainforest and one of only two remaining large areas of …
While I was able to visit Kakadu and Purnululu during the right time of year, I probably visited Shark Bay at the wrong time of year. It would have been much better to visit during the Australian summer. Nonetheless, I got to see the one thing I really wanted to see at Shark Bay … …
George Town was designated a World Heritage site just a month before I planned my visit, which was ideal timing to explore this historic city in the Straits of Malacca! There were still banners and signs all over, the country and locals seemingly congratulating themselves on the accomplishment. George Town was a former British trading …
From the World Heritage inscription for My Son Sanctuary: During the 4th to 13th centuries there was a unique culture on the coast of contemporary Vietnam, owing its spiritual origins to the Hinduism of India. This is graphically illustrated by the remains of a series of impressive tower-temples in a dramatic site that was the …
From the World Heritage inscription for the Complex of Hué Monuments: The Complex of Hue Monuments is located in and around Hue City in Thua Thien-Hue Province in the geographical center of Vietnam and with easy access to the sea. Established as the capital of unified Vietnam in 1802 CE, Hue was not only the …
From the World Heritage inscription for Qal’at al-Bahrain: Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun: Qal’at al-Bahrain: Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun is an archaeological site comprising four main elements: an archaeological tell (an artificial hill formed over time by successive occupations) of over 16 hectares, immediately adjacent to the northern coast of Bahrain; a …