Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions

Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions World Heritage Site, Ghana

From the World Heritage inscription: These fortified trading posts, founded between 1482 and 1786, and spanning a distance of approximately 500 km along the coast of Ghana between Keta in the east and Beyin in the west, were links in the trading routes established by the Portuguese in many areas of the world during their …

Read more

Island of Gorée

Island of Gorée UNESCO World Heritage Site, Senegal

From the World Heritage inscription: The Island of Gorée testifies to an unprecedented human experience in the history of humanity. Indeed, for the universal conscience, this “memory island” is the symbol of the slave trade with its cortege of suffering, tears, and death. The painful memories of the Atlantic slave trade are crystallized in this …

Read more

Medina of Marrakesh

Medina of Marrakesh UNESCO World Heritage Site

From the World Heritage inscription: The capital of the Almoravids and the Almohads played a decisive role in the development of medieval planning. Marrakesh (which gave its name to the Moroccan Empire) is the textbook example of a large Islamic capital in the Western world. With its maze of narrow streets, houses, souks (markets), traditional …

Read more

Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda

Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda

From the World Heritage inscription: The historic town of St George with its related fortifications is an outstanding example of a continuously occupied, fortified, colonial town dating from the early 17th century and the oldest English town in the New World.St George is a picturesque and outstanding example of the earliest colonial English urban settlement …

Read more

Wood Buffalo National Park

Wood Buffalo National Park UNESCO World Heritage Site

From the World Heritage inscription for Wood Buffalo National Park: Situated on the Northern Boreal Plains in the north-central region of Canada, Wood Buffalo comprises a vast wilderness area (44,807 km2 ) which is home to North America’s largest population of wild bison. It is also the natural nesting place of the whooping crane. Another …

Read more

Nahanni National Park, Northwest Territories

Nahanni National Park, Northwest Territories

From the World Heritage inscription for Nahanni National Park: Located in the southwest corner of Northwest Territories along the course of the South Nahanni and Flat rivers, the park lies in a diverse mountainous area comprising mountain ranges, rolling hills, elevated plateaus, deep canyons and huge waterfalls, as well as a unique limestone cave system. …

Read more

Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza

Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza UNESCO World Heritage Site

From the World Heritage inscription: The town of Chichen-Itza was established during the Classic period close to two natural cavities (cenotes or chenes), which gave the town its name “At the edge of the well of the Itzaes”. The cenotes facilitated tapping the underground waters of the area. The dates for this settlement vary according …

Read more

Guide to the Megalithic Temples of Malta

Megalithic Temples of Malta UNESCO World Heritage Site

There are human artifacts older than the megaliths in Malta—cave paintings, pottery fragments, etc.—however, no structures on Earth (that we yet know of) are older than Malta’s impressive megalithic temples. That fact alone makes this an incredibly important world heritage site worth visiting. There are several monolithic structures around the islands of Malta and Gozo. …

Read more

City of Valletta, Malta

City of Valletta UNESCO World Heritage Site, Malta

From the World Heritage inscription: Valletta is pre-eminently an ideal creation of the late Renaissance with its uniform urban plan, inspired by neo-Platonic principles, its fortified and bastioned walls modeled around the natural site, and the voluntary implantation of great monuments in well-chosen locations. The capital of Malta is one of the rare urban inhabited …

Read more