Sunday, August 12, 2007

More on World Heritage Sites


(Photo Caption: The Logo of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list)

In a previous blog entry (See http://raffysaldana.blogspot.com/2007/08/world-heritage-sites.html) I mentioned that the Philippines has five sites in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

According the UNESCO website ( See http://whc.unesco.org/en/list) the World Heritage List includes 851 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value. These include 660 cultural, 166 natural and 25 mixed properties in 141 States Parties. As of October 2006, 184 States Parties have ratified the World Heritage Convention.

To be included in the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. These criteria are explained in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention which, besides the text of the Convention, is the main working tool on World Heritage. The criteria are regularly revised by the Committee to reflect the evolution of the World Heritage concept itself.

Selection criteria: (Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/ )


"
1. to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;



2. to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;



3. to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;



4. to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;



5. to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;



6. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);



7. to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;



8. to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;




9. to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;



10. to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.



The protection, management, authenticity and integrity of properties are also important considerations. "



The complete list of World Heritage Sites is found in this website:

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/



Looking at the list, I realized that out of the out of the 851 sites listed, I have already visited 41 sites [still a long way to go, but it is already something :) ]. Below is a list of the sites that I have been to/visited (Note: The numbers in parenthesis is the year of inscription of the site as a World Heritage site and NOT the year that I have visited it):

WORLD HERITAGE SITES THAT I HAVE VISITED (as of August 2007)

Australia

1. Greater Blue Mountains Area (2000)
2. Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens (2004)
3. Sydney Opera House (2007)


Austria

4. Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn (1996)
5. Historic Centre of Vienna (2001)

China

6. Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang (1987, 2004)
7. The Great Wall (1987)
8. Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing (1998)
9. Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing (1998)
10. Historic Centre of Macao (2005)

Denmark

11. Kronborg Castle (2000)

Egypt

12. Historic Cairo (1979)
13. Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur (1979)

France

14. Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Remi and Palace of Tau, Reims (1991)
15. Paris, Banks of the Seine (1991)

Germany

16. Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin (1990, 1992, 1999)


Greece

17. Acropolis, Athens (1987)


Holy See

18. Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura (1980, 1990) * 11

19. Vatican City (1984)

Israel

20. White City of Tel-Aviv -- the Modern Movement (2003)

Italy

21. Historic Centre of Florence (1982)
22. Venice and its Lagoon (1987)

Japan

23. Shrines and Temples of Nikko (1999)

Jerusalem (Site proposed by Jordan)

24. Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls (1981)

Philippines

25. Baroque Churches of the Philippines (1993)
26. Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras (1995)
27. Historic Town of Vigan (1999)
28. Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park (1999)

Portugal

29. Cultural Landscape of Sintra (1995)
30. Historic Centre of Oporto (1996)

Spain

31. Burgos Cathedral (1984)
32. Monastery and Site of the Escurial, Madrid (1984)
33. Works of Antoni Gaudí (1984, 2005) 23
34. Old Town of Ávila with its Extra-Muros Churches (1985)
35. Santiago de Compostela (Old Town) (1985)
36. Historic City of Toledo (1986)
37. Route of Santiago de Compostela (1993)

Switzerland

38. Old City of Berne (1983)
39. Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn (2001, 2007)

United States of America

40. Grand Canyon National Park (1979)
41. Statue of Liberty (1984)

Note: I have been to Canada, New Zealand, Netherlands, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand but I have not visited any of their World Heritage sites. The next time I will visit these countries, I will make a point to visit at least one of their sites listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Cheers,

Raffy
(8/13/07, in Quezon City)

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