Michael Turtle Profile

Michael Turtle
Michael Turtle.

I'm a travel journalist and blogger who started counting World Heritage Sites in 2011. Often I try to visit the sites as part of other trips - although sometimes I will go to a country just with the mission to see as many as possible.

Visited Sites Michael Turtle

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Legend

  • Cultural
  • Natural
  • Mixed

Recent Reviews Michael Turtle


Epidaurus

Michael Turtle Australia - 28-Jun-23

Epidaurus

In some ways, Epidaurus can be viewed as two different sites in one - the sanctuary and the theatre.

The history of the sanctuary is fascinating and I found it really interesting to see how some of the principles of medicine that we take for granted these days were being used thousands of years ago - but within a religious framework. There is not much to see of the original buildings, but the general layout is here and the small museum has a decent collection of artefacts, so you can piece it all together.

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Changdeokgung Palace Complex

Michael Turtle Australia - 27-Jun-23

Changdeokgung Palace Complex

There are five royal palaces in Seoul and, although Gyeongbokgung Palace is the largest and most visited, it's Changdeokgung Palace that has been listed as the World Heritage Site. That's primarily because of its authenticity, as the one that is in the most original form and the first to be restored (by 1609) after being razed in the Japanese invasion. It was the seat of government for 270 years until the very end of the Joseon Dynasty.

My sense is that it's actually hard to tell the difference between the centuries-old restoration here at Changdeokgung and the more modern work at the other palaces

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Hwaseong Fortress

Michael Turtle Australia - 21-Jun-23

Hwaseong Fortress

I initially found the description of this as a 'fortress' a bit misleading until I did a bit more research into what that means in Korea. Rather than a single castle, for example, or even a complex of buildings atop a hill, it really means a small city surrounded by a defensive wall. With that perspective, it was a bit easier to plan the best way to visit Hwaseong Fortress at Suwon, where what's left of the fortress is now mixed in amongst a modern urban sprawl.

For anyone planning this day trip from Seoul, I would suggest doing two things

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Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae

Michael Turtle Australia - 18-Jun-23

Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae

It may well be one of the best preserved monuments of Ancient Greece, but the projects to protect the Temple of Apollo Epicurius both help and hinder your ability to appreciate it. Covered by some kind of tent since 1987, you unfortunately can't get a wider vista of the temple, and you also can't see how it fits in with the broader landscapes up here in the mountains (which is particularly disappointing because that was presumably a big factor in why it was built in such a remote location).

However, I found that being forced to stand close to the temple created a sense of intimacy that I haven't found at other ancient sites in Greece. With the tent around us, I felt even closer to the monument and it seemed larger than it might have otherwise, the columns looming above

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Sian Ka'an

Michael Turtle Australia - 17-Apr-23

Sian Ka

I often find natural sites to be a bit tricky to visit, especially when they're as large as Sian Ka'an (about the size of the US state of Delaware), have very few roads/trails, and have a range of different ecosystems.

Sian Ka'an is no different, and it does present some difficulties - which is unfortunate because I think it's actually a very important and interesting site, with a reef, other marines areas, dunes along the coast, mangroves, lagoons, forests, and savannahs. It's also home to an impressive collection of animal species, including some that are very uncommon in other parts of the country.

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Profile Data

Name
Michael Turtle
Country
Australia
Most Impressive
Iguazu
Proposal
Bagan, Myanmar
Rating Stats
Epidaurus 3.5
Hué 3.5
Modena 3
  1. Epidaurus
  2. Changdeokgung Palace Complex
  3. Hwaseong Fortress
  4. Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae
  5. Sian Ka'an
  6. Modena
  7. Jongmyo Shrine
  8. Kakadu National Park
  9. Willandra Lakes
  10. Gardens and Castle at Kromeríz
  11. Kutna Hora
  12. Stari Grad Plain
  13. Mont-Saint-Michel
  14. San Gimignano
  15. Cesky Krumlov
  16. Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands
  17. Pompei
  18. Petra
  19. Sintra
  20. Pont du Gard
  21. Rome
  22. Preah Vihear Temple
  23. Citadel of the Ho Dynasty
  24. Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago
  25. Phong Nha - Ke Bang
  26. Salzburg
  27. Nikko
  28. The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier
  29. Ancient Nara
  30. Ancient Kyoto
  31. Los Glaciares
  32. Cueva de las Manos
  33. Peninsula Valdes
  34. Gondwana Rainforests
  35. Greater Blue Mountains
  36. Uluru
  37. Xanthos-Letoon
  38. Istanbul
  39. Hierapolis-Pamukkale
  40. Kotor
  41. Durmitor National Park
  42. Tower of London
  43. Westminster
  44. Blenheim Palace
  45. Brugge
  46. Major Town Houses
  47. Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai
  48. Grand Place, Brussels
  49. Mining Sites of Wallonia
  50. The Four Lifts
  51. Plantin-Moretus Museum
  52. Stoclet House
  53. Churches of Chiloé
  54. Sewell Mining Town
  55. Valparaiso
  56. Ischigualasto / Talampaya
  57. Jesuit Block and Estancias of Córdoba
  58. Jesuit Missions of Trinidad and Jesus
  59. Iguacu
  60. Iguazu National Park
  61. Rio de Janeiro
  62. Colonia del Sacramento
  63. Temple of Heaven
  64. Great Wall
  65. Yosemite National Park
  66. My Son
  67. Hoi An
  68. Royal Exhibition Building
  69. Hué
  70. Flemish Béguinages
  71. Arequipa
  72. Qhapaq Ñan
  73. Lima
  74. Regensburg
  75. Maulbronn Monastery
  76. Prehistoric Pile Dwellings
  77. Pilgrimage Church of Wies
  78. Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
  79. Frontiers of the Roman Empire
  80. Wadden Sea
  81. Stralsund and Wismar
  82. Bauhaus Sites
  83. Fagus Factory
  84. Primeval Beech Forests
  85. Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust
  86. Messel Pit
  87. Hildesheim Cathedral and Church
  88. Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe
  89. Medina of Essaouira
  90. Medina of Marrakesh
  91. Ksar of Aït Ben Haddou
  92. Bryggen
  93. Te Wahipounamu
  94. Baroque Churches
  95. Sigiriya
  96. Anuradhapura
  97. Polonnaruva
  98. Rangiri Dambulla Cave Temple
  99. Central Highlands
  100. Kandy
  101. Old Town of Galle
  102. Wartburg Castle
  103. Speyer Cathedral
  104. Muskauer Park
  105. Völklingen Ironworks
  106. Classical Weimar
  107. Rammelsberg and Goslar
  108. Potsdam
  109. Zollverein
  110. Bamberg
  111. Upper Middle Rhine Valley
  112. Lübeck
  113. Corvey
  114. Berlin Modernism Housing Estates
  115. Museumsinsel (Museum Island)
  116. Luther Memorials
  117. Würzburg Residence
  118. Quedlinburg
  119. Cologne Cathedral
  120. Medina of Fez
  121. Mazagan
  122. Meknes
  123. Volubilis
  124. Rabat
  125. Town Hall and Roland, Bremen
  126. Aachen Cathedral
  127. Le Havre
  128. Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal
  129. Schokland
  130. Thang Long
  131. Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France
  132. Brú na Bóinne
  133. Robben Island
  134. Tallinn
  135. Angkor
  136. Trang An

Reviewed TWHS