Riccardo Quaranta Profile

Riccardo Quaranta
Riccardo Quaranta.

My name is Riccardo and I was born near Rome, in Italy. I'm in love with traveling and the beauty of this world. I believe that one of the best ways to appreciate what the world and its people offer is to travel and learn from this amazing experience.

A great way to learn and understand everything that is different from our daily life is by appreciating the heritage that is left for us by people, together with the stunning beauty of nature. This is why I am interested in the UNESCO World Heritage. Through them, I feel like I’m learning what people are capable of doing and I am always amazed at the incredible shows that Nature is capable of disclosing before our eyes. I want to share my passion with the rest of the world, because I strongly believe that the world would be a much better place if everyone could travel and see this incredible beauty with their own eyes, the way I do.

I have also my personal blog: www.theunescochallenge.wordpress.com

Italy Last Update 01.09.24 231 WHS Visited 16 Reviews 159 WHS Rated 111 TWHS Visited

Visited Sites Riccardo Quaranta

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Legend

  • ●● Cultural
  • ●● Natural
  • ●● Mixed

Recent Reviews Riccardo Quaranta

Aqaba Marine Reserve (T)

Riccardo Quaranta Italy - 23-Aug-23

Aqaba Marine Reserve (T)

I went scuba diving in the Aqaba Marine Reserve during my trip to Jordan in August 2023, through a local dive center.

Being a scuba diving enthusiast, this was the best way for me to experience this TWHS, however, since the marine reserve is located a few kilometers south of downtown Aqaba, near Tala Bay (where most of the beach resorts are located), the site is easily reached by private car as well and it's also a great spot for snorkeling from the shore if you are not a fan of going too deep underwater in areas such as the so-called Japanese garden or Berenice reef.

Read On

Pella (T)

Riccardo Quaranta Italy - 18-Aug-23

Pella (T)

Pella is the third Decapolis city TWHS I have visited in northern Jordan after Abila and Gadara in August 2023 and, in terms of quality, it's somewhere between the two. The site is not as well managed as Gadara, but it is not left completely on its own as Abila. 

The visitor centre is just off the main road (easy to find on Google maps), on a cliff that overlooks the entire archaeological site, which in fact is not very big. However, the visitor centre is not much more than a ticket booth and what seems to be meant as a small museum that is not ready yet.

Read On

Gadara (T)

Riccardo Quaranta Italy - 17-Aug-23

Gadara (T)

I visited Gadara during my trip to Jordan in August 2023.

I had a rented car and so it has been relatively easy to drive to the three Decapolis cities that are currently TWHS (Abila, Gadara and Pella) in northern Jordan. Gadara is the largest and best managed of them. There is a small museum, reconstructed buildings, the ruins are quite extensive and there are even underground tunnels that can be visited. Overall, the site is worth a visit even for non-WHS aficionados.

Considering the distance among the cities and the size of these archaeological site, it is quiet easy to visit all of them in one day, especially if driving from Jerash, rather than Amman. 

Read On

Abila City (T)

Riccardo Quaranta Italy - 14-Aug-23

Abila City (T)

I visited Abila in August 2023 during my extensive trip in Jordan. I visited it in combination with the others TWHS in northern Jordan making up the series of the Decapolis cities.

I had some expectation on this site based on other TWHS in Jordan (and on Google reviews and WHC description) but, unfortunately, Abila didn't meet them at all.

But let's start from the beginning.

I used Jerash as a base for the exploration of northern Jordan by rental car, as it seemed the easiest thing to do without the need to go back to Amman at the end of every single day and each TWHS in the area can be reached in about 1 hour from Jerash. Reaching Abila was relatively easy, it's clearly marked in Google Maps, although it isn't clear that the last part of the road is on an unpaved steep dirt road that goes through some crops. Nothing impossible though. My regular small sedan could make it easily. However, once I reached the first ruins of Abila, I realised that the site isn't managed or maintained properly. There is nothing, not even a sign marking the importance of the place

Read On

Les tombes de la Basse Selca (T)

Riccardo Quaranta Italy - 31-Aug-22

Les tombes de la Basse Selca (T)

There is not much that can be added to Solivagant's excellent review of les tombes de la Basse Selca in Albania. I will only give an update on how to get there and what to expect as of August 2022 when I visited the tombs on my way from Elbasan to Lin.

Now, the location is even mapped on google maps as "Gradishta e Selcës së Poshtëme" (coordinates: 40.990687532328295, 20.519241375903466). This is the correct position so it's a good way to find the right spot. Don't get confused with the nearby "Gredishtë" as it will lead you to the wrong spot.

Read On

Profile Data

Name
Riccardo Quaranta
Country
Italy
Most Impressive
Rome, Angkor, Machu Picchu, Bagan.
Proposal
Titicaca Lake, Mount Bromo.
Website
website

Recently Visited WHS

Update 01.09.24
  • Umm Al-Jimāl
  • Via Appia

    • 14 Countries Complete

    Albania . Andorra . Cyprus . Ecuador . Estonia . Holy See . Jordan . Luxembourg . Malta . Moldova . North Macedonia . San Marino . Singapore . Slovenia .

    Rating Stats
    Angkor 5
    Bagan 5
    Galapagos Islands 5
    Machu Picchu 5
    Petra 5
    Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River 5
    Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras 5
    Wadi Rum 5
    Ancient Thebes 4.5
    Archaeological Site of Delphi 4.5
    Borobudur 4.5
    Dolomites 4.5
    Hallstatt-Dachstein 4.5
    Hill Forts of Rajasthan 4.5
    Matera 4.5
    Mycenae and Tiryns 4.5
    Nasca Lines 4.5
    Old Havana 4.5
    Skocjan Caves 4.5
    Via Appia 4.5
    Agra Fort 4
    Aquileia 4
    Ayutthaya 4
    Berat and Gjirokastra 4
    Cilento and Vallo di Diano 4
    Costiera Amalfitana 4
    Cuzco 4
    Epidaurus 4
    Etruscan Necropolises 4
    Hal Saflieni Hypogeum 4
    Isole Eolie 4
    Ksar of Aït Ben Haddou 4
    Luang Prabang 4
    Medina of Fez 4
    Meteora 4
    Mystras 4
    Nikko 4
    Nubian Monuments 4
    Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands 4
    Prambanan 4
    Rock Drawings in Valcamonica 4
    Shirakawa-go and Gokayama 4
    Sukhothai 4
    Taj Mahal 4
    The trulli of Alberobello 4
    Val d'Orcia 4
    Vicenza and the Palladian Villas 4
    Villa Adriana (Tivoli) 4
    Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont 4
    Volubilis 4
    Albi 3.5
    Alcala de Henares 3.5
    Arab-Norman Palermo 3.5
    Arequipa 3.5
    Assisi 3.5
    Avila 3.5
    Bamberg 3.5
    Butrint 3.5
    Fatehpur Sikri 3.5
    Heritage of Mercury 3.5
    Hoi An 3.5
    Jaipur City, Rajasthan 3.5
    Kinabalu Park 3.5
    Margravial Opera House 3.5
    Meknes 3.5
    Mostar 3.5
    Mount Etna 3.5
    Olympia 3.5
    Painted Churches in the Troödos Region 3.5
    Paphos 3.5
    Pienza 3.5
    Plantin-Moretus Museum 3.5
    Qhapaq Ñan 3.5
    Rabat 3.5
    Ravenna 3.5
    Residences of the Royal House of Savoy 3.5
    Rila Monastery 3.5
    Royal Palace at Caserta 3.5
    Segovia 3.5
    Sydney Opera House 3.5
    Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae 3.5
    Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios 3.5
    Trogir 3.5
    Urbino 3.5
    Villa d'Este 3.5
    Viñales Valley 3.5
    Yogyakarta 3.5
    Bellinzone 3
    Boyana Church 3
    Castel del Monte 3
    Corfu 3
    Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios 3
    Elephanta Caves 3
    Fortress of Suomenlinna 3
    Genbaku Dome 3
    Great Smoky Mountains 3
    Great Spa Towns of Europe 3
    Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago 3
    Humayun's Tomb 3
    Hué 3
    Itsukushima Shrine 3
    Kutna Hora 3
    Lima 3
    Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley 3
    Mantua and Sabbioneta 3
    Medici Villas and Gardens 3
    Melaka and George Town 3
    Quito 3
    Qutb Minar 3
    Red Fort 3
    Regensburg 3
    San Marino and Mount Titano 3
    Santa Ana de los Rios de Cuenca 3
    Sighisoara 3
    Stari Grad Plain 3
    The Porticoes of Bologna 3
    Umm Al-Jimāl 3
    Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai 3
    Vigan 3
    Baroque Churches 2.5
    Botanical Garden, Padua 2.5
    Choirokoitia 2.5
    Ferrara 2.5
    Gardens and Castle at Kromeríz 2.5
    Genoa 2.5
    La Lonja de la Seda 2.5
    Longobards in Italy 2.5
    Modena 2.5
    Pilgrimage Church of Wies 2.5
    Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy 2.5
    Um er-Rasas 2.5
    Bali Subak system 2
    Canal du Midi 2
    Cienfuegos 2
    Fortifications of Vauban 2
    Holy Trinity Column 2
    Jantar Mantar 2
    Macao 2
    Mining Sites of Wallonia 2
    Monte San Giorgio 2
    Plečnik's Ljubljana 2
    Sangiran Early Man Site 2
    The Prosecco Hills 2
    Thessalonika 2
    As-Salt 1.5
    Cathedral of St. James in Sibenik 1.5
    Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus 1.5
    Danube Limes 1.5
    Nice 1.5
    Old Rauma 1.5
    Prehistoric Pile Dwellings 1.5
    Quseir Amra 1.5
    Baptism Site "Bethany Beyond the Jordan" 1
    Ivrea 1
    Sangay National Park 1
    Tugendhat Villa 1
    Ohrid Region 0.5
    Struve Geodetic Arc 0.5
    Thang Long 0.5
    Acropolis
    Agrigento
    Amsterdam Canal Ring
    Ancient Kyoto
    Ancient Nara
    Belem
    Belfries
    Brugge
    Budapest
    City of Luxembourg
    Cologne Cathedral
    Dong Phayayen
    Dubrovnik
    El Escurial
    Flemish Béguinages
    Florence
    Fortified City of Carcassonne
    Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings
    Grand Place, Brussels
    Historic Cairo
    Independence Hall
    Istanbul
    Kotor
    Kraków
    Major Town Houses
    Medina of Marrakesh
    Megalithic Temples of Malta
    Museumsinsel (Museum Island)
    Naples
    Oporto
    Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles
    Paris, Banks of the Seine
    Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro
    Piazza del Duomo (Pisa)
    Plitvice Lakes
    Pompei
    Prague
    Primeval Beech Forests
    Pyramids (Memphis)
    Riga
    Rome
    Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France
    Royal Exhibition Building
    Salzburg
    San Gimignano
    Santa Maria delle Grazie
    Schönbrunn
    Siena
    Singapore Botanic Gardens
    Sintra
    Split
    Statue of Liberty
    Stećci
    Stoclet House
    Stonehenge
    Tallinn
    The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier
    Toledo
    Tower of London
    Trier
    University of Coimbra
    Valletta
    Vatican City
    Venetian Works of Defence
    Venice and its Lagoon
    Verona
    Versailles
    Vienna
    Vilnius
    Warsaw
    Westminster
    Works of Antoni Gaudí
    1. Abila City (Modern Qweilbeh) (T)
    2. Agioi Varnavas and Ilarion at Peristerona (Five-domed churches) (T)
    3. Al Qastal (Settlement) (T)
    4. Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath (T)
    5. Ancient cities of Upper Myanmar : Innwa, Amarapura, Sagaing, Mingun, Mandalay (T)
    6. Ancient Greek Theatres (T)
    7. Aqaba Marine Reserve (T)
    8. Azraq (T)
    9. Beng Malea Temple (T)
    10. Bishop's Basilica and Late-Antique Mosaics of Philippopolis, Roman Province of Thrace (T)
    11. Brooklyn Bridge (T)
    12. Cascata delle Marmore and Valnerina: Monastic sites and ancient hydrogeological reclamation works (T)
    13. Caves of the Buda Thermal Karst System (T)
    14. Central Park (T)
    15. Cetinje Historic Core (T)
    16. Chocolate Hills Natural Monument (T)
    17. Church of Panagia Aggeloktisti (T)
    18. Church of Panayia Chrysokourdaliotissa, Kourdali (extension to (T)
    19. Cienaga de Zapata National Park (T)
    20. Cité de Carcassonne et ses châteaux sentinelles de montagne (T)
    21. Cittadella (Victoria - Gozo) (T)
    22. Civil Rights Movement Sites (T)
    23. Coastal Cliffs (T)
    24. Colonial Urban Plan and Fortifications of the Walled City of Manila (T)
    25. Cultural Itinerary of Ecuador's Trans-Andean Train (T)
    26. Cultural Landscape of Innsbruck-Nordkette/Karwendel (T)
    27. Dahab (T)
    28. Delhi - A Heritage City (T)
    29. Desert National Park (T)
    30. Diocletian's Palace and the Historical Nucleus of Split (extension) (T)
    31. Doclea (T)
    32. Dreams in Stone - the palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee (T)
    33. Early Chicago Skyscrapers (T)
    34. Egyptian Museum in Cairo (T)
    35. El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (T)
    36. Ellis Island (T)
    37. Extension of the World Heritage Site "Historic Centre of Prague" with the important Monuments in its Vicinity (T)
    38. Former M-13 prison/ Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (former S-21)/ Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre (former Execution Site of S-21) (T)
    39. Fortress of Spinalonga (T)
    40. Frontiers of the Roman Empire – The Danube Limes (Serbia) (T)
    41. Gadara (Modern Um Qeis or Qays) (T)
    42. Guano Islands, Islets, and Capes National Reserve System (T)
    43. Hala Sultan Tekke and the Larnaka Salt Lake Complex (T)
    44. Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
    45. Iconic Riverfront of the Historic City of Varanasi (T)
    46. Inle Lake (T)
    47. Jerash Archaeological City (Ancient Meeting Place of East and West) (T)
    48. Karstic caves in prehistoric Apulia (T)
    49. Khor Dubai (T)
    50. Knights Fortifications around the Harbours of Malta (T)
    51. L'amphitheatre de Durres (T)
    52. Lake Maggiore and Lake D'Orta lakelands (T)
    53. Lake Titicaca (T)
    54. Late Medieval Bastioned Fortifications in Greece (T)
    55. Le champ de bataille de Waterloo, la fin de l’épopée napoléonienne (T)
    56. Le Palais de Justice de Bruxelles (T)
    57. Le Panorama de la Bataille de Waterloo, exemple particulièrement significatif de « Phénomène de Panoramas » (T)
    58. Les Alpes de la Méditerranée (France) (T)
    59. Les Alpes de la Méditerranée (Italy) (T)
    60. Les Alpes de la Méditerranée (Monaco) (T)
    61. Les passages de Bruxelles / Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (T)
    62. Les témoignages matériels de la construction de l’État des Pyrénées : la Co-principauté d’Andorre (A) (T)
    63. Les témoignages matériels de la construction de l’État des Pyrénées : la Co-principauté d’Andorre (F) (T)
    64. Les témoignages matériels de la construction de l’État des Pyrénées : la Co-principauté d’Andorre (S) (T)
    65. Les tombes de la Basse Selca (T)
    66. Maltese Catacomb Complexes (T)
    67. Massif du Mont Blanc (T)
    68. Massif du Mont-Blanc (T)
    69. Mdina (Citta Vecchia) (T)
    70. Minoan Palatial Centres (T)
    71. Monuments, Sites and Cultural Landscape of Chiang Mai, Capital of Lanna (T)
    72. Moulay Idriss Zerhoun (T)
    73. Mujib Nature Reserve (T)
    74. Nasca Aqueducts (T)
    75. Natural and Cultural Landscape of Danube Region (T)
    76. Noyau historique d'Antwerpen -Anvers- de l'Escaut aux anciens remparts de vers 1250 (T)
    77. Old Town of Bar (T)
    78. Old Wastewater Treatment Plant in Prague-Bubeneč (T)
    79. Orheiul Vechi Archaeological Landscape (T)
    80. Orvieto (T)
    81. Pella (Modern Tabaqat Fahil) (T)
    82. Qasr Al-Mushatta (T)
    83. Qawra/Dwejra (T)
    84. Ras Mohammed (T)
    85. Reef System in the Cuban Caribbean (T)
    86. Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras (Extension) (T)
    87. Royal Residences of Sinaia (T)
    88. Salento and the Barocco Leccese (T)
    89. Salt Mines of Maras (T)
    90. Shwedagon Pagoda on Singuttara Hill (T)
    91. Temples, Shrines and other structures of Ancient Kamakura (T)
    92. That Luang de Vientiane (T)
    93. The Ancient City of Apollonia (T)
    94. The Ancient Plovdiv (T)
    95. The Aniene valley and Villa Gregoriana in Tivoli (T)
    96. The Area of Old Carved Stone in Sapa (T)
    97. The Castle of Bashtova (T)
    98. The Cultural Landscape of Civita di Bagnoregio (T)
    99. The cultural landscape of the Benedictine settlements in medieval Italy (T)
    100. The Historic Towns and Landscape of Taal Volcano and its Caldera Lake (T)
    101. The Laponian Area - Tysfjord, the fjord of Hellemobotn and Rago (T)
    102. The Old Town of Jakarta (T)
    103. The Padang Civic Ensemble (T)
    104. The Transhumance: The Royal Shepherd's Track (T)
    105. Trakai Historical National Park (T)
    106. Troodos, Mt.Olympus (T)
    107. Ulcinj Old town (T)
    108. Via Francigena in Italy (T)
    109. Villas of the Papal Nobility (T)
    110. Wineries and Vineyards for traditional Pisco Production (T)
    111. Wooden Monasteries of Konbaung Period : Ohn Don, Sala, Pakhangyi, Pakhannge, Legaing, Sagu, Shwe-Kyaung (Mandalay) (T)

    Reviewed TWHS