The Jameh Mosque is the third World Heritage Site in the beautiful city of Esfahan (Meidan Emam en Sotun Palace (part of the The Persian Garden World Heritage Site) are …
Joyce Van Soest
Member since December 2005
#63 484 0 19

My most impressive site: Decani Monastery, Kosovo (it is not only a beautiful monastery, but going to the monastry protected by armed soldiers is an experience by itself)
Recent Visits
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40March 8, 2025Island of Gorée, Kunta Kinteh Island, Saloum Delta, Stone Circles of Senegambia
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80Dec. 2, 2024Amami-Oshima Island, Fujisan, Genbaku Dome, Gusuku of Ryukyu, Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region …
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30Nov. 1, 2024Beijing Central Axis, Phu Phrabat, Schwerin Residence Ensemble
Top 10 Missing
About Joyce Van Soest
- Member since
- December 2005
- Country of Origin
- None
Visits
- Rank
- #63
- WHS
- 484
- Tentative Sites
- 0
Website Participation
- Reviews
- 31
-
Ratings
Ratings
World Heritage Sites
- Ngorongoro 5.0
- Baalbek 5.0
- Serengeti 5.0
- Persepolis 5.0
- Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks 5.0
- Sigiriya 4.5
- Vienna 4.5
- Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras 4.5
- Meidan Emam, Esfahan 4.5
- Palmyra 4.5
- Hollókö 4.5
- Amsterdam Canal Ring 4.5
- Arequipa 4.5
- Nikko 4.0
- Luang Prabang 4.0
- Schönbrunn 4.0
- Jantar Mantar 4.0
- Victoria Falls 4.0
- Hill Forts of Rajasthan 4.0
- Fatehpur Sikri 4.0
- Pompei 4.0
- iSimangaliso Wetland Park 4.0
- Old Havana 4.0
- Rangiri Dambulla Cave Temple 4.0
- Anuradhapura 4.0
- Chola Temples 4.0
- Teide National Park 4.0
- Sukhothai 4.0
- University of Coimbra 4.0
- Jaipur City, Rajasthan 4.0
- Glacier parks 4.0
- Roman Walls of Lugo 4.0
- Mahabalipuram 4.0
- South China Karst 4.0
- Su Nuraxi di Barumini 4.0
- Tierradentro 4.0
- Wulingyuan 4.0
- Verona 4.0
- Okavango Delta 4.0
- Salamanca 4.0
- Hahoe and Yangdong 4.0
- Santo Domingo 4.0
- Maloti-Drakensberg Park 4.0
- Mount Emei, including Leshan Giant Buddha 4.0
- Shirakawa-go and Gokayama 4.0
- Itsukushima Shrine 4.0
- Hal Saflieni Hypogeum 4.0
- Yazd 4.0
- Eisinga Planetarium 4.0
- Fujisan 4.0
- Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch 4.0
- Prambanan 4.0
- Xidi and Hongcun 3.5
- Red Fort 3.5
- Olympia 3.5
- Crac des Chevaliers 3.5
- Huascaran National Park 3.5
- Old Town of Lijiang 3.5
- Sighisoara 3.5
- Golestan Palace 3.5
- Masjed-e Jâme' 3.5
- Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas 3.5
- Yungang Grottoes 3.5
- Serra de Tramuntana 3.5
- City of Bath 3.5
- Dinosaur Provincial Park 3.5
- Tchogha Zanbil 3.5
- Safi al-Din Ensemble in Ardabil 3.5
- Robben Island 3.5
- Shushtar 3.5
- Rhaetian Railway 3.5
- Wooden Churches of Southern Malopolska 3.5
- Medina of Tunis 3.5
- Pirin National Park 3.5
- Nasca Lines 3.5
- Dong Phayayen - Khao Yai 3.5
- San Agustín 3.5
- Saloum Delta 3.5
- Cartagena 3.5
- Mammoth Cave 3.5
- Damascus 3.5
- Amami-Oshima Island 3.5
- Schwerin Residence Ensemble 3.5
- Hué 3.5
- Phu Phrabat 3.5
- Medina of Essaouira 3.5
- Olympic National Park 3.5
- Matera 3.5
- The trulli of Alberobello 3.5
- Phong Nha - Ke Bang 3.5
- Longmen Grottoes 3.5
- Kii Mountain Range 3.5
- Stone Town of Zanzibar 3.5
- Polonnaruva 3.5
- Al Ain 3.5
- Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes 3.5
- Kaeng Krachan Forest 3.5
- Jeju 3.5
- Lima 3.5
- Caral-Supe 3.5
- Central Highlands 3.5
- Chan Chan 3.5
- Naples 3.0
- Desembarco del Granma National Park 3.0
- Aleppo 3.0
- Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River 3.0
- Vigan 3.0
- Waterton Glacier International Peace Park 3.0
- Angra do Heroismo 3.0
- Wooden Churches of Maramures 3.0
- Komodo National Park 3.0
- Namib Sand Sea 3.0
- Mount Taishan 3.0
- Van Nellefabriek 3.0
- Sinharaja Forest 3.0
- Viñales Valley 3.0
- Dengfeng 3.0
- Tyre 3.0
- Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios 3.0
- Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro 3.0
- Chankillo Archaeoastronomical Complex 3.0
- Chavin 3.0
- Delos 3.0
- Ohrid Region 3.0
- Botanical Garden, Padua 3.0
- Vicenza and the Palladian Villas 3.0
- Funerary and memory sites of the First World War 3.0
- Medina of Tétouan 3.0
- Stonehenge 3.0
- Tiwanaku 3.0
- Trinity Sergius Lavra 3.0
- Huangshan 3.0
- Quseir Amra 3.0
- Cape Floral Region 3.0
- Medina of Sousse 3.0
- Las Medulas 3.0
- Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple 3.0
- Selimiye Mosque 3.0
- Thracian tomb of Kazanlak 3.0
- Old Town of Galle 3.0
- Medieval Monuments in Kosovo 3.0
- Kairouan 3.0
- Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs 3.0
- My Son 3.0
- Beijing Central Axis 3.0
- Genbaku Dome 3.0
- Gusuku of Ryukyu 3.0
- Mozu-Furuichi Kofun 3.0
- Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution 3.0
- Island of Gorée 3.0
- Cuenca 3.0
- San Cristobal de La Laguna 3.0
- Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region 3.0
- Altamira Cave 3.0
- Amphitheater of El Jem 3.0
- Bardejov Town 3.0
- Colonies of Benevolence 3.0
- Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley 3.0
- Banska Stiavnica 3.0
- Bourges Cathedral 3.0
- Crespi d'Adda 3.0
- Elvas 3.0
- Castel del Monte 3.0
- Saint-Emilion 3.0
- The Four Lifts 3.0
- Humayun's Tomb 3.0
- Horyu-ji Area 3.0
- Bellinzone 3.0
- Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal 3.0
- Holasovice 3.0
- Kandy 3.0
- Stralsund and Wismar 3.0
- Urbino 3.0
- Pilgrimage Church of Wies 3.0
- Bryggen 3.0
- Qutb Minar 3.0
- Quedlinburg 3.0
- Wartburg Castle 3.0
- Kenya Lake System 2.5
- Vall de Boi 2.5
- Moravian Church Settlements 2.5
- Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump 2.5
- Monastery of Horezu 2.5
- Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin 2.5
- Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries 2.5
- Takht-e Soleyman 2.5
- Torun 2.5
- Qadisha Valley 2.5
- Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo 2.5
- Euphrasian Basilica in Porec 2.5
- Lake Baikal 2.5
- Cienfuegos 2.5
- Mount Qingcheng and Dujiangyan 2.5
- Churches of Moldavia 2.5
- Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona 2.5
- Gyeongju 2.5
- Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng 2.5
- Butrint 2.5
- Mountain Resort, Chengde 2.5
- Litomysl Castle 2.5
- Lushan National Park 2.5
- Zamość 2.5
- Pienza 2.5
- Garajonay 2.5
- Mining Sites of Wallonia 2.5
- Durham Castle and Cathedral 2.5
- Western Ghats 2.5
- Camagüey 2.5
- Mountain Railways of India 2.5
- Trang An 2.5
- Spissky Hrad and Levoca 2.5
- Anjar 2.5
- Villages with Fortified Churches 2.5
- Persian Garden 2.5
- Painted Churches in the Troödos Region 2.5
- Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles 2.5
- Ferrara 2.5
- Byblos 2.5
- Mystras 2.5
- Manu National Park 2.5
- Sangiran Early Man Site 2.5
- Bosra 2.5
- Atapuerca 2.5
- Three parallel rivers of Yunnan 2.5
- Thracian tomb of Sveshtari 2.5
- Coffee Cultural Landscape 2.5
- Seowon, Neo-Confucian Academies 2.5
- The Persian Qanat 2.5
- Vézelay 2.5
- Antequera Dolmens Site 2.5
- Malbork Castle 2.5
- Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans 2.0
- Nessebar 2.0
- Susa 2.0
- Qhapaq Ñan 2.0
- Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces 2.0
- Novodevichy Convent 2.0
- Pasargadae 2.0
- Temple, Mansion and Cemetery of Confucius 2.0
- Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae 2.0
- Gardens and Castle at Kromeríz 2.0
- Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz 2.0
- Kunta Kinteh Island 2.0
- Stone Circles of Senegambia 2.0
- Muskauer Park 2.0
- Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay 2.0
- Vizcaya Bridge 2.0
- Royal Joseon Tombs 2.0
- Santa Cruz de Mompox 2.0
- Baroque Churches 2.0
- Tomioka Silk Mill 2.0
- Schokland 2.0
- Classical Gardens of Suzhou 2.0
- Pannonhalma 2.0
- Soltaniyeh 2.0
- Burgos Cathedral 2.0
- Hwaseong Fortress 2.0
- La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle 2.0
- Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk 2.0
- Tabriz Bazaar 2.0
- Choirokoitia 2.0
- Churches of Peace 2.0
- Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries 2.0
- Ban Chiang 2.0
- Messel Pit 2.0
- Provins 2.0
- Fossil Hominid Sites 2.0
- Rideau Canal 2.0
- Trebic 2.0
- Fagus Factory 2.0
- Kaiping Diaolou 2.0
- Białowieża Forest 2.0
- Yogyakarta 2.0
- Persian Caravanserai 2.0
- Hortobágy 2.0
- Silk Roads: Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor 2.0
- Lake Malawi 2.0
- Nice 2.0
- Vlkolinec 2.0
- Fertö/Neusiedlersee 2.0
- Cilento and Vallo di Diano 2.0
- Le Havre 2.0
- Keoladeo National Park 2.0
- Peking Man Site 2.0
- Jelling 2.0
- Hildesheim Cathedral and Church 2.0
- Yuso and Suso Monasteries 2.0
- Tokaji Wine Region 1.5
- Mazagan 1.5
- Kladruby nad Labem 1.5
- Madara Rider 1.5
- Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape 1.5
- Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa Dolmen 1.5
- Citadel of the Ho Dynasty 1.5
- Bisotun 1.5
- Baekje Historic Areas 1.5
- Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region 1.5
- Benedictine Convent of St. John 1.5
- Namhansanseong 1.5
- Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye 1.5
- Tower of Hercules 1.0
- Dacian Fortresses 1.0
- Srebarna Nature Reserve 1.0
- Lower German Limes 1.0
- Mount Kenya 0.5
- Danube Limes 0.5
- 306 0
- Photos
- N/A
- Locations
- N/A
- Zones
- N/A
Reviews by Joyce van Soest


Persian Garden (Inscribed)
Persian Garden
All over Iran you can find beautiful gardens. Nine of them are inscribed on the list and I visited six of them.
To fully appreciate it, you should visit the …

Dengfeng (Inscribed)
Dengfeng
I visited Dengfeng in 2009 and I didn't know it was going to be a WHS at that time. The reason I came here was the famous Shaolin monastery. Besides …

Tiwanaku (Inscribed)
Tiwanaku
Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco) is a complex of buildings, temples and a pyramid from pre-Inca times and is therefore Bolivia's most important archeological site.
The site consists of two museums and the …

Nasca Lines (Inscribed)
Nasca Lines
Still unknown why they are made, the Nasca lines form an interesting phenomenon. There are several agencies in town that will fly above the lines for an excellent view. Take …

Arequipa (Inscribed)
Arequipa
Ah, beautiful Arequipa, the colonial city surrounded by snowy volcanoes. The city has some beautiful churches and buildings with very ornate facades, there’s a nice vibe on the Plaza de …

Mostar (Inscribed)
Mostar
Mostar turned out to be a great surprise and a wonderful city. The famous old bridge was destroyed during the war in 1993, but rebuilt about 10 years later with …

Würzburg Residence (Inscribed)
Würzburg Residence
This grand building is definitely worth a visit. On the outside it might not look very special, but the inside sure is. When you walk up the stairs you will …

Kotor (Inscribed)
Kotor
This small city on the slope of a mountain is located in a breathtaking fjord which is the biggest in Southern Europe. The wall surrounding the old city goes high …

Skocjan Caves (Inscribed)
Skocjan Caves
The caves can only be visited on a guided 2-hour tour where you will visit 3 kilometers of the total of 6 kilometers of tunnels and rooms filled with stalagmites …

Medieval Monuments in Kosovo (Inscribed)
Medieval Monuments in Kosovo
This is probably one of the few WHS where you have to go through military checkpoints (if they even let you) and you'll have several guns and a tank pointing …

Dubrovnik (Inscribed)
Dubrovnik
Dubrovik is quite a big city and even the inner town is pretty big compared to other walled cities along the Croatian coast. It is a beautiful walled city, but …

Euphrasian Basilica in Porec (Inscribed)
Euphrasian Basilica in Porec
Porec is a cute town on the Adriatic coast, unfortunately way too crowded with tourists. The basilica is nice, and the golden mosaics are stunning.

Split (Inscribed)
Split
Split is quite an industrial city but the old town is far from that. Everywhere in the old town you can see the remains of the old palace. When you …

Schokland (Inscribed)
Schokland
Driving by Schokland you don't see a significant thing, but when you stop and take some time to look around, it actually is quite an interesting place.
We visited the …

Beemster Polder (Inscribed)
Beemster Polder
The Beemsterpolder might be on the Unesco list, but to me, and I guess to every Dutch person visiting it, it looks like any other polder: flat and green. This …

Cologne Cathedral (Inscribed)
Cologne Cathedral
Yes, it is huge and a good example of gothic architecture, but to me this cathedral wasn't very appealing; the outside is dark and dirty (although they are restoring parts …

Aachen Cathedral (Inscribed)
Aachen Cathedral
The cathedral didn't look very impressive from the outside and I wondered why it was a WHS, until I stepped inside. The dome is incredible and the golden detailed painting …

City of Luxembourg (Inscribed)
City of Luxembourg
The view from the old city wall is beautiful and you can easily spent some time hanging around there. When you get up early and go to the city wall …

Cologne Cathedral (Inscribed)
Cologne Cathedral
The cathedral didn't look very impressive from the outside and I wondered why it was a WHS, until I stepped inside. The dome is incredible and the golden detailed painting …