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Suggestion for an updated nomination: future tentative list

I do not see a particularly strong justification for Dublin to become a world heritage site, but Trinity College stood out. While my experience seeing Trinity College was brief, I was impressed and the literary history here is legendary. The Library of Trinity College Dublinis stunning in its own right and a book-lovers dream.

Therefore, I would suggest something far grander. I would like to see the development of a serial candidature for world heritage titled The Ancient Universities of the British Isles (Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, St Andrews, Oxford, and Cambridge). In such a nomination, the great institutions of higher learning on the British Isles would be recognized and the outstanding universal value clearly demonstrated. While such a nomination is highly unlikely in the short term, I could see such a nomination emerge down the road with the right advocacy and vision.

In writing this review and others (incoming) of former tentative sites, I want to explore potential options where the (ft) nomination could be reformulated to be worthy of inscription. Perhaps a review format of 'Top Missing' and in so doing, highlighting a phenomenon that we have sometimes seen - the long dormant tentative site reimagined.

The parish enclosures of Finistère were added very recently to the French indicative list, and this nomination file should be put forward soon by France (perhaps 2029?). It was entrusted to a former French Minister of Culture, residing in Brittany, who contributed to the successful inscription of the city of Nice in 2021.One might wonder why France chose a bid focused once again on Christian architecture. In fact, this choice is more judicious than it seems.

First, these parish churches are very original. Modest in size but very decorated, they are made up of several elements: a decorated monumental porch, a surrounding wall, with a monumental entrance and an "échalier" (to prevent animals from accessing this sacred space), a sculpted calvary, and an ossuary.

These buildings provide a striking testimony of the Breton culture of death. To see how fascinated the Bretons were by this, I recommend the collection of stories of "La légende de la mort" by Anatole Le Braz: the stories about "Ankou" (personification of Death) are among the most fascinating.

Finally, these churches were not financed by the local nobility, but by associations of peasants enriched by the cultivation of flax in the 16th and 17th centuries (used for boat sails). At that time, Brittany was one of the richest regions in Europe, and Breton merchants were present in all the ports of Europe. Thanks to this and the invention of printing, this part of Brittany was influenced by architectural styles from France, Italy …

This site was the first of the few UNESCO sites I visited during my trip to the US in Dec 2024. It made for a great stop on my way to spending the holidays with family in Virginia. I made sure that we visited both Monticello and the University of Virginia campus, which I think is the best way to really appreciate the OUV of this site. 

Monticello

Monticello was Thomas Jefferson's primary plantation and house, situated on a hill or a small mountain ('Monticello' in Italian) southeast of Charlottesville. We visited the site on a sunny but bitterly freezing afternoon on the first day of our stay in the town. The entrance to the site and the David M Rubenstein visitor centre sit just below the hill. It is highly recommended to watch the introductory film being screened at the theatre, as it gives you a rough introduction to Thomas Jefferson, his time in the plantation, and the plantation itself. You may also want to visit the Robert H. and Clarice Smith Gallery, which has excellent exhibitions featuring the fruits of Jefferson's ideas and work.

To access the house, you would have to join a tour or purchase the Grounds Ticket, which allows you to wander around the gardens and grounds at your own pace. In our case, we booked the Highlights Tour, a 45-minute guided tour that would give you an overview of the president, a tour of the first floor spaces of …

This is my second non-visit review within a few months. I really hope this is not becoming a regular thing. I tried to visit the Chongming Dongtan Bird Habitat. Strictly looking at the map, this is by far the easiest place to visit, as it is very close to Shanghai.

I took a taxi from the center and left Shanghai at lunch time. The DiDi app predicted 1h50min to get there, which is 30min longer than Google Maps (with no access to any traffic information, because technically banned) told me, when I planned this at home. The price was predicted with around 40 EUR per way, which is not too bad for 2 hours driving. There are also no other options than taxi, so it’s that or you know someone who can drive you there.

Traffic was actually no issue within Shanghai, just the millions of traffic lights slow you down a bit. The real problem is following: there is only one connection between the mainland and Chongming island. And worst of all, it’s a toll way. About 5km from probably the toll booth, there was a crazy traffic jam. Not too crazy in terms of length. The drive could pass at least half of the line, before he sneaked in. The problem was, that the line basically did not move at all. After spending over an hour in the traffic jam, the driver made me understand that it would be almost dark until we arrived our destination. …

Suggestion for an updated nomination: future tentative list

Consideration of a future Heritage of the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian People) nomination, Pu'uhonua o'Honaunau NHP would be a major component. It is past due the United States alongside local stakeholders in Hawaii put forward a serial nomination that represents the rich cultural heritage of Hawaii. Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park (Place of Refuge/Royal Mausoleum), along with Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park (Fishpond Bay, Petroglyphs), and the National Historic Site Puʻukoholā Heiau (Temple on the Hill of the Whale) are all managed by the National Park service and retain their authenticity. Kamakahonu (National Historic Landmark) is also a nationally significant site on The Big Island (Island of Hawai'i). All 4 components are connected by the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail.

Other potential components such as Mo'okini Heiau (places of worship), which is a National Historic Landmark would also be appropriate. While likely centered on the Island of Hawai'i, there is potential to include a select few other sites found on other islands.

In 1987, ICOMOS deferred 'Pu'uhonua o'Honaunau' while requesting a comparative study of 'Polynesian sites across the Pacific'. Since 1987, there have been multiple Pacific Island cultural and mixed properties inscribed. Papahānaumokuākea alone feels insufficient to encompass the rich heritage of Hawaii, even more so when its nearly impossible to visit. When the United States develops its next Tentative List, I sincerely hope the cultural heritage of Hawaii will be represented. The formulation of …

Now that the list of components for the US Civil Rights Movement Sites Tentative World Heritage Site nomination has filled out, I figured I should write about some of the locations that have yet to be reviewed. I visited the three sites closest to my home on the US East Coast in the summer of 2023. One of the sites, the Lincoln Memorial, was covered quite well in Solivagant's excellent review based on his firsthand experience at the March on Washington. The other two sites, Moton High School and the F.W. Woolworth Store, are a bit further off the beaten track for most visitors. I'll cover Moton High School for this review.

Moton High School is located in Farmville, a small town in central Virginia. Prince Edward County constructed Moton in 1939 as a segregated public school for African American youth in Farmville, but the town neglected the school in favor of funding improvements at the white high school on the other side of town. Moton was overcrowded, shoddily repaired, and inaptly heated for the student body. In 1951, Barbara Johns, a junior (the penultimate year of the US high school system), initiated a student-led walkout from classes, appealing to her fellow students to picket outside the school and the county courthouse to raise awareness of the poor conditions at Moton and to demand change. Of note, they requested to conduct this protest on their own, wanting to protect their teachers who they loved from consequences.

The National …

I visited Luzhi Town as a short expedition during my day trip from Shanghai to Suzhou.

This town as well has everything the reviews of the other towns described. There are beautiful canals bordered by traditional houses, nice little bridges and a Chinese garden in the center of the old town. There are several restaurants, shops and of course places that rent out traditional costumes. I visited the Wansheng Rice Shop, some kind of agricultural museum. There is also a boat tour starting right next to the museum, but my otherwise so reliable Alipay app did not work to book that one. All in all the town is very photogenic and very pleasant to visit.

Luzhi is only a 40mins DiDi drive from Suzhou and one way cost me only about 10 USD. If you want to make it complicated and less time efficient, you can also take a bus from Suzhou main station. I had no problem at all to find a driver to bring me there and another one to take me back and drop me off in front of the Humble Administrator’s Garden.

Trang An, just two hours out of Hanoi, seems a world away from it. I was equally excited to visit Trang An as I was Ha Long Bay when I planned our family vacation to Vietnam in January 2025. On a long day trip from Ha Long, we climbed up Hang Mua, had a lunch of fried corn and goat stir fry among other local specialties, and took a boat tour of the Trang An complex before catching the sunset at the Ho Dynasty Citadel. I must say that a tour of the Ninh Binh area would definitely be a highlight for any trip to Vietnam. It’s extremely scenic and enjoyable. But what about the WHS that is Trang An?

Climbing about 375 steps to the viewpoints in Hang Mua would be enough to enjoy a fairly panoramic view of the surroundings and appreciate the scale of Trang An, including a glimpse of the Tam Coc boat tours below the far side of the mountain (pictured). For the best views but only for the able, 100 more steps and a bit of limestone scrambling gets you as high as you can go, with a true 360° vantage point, albeit often with a precarious grip (which didn’t stop tourists of all ages). For the less able, picture opportunities exist at the adjacent Lotus Lake, with views of Hang Mua and several limestone monoliths rising from the plains. Then, for the boat tour, we chose Route 3 as the only way …

I know it's stating the obvious but.........don't go to Kew Gardens unless you're really interested in plants and gardening. I'm not and I have to be honest and say that I was a bit underwhelmed by the place and thought that the cost was too high.Let me elaborate, there's a lot of open green spaces, I mean A LOT, which may be green and natural but are not gardens. I think I expected something more akin to the Chelsea Flower Show than Hyde Park hence my overall disappointment. I did enjoy the hot houses, Kew Palace and the pagoda (picture).Ultimately though, I found it to be disappointing and not worth the entrance fee (currently £22) especially when there are some excellent parks to visit in London, for free.

I visited Kharkiv in 2021, six months before the start of the... disaster.

At that time, I was not yet part of the UNESCO enthusiast community, so I had no idea that I was next to a nominee for inclusion in the World Heritage Site. But even then, I was impressed by the massiveness and grandeur of the building - a very unusual architecture for Kharkiv.

Outside, there is also a large fountain built into the sidewalk. In the hot summer of 2021, you could meet children and their parents there every day, who were cooling off in powerful jets of the fountain in their bathing suits. I was no exception.

Unfortunately, I have not been inside Derzhprom, but I hope to fix this someday. I also hope that the building will survive until the end of the war. A few weeks ago, it was already damaged by shelling.

Thang Long is surely far from being the most popular WHS here. As I planned my January 2025 trip to northern Vietnam, I fully expected it to be close to the bottom of my rankings. Barely anything remains from its 11th century state that is often stated as the basis of its OUV, right? Yes, all that can be seen from that period are artifacts from the archaeological digs, and even then, the majority come from the 13th-14th centuries. Most of what remains are indeed recent Nguyen and French additions. While Nguyen structures may pale in comparison to Hue, the little gates and pavilions are distinct and beautiful royal constructions still exemplary for the period as a whole. The French colonial architecture in Hanoi is both rich and underrepresented in WHS, and this holds true for the buildings in and around the citadel too. 

The 1467 Kinh Thien staircase is a subtly impressive structure from the Le Dynasty, coming right after the Ho Dynasty, with stonework that reminded me slightly of the Korean kingdoms. This would be the single oldest structure you will find within the walls of the citadel, and perhaps the most impressive (of course, that’s not saying much). Across the street, the 18 Hoang Dieu archaeological site is quite expansive, with two large zones on either side of a pond. The remains reminded me a bit of the Biblical Tells, with several layers of remains, each one older than the one above it. Occasionally, you could …

I booked a tour with a local company, Ashanti African Tours, to spend four days in Ghana, visiting the forts and the Asante traditional buildings as well as the Akwasidae Festival, a traditional Asante festival that happens once every six weeks. I was too focused on visas and anti-malarials and a snow storm to closely check the itinerary, which just had an afternoon visiting the site. I was disappointed to learn that only the shrine at Ejisu-Besease had been included. I asked that more be added and also visited Adako-Jackie, which is nearby. I would be specific on any tour and say you want to visit multiple of the shrines. Although I usually have a 30% rule — e.g., have to see at least 30% of the components of a site — I am going to mark this one off, as I did the best I could and I already compromised my rule with the Stecci.

As to the buildings, they are shrines built in the traditional Asante style, often in the 1800s to early 1900s. Due to the wars with the British, there are only around ten such buildings remaining. In many cases, there have been shrines on the sites for hundreds of years. This he shrines typically have four buildings around an open courtyard and have decorated walls and thatched roofs. Some of the thatched roofs are being replaced by metal ones to better protect the buildings and lower maintenance costs. The shrine at Adako-Jachie was under …

Cidade Velha is an easy, short excursion from Santiago’s (and Cabo Verde’s) capital Praia. A bay, a few cobbled streets, remains of Portuguese fortifications and churches – you know what it looks like even before you have seen it. I tried a different approach for my visit and went for a guided hike through the Ribeira Grande Valley. This way I also ticked one of the other activity boxes I had for Cabo Verde: “Do a hike in the countryside” (as the archipelago is known as a hiker's paradise).

When you look at the official map of Cidade Velha WHS, you’ll notice that not only the seaside town is included but also a much larger area inland. The boundaries of the core zone follow the canyon that was carved out by the river Ribeira Grande. This area is linked to a specific part of the site’s OUV: the “acclimatisation and dissemination of numerous plant species between the temperate and tropical zones”. The Portuguese colonists experimented with various crops here in the 16th and 17th centuries, starting unsuccessfully with cereals but later finding out that plants from Africa’s mainland (coconut) and Latin America (maize) did well.

We started our hike in the village of Calabaceira. From there, a marked trail leads down into the valley. The guided hike is labelled as “an easy and accessible path for every hiker” by the tour company, but the volcanic soil is rocky all the time and especially going down you have to …

Bassari Country is almost contiguous with that other East Senegal WHS, Niokolo Koba National Park. However, you must drive around the park (2.5-3 hours) to get to where the Bassari live. Along the way, you will already see plenty of traditional houses in mixed villages by the roadside.

We started our visit at location #3, Dindefello. This is a typical mixed village on lower ground, inhabited mostly by Fula and with ‘modern’ houses as well. It has a fine setting with the massive wall of the Fouta Djalon Massif rising behind it. On its main street, there’s a Visitor’s Center where you have to pick up a local guide and pay for access to the waterfall. 

Dindefello Falls are the region’s pride but it is hard to imagine a sizeable waterfall in this dry landscape. We had to walk for half an hour through the forest to get there. The path is adjacent to a river, where women cleaned their laundry by ‘beating’ it on stones. The noise sounds like gunshots. The waterfall was no disappointment: a long, sheer drop coming from the rocks. A pool had formed below it; my guide and driver tried it, but the water was too cold in the early morning for a swim.

The guide had promised me a visit to a ‘real real’ village as well. After some deliberations with the guys at Dindefello reception, we were given a contact number for a local guide who could give us access to Andiél. This …

Can you review a tentative site where the components are unknown? We visited the Iglesia de San Francisco in Antigua in the summer of 2016 which would presumably have been one of the supposed 26 components. More churches you say? I would have been the first to say surely saturation point has been reached on the religious sites. But then … the more I thought about it … the more I thought it might be … merited?! The vast majority of sites related to colonialism focus on urban ensembles which don’t necessarily hone in on the role of missionaries in altering the fabric of a region permanently.

Franciscans and Dominicans dominated the evangelisation of areas of Spanish conquest. During the 16th century, the construction of monasteries directly paralleled the route of evangelization, in Yucatán, Chiapas and Guatemala. Franciscans built their churches above Maya temples and oversaw hispanicization of the mayan descendants. Our “Christian missions” connection links sites all over the Americas, yet there are none between Mexico City and Bolivia. Can we imagine if this was Europe that there wouldn’t be anything considered of comparable outstanding universal value to existing sites in the distance between Madrid and Moscow?

A little about the church in Antigua itself, which is perfectly pleasant to visit. Originally built in 1579, parts of this first church still stand today and represent some of the oldest architecture in Antigua. Devastated by earthquakes, it was only partially reconstructed but maintains elements like its façade, characterized …

My first thought when exploring the fortifications and the Colonial heart of Manila was this must be difficult to preserve. The vegetation seemed like it was overtaking the ruins. Moreover, some parts of the fortifications were crumbling or collapsing in on itself. Considering other climate factors such as total rainfall in a year, Intramuros has unique challenges to address before producing a nomination dossier. My visit to Manila was May 2011 and perhaps the conservation within the historic district has improved.

Intramuros was previously on the Philippines tentative list and rejected in 1989. There are a lot of superlatives in the UNESCO description, such as 'exemplary' town planning that is 'exceptionally' intact, 'revolutionary' intermarriage of Western and New World . . . , 'remarkable' product of early modern Western fortification science, 'unparalleled' and a 'masterstroke' of Colonial urban planning. What can be noticed by any visitor is the grid layout of the streets, the San Agustin Church (WHS) within the walled city, Fort Santiago adjacent to the Pasig River, and Rizal Park abutting the Southern boundary. The existence of 'Intramuros Golf Club' in the buffer zone may pose problems with ICOMOS, since many of the best views of the walls are actually from the greens.

Another Tentative List update by the Philippines in 2024 was 'Corregidor Island and Historic Fortifications of Manila Bay'. One might argue that this nomination should be incorporated together with the Colonial Urban Plan and Fortifications of the Walled City of Manila. …

Guanacaste is a large area in northwestern Costa Rica that is easily accessible from the Liberia Airport, which has nonstop flights to many U.S. airports. Needing a short break to a warm climate, I hopped on a last-minute flight to Costa Rica to visit this World Heritage Site. Over 48 hours split over three days, I managed to visit three different areas of the vast site. Although the site is huge, most parts are within a two hour drive of the Liberia airport, off the Pan-American Highway; which is pretty well maintained.

The site is a broad Conservation Area of at least seven different national parks/reserves under separate administration that are generally disconnected, at least as far as the human entrances are concerned. Planning is essential, and so based on reviews here, the trusty Lonely Planet Guide, and a perusal of the website, I picked three areas to visit. The reviews on here were immensely helpful in describing the different areas of the park, so I wanted to leave my own to hopefully help future travelers.

After arriving at noon, I picked up a rental car nearby Liberia Airport and set off for Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Bahia Junquillal, which was about a 90-minute drive. This area is a national reserve that consists of a wide beach where families visit and camp. I did a walk on the beach along the bay and also a short nature trail through the woods. There were plenty of people but …

Like Bulgaria, Senegal was quick off the mark, resulting in some WHS getting in early which are questionable now. Niokolo-Koba, named after the Niokolo (Koba) River and the Kob antelope, is an enormous park in the east of the country. At its inscription it was rich in mammals including “a large population of elephants”, but after decades of poaching (which has been curtailed only in recent years), few of that is left. It has chimps, lions and other location-specific mammal species that are clinging on to existence and are heavily supported by conservation NGOs such as Panthera. Still, it’s remarkable considering the circumstances that such small and isolated populations have managed to survive for so long in West Africa. 

Don’t expect to see them though, those elephants or lions which are so numerous in Southern and Eastern Africa – there are only a dozen or so here in a fairly inaccessible park. For a reality check, I recommend reading this trip report of someone who stayed in the park for 2 weeks in 2018 looking for wild dogs but saw none (no wild dogs, no lions, no elephants). Also, the park seems to leave the more interesting parts such as Mt Assirik to scientists only.

With my Gambian driver and guide, I stayed at Camp Wassadou, which lies just across the River Gambia from where the park begins. Some 20 other guests were present, which indicates that tourists still trickle in. On the afternoon of our arrival, we did …

Dinosaurs have been an interest of mine since childhood. Little me would memorize every single species I could find in the books and their family, size, and modern-day locality. But I don’t think any of that could prepare me for stumbling upon and being able to hold hadrosaur vertebrae while trekking across the Albertan badlands. On one hand, I do think that fossil locales of every geological period are all somewhat equally valuable; as fossils become newer, they tend to be more complex and “impressive” whereas age in itself is already impressive, and fossils from different eras all help us to understand the history of our complex world and paint a picture of what life was like at any given point in geological history. That being said, I do have a bias for fulfilling childhood dreams, and there is just something so amazing about seeing fossils, big and small, of the very creatures that used to dominate the planet’s ecosystems. Dinosaur Provincial Park is the greatest record of the apex of the Age of the Reptiles, and it’s so easy to experience it firsthand if you’re in the area. This was one of my greatest experiences with a WHS.

I visited Dinosaur Provincial Park in July 2024, after spending the night in Brooks, about half an hour away. It was a hot day, but I arrived fairly early in the morning to make it to the 9am Fossil Finders tour that I had booked. Here’s a heads-up for anyone …

There were two deaf people in my group of visitors. At the beginning of the tour, everyone is given a fully automatic hand-held speaker to hold up to their ear throughout the duration of the tour like a cellphone. As others have mentioned, the tour of this well-preserved underground marvel is limited to groups of 10 and consists of a surround-view movie, then a walk down into the hypogeum. The entire group stops every few feet to listen to a segment of audio coming from each of their respective devices for a number of minutes, then moves forward at the physical guide's prompting and repeats the process. The in-person guide does not interact with the group nearly at all other than to prompt people forward at the end of each audio segment. I was a bit surprised that no services whatsoever were provided for the deaf individuals via sign language or anything else to help point out what was being covered in the audio segments from everyone else's devices. There were likewise no subtitles provided for the movie played at the beginning, so those first fifteen minutes or so were spent by the hearing impaired individuals primarily looking at stock video footage play across the walls in a dark room. Individuals with hearing impairment should make the decision for themselves whether the expensive hypogeum visit is worth it to them. Without being able to hear the handheld audio guide device (which contains no earbuds or bluetooth connections), the tour consists …