UNESCO World Heritage list in the US

 You don't need to travel to Europe or South America to visit UNESCO World Heritage Sites. There are multiple sites within an easy drive of Rutgers. And there are even more all throughout the US (28, to be precise), with the National Park Service and the Department of Interior maintaining a list of future candidate sites to list. Here is a list/map of the US sites.

What should be added? What is a site that is significant to the entire world's population?

Losing a World Heritage Site?

Is UNESCO about to un-recognize one of its World Heritage Sites? Plans for Shalimar Gardens in Lahore place the site's status at risk.

Clickbait

Just a note for regular readers. It turns out that UNESCO World Heritage stories are great clickbait. The posting on July 13 got more than double the visits of our other recent posts. Go figure. I will counter it with a detailed post on data handling sometime soon.

The newest UNESCO World Heritage sites

UNESCO has announced its latest class of World Heritage Sites, These are places of significance around the world that are seen as central to our collected heritage on this planet. The original class of 1978 included Yellowstone and Mesa Verde, with the Grand Canyon and Independence Hall getting added later. In Spain, I lost count of how many our class visited, but it included the Historic City of Toledo, the silk trading centers in Valencia, Gaudi's work in Barcelona, the Hospital Santa Pau and Palau de la Música Catalana, the historic center of Cordoba, and the Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín in Granada.

2015 brings a few interesting additions to the list which only has a little over 1,000 entries. In the US, the San Antonio Missions have been added, including the Alamo (I hope they don't post the plaque in the Alamo's basement where no one can see it). Jamaica's Blue and John Crow Mountains were also added this year. Elsewhere, Britain's remarkable Forth Bridge and Turkey's ancient city of Ephesus also made the list.

Check out the list of all 27 newly inscribed sites. Explore the interactive map of all 1031. Do you disagree with any? Are you worried about the sites that have been delisted and what it means for other threatened sites?  Or do you just want to pack your bags and start visiting some?

Changdeokgung Palace

The highlight of the trip was my visit to the Changdeokgung Palace and its Secret Garden.  The site is deservedly designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, truly one of the great human-built sites anywhere. Throughout the site, appreciation of nature and balance of design elements were the recurring theme.

Seolleung Park

As the burial grounds of two Joseon kings and one Joseon queen, this park is a unexpectedly nice setting for a morning walk near Seoul's Teheranno and some of the tallest buildings in the city.  Another grey day, but worth a quick peek. Especially since it is part a of collection of properties that have UNESCO World Heritage status.

Can you lose your World Heritage status?

If a site is important enough to merit inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list, can it be modified in a way that makes it unimportant for the world? There is a concern that a proposed bridge in Germany could do that to the Lorelei Valley.

World Digital Library

UNESCO, the agency that helped created the World Heritage Sites system, has now created a World Digital Library that hosts digital versions of ancient documents that are of global significance.

The library includes links to things like an original map of St. Augustine, Florida, the picture (above) of Lincoln at Antietam with McClelland and Pinkerton, William Blake's Book of Urizen, a German Modern Geographic Table of Geography, Aucarete du Biscay's An account of a voyage up the river de la Plata, and thence over land to Peru, a recording of Amazing Grace played by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, an 1833 Japanese painting of Peony and Canary, and a 1550 manuscript of the Persian Munajat.

Korean landscape architecture

In an effort to connect the earlier post on World Heritage Sites and my recent meeting with the President of Sangmyung University, I will mention that Jongmyo Shrine is definitely a World Heritage Site that I want to see some day. More details here.

More UNESCO World Heritage Sites

I've become a bit of a fan of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Aside from the idea of trying to recognize the value systems and heritage of all peoples, it is just a cool list of special places. Having visited a few World Heritage Sites this summer (the photo above is one I took of Tarragona back in June), I have it on the brain. So, I was particularly interested to see the newest entries on their list. They also dropped one because Oman failed to protect its value for the world.