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101 Goals: UNESCO World Heritage Sites

I thought I’d start easy on my 101 goals challenge – item number 75. I’m not doing it for the purpose of being able to boast how many of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites I’ve visited, but rather, I’m curious at which I have visited. Truth be told, as I don’t search for sites under this listing to visit in the first place, I have not even realise some of them are on it, until now! (The photo below is the only one I can find among thousands of my photos that marks the recognition of such site.)

UNESCO's recognition of Þingvellir

As of today, there are 962 sites listed altogether, and my travels have brought me to 35 of them. Some of them have just been visited recently, i.e. during my blogging lifetime, and therefore have been written up (when I wasn’t being lazy about it), others were visited when I was (much) younger that I really had to think hard if I’ve been there or if I confused it with something else, e.g. I visited a palace in Vienna but was it on-the-list Schönbrunn or off-the-list Hofburg?

Another small conundrum I have is that of Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France. Multiple sites form part of the route, including Mont St Michel and Paris. On reflection though, since it’s rather coincidental that I know these two places when there are 78 of them altogether, it’s hardly fair to claim that I know these sites.

Without further ado, the list of the sites that I’ve visited and the year(s) I visited them. Before you praise my ability to recall the years, know that recently, for certain administrative purpose, I had to list all my international travels in the last few years, so I just check that list to know when I was away.

* * *

Austria:
– Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg (2000)
– Historic Centre of Vienna (2004)

Belgium:
– Belfries of Belgium and France (Bruges, Ghent) (2008)
– Historic Centre of Brugge (2008)

Czech Republic:
– Historic Centre of Prague (2004)

France:
Chartres Cathedral (2012)
– Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay (2007)
Palace and Park of Versailles (2000, 2012)
– Palace and Park of Fontainebleau (2011)
– Strasbourg – Grande île (2011)
– Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Rémi and Palace of Tau, Reims (2001)
– Paris, Banks of the Seine (2000-present)
– Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne (2010)

Holy See:
– Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura (2003, 2004)
– Vatican City (2003, 2004)

Iceland:
Þingvellir National Park (2012)

Italy:
– Historic Centre of Florence (2001, 2003)
– Piazza del Duomo, Pisa (2006)
– Venice and its Lagoon (2001, 2003, 2012)
– City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto (2004)
– City of Verona (2002, 2003, 2006)
– The Dolomites (2004)

Luxembourg:
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortifications (2011)

Malaysia:
– Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca (various, last in 2010)

The Netherlands:
– Seventeenth-century canal ring area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht (2008)

Sri Lanka:
Ancient City of Sigiriya (2011)
Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications (2011)
Sacred City of Kandy (2011)
Golden Temple of Dambulla (2011)
Central Highlands of Sri Lanka (2011)

United Kingdom:
– Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast (2003)
– Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret’s Church (1999, 2006, 2010)
– Tower of London (1999)
– Old and New Towns of Edinburgh (2006)

United States of America:
– Grand Canyon National Park (2006)

* * *

I guess this means the list is more or less done, and I have just crossed off 1 item on my list. I’ll edit this page when I visit more new sites in the future. Coincidentally, while consulting our travel planner for the next few months, it appears F and I would find ourselves in:

– Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière and Place d’Alliance in Nancy
– Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne
– Acropolis, Athens
– Historic Site of Lyons
– Cultural Landscape of Bali Province
– Komodo National Park

That’s a total of 6 places, which means with another 4, I am likely to cross off item number 74 sooner than I’ve expected. Now, that’s a nice little surprise. Mind, just because something’s on our planner, it doesn’t mean we’re definitely going to be there. In particular, we haven’t iron out the details of our South-East Asia trip, so everything is still a little up in the air but these are at least our most talked about destinations. ;)

[Consult the complete challenge tracker]

* * *

Update: 15 July 2015

Since this post was written in May 2013, the following UNESCO sites were also visited:
Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière and Place d’Alliance in Nancy (France, 2013)
Amiens Cathedral (France, 2013)
Acropolis, Athens (Greece, 2013)
Cultural Landscape of Bali Province (Indonesia, 2013)
– Bordeaux, Porte of the Moon (France, 2014)
Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor (Montenegro, 2014)
Old City of Dubrovnik (Croatia, 2014)
Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto) (Italy, 2014)
Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture (Portugal, 2015)
– Cultural Landscape of Sintra (Portugal, 2015)
– Convent of Christ in Tomar (Portugal, 2015)
– Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon (Portugal, 2015)



Category: 101 Goals

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4 scribbles & notes

  1. med says:

    That’s pretty good lil and am pretty sure u and F will be there as per your planner hehe ;)

  2. zarin says:

    That’s really impressive Lil!

    I had actually played around with this idea when I happened to be in Spain, namely Alhambra, Cordoba and Toledo. Your recent post reinforced it. But I’m sure my list is going to be short :D We’ll see. It’d be a chance for me to do some write-ups (albeit short ones) on my trips prior to my blogging, e.g. Italy and Austria trips circa 2004/5.

    • Lil says:

      you should do the list. i didn’t think i would have many either but hey, when unexpected sites cropped up, i was like “oh look, one more!” ;)

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