UNESCO's newest additions to the World Heritage Sites roster include everything from Rome's Via Appia to the Marquesa Islands, Pleistocene-era sites and a vast peatland in Scotland.
The United Nations’ UNESCO agency recently announced 24 major additions to its list of World Heritage Sites. It’s a designation that helps preserve landmarks and places — some 1,223 of them in 168 countries — that are of such cultural, educational or scientific importance, they “belong to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are located,” the agency says.
The sites added to the list this year include architectural marvels, biodiverse lagoons and archaeological sites that date back 162,000 years. It’s a fascinating list that includes everything from Nelson Mandela legacy sites in South Africa to the northern frontier of the Roman Empire in what is now Romania, an area that includes ancient fortresses, watch towers and encampments and buildings in the Roman province of Dacia.
The Flow Country — a vast bog peatland — in Northern Scotland made the list, as did the stunning Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia and a Malaysian cave complex in Niah National Park.
Find the full list and more information about what makes these places so significant at https://whc.unesco.org.
Beijing Central Axis, China
Brancusi Monumental Ensemble of Targu Jiu, Romania
Cultural landscape of Kenozero Lake, Russia
Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Romania
Hegmataneh, Iran
Nelson Mandela legacy sites, South Africa
Melka Kunture and Balchit, Ethiopia
Moidams, India
Phu Phrabat Bat Historical Park, Thailand
Royal Court of Tiébélé, Burkina Faso
Sado Island Gold Mines, Japan
Saint Hilarion Monastery / Tell Umm Amer, Palestine
Schwerin Residence Ensemble, Germany
Archaeological Heritage of Niah National Park’s Caves Complex, Malaysia
Cultural Landscape of Al-Faw Archaeological Area, Saudi Arabia
Pleistocene Occupation Sites, South Africa
Historic Town and Archeological Site of Gedi, Kenya
Umm Al-Jimāl, Jordan
Via Appia, Italy
Badain Jaran Desert, China
Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Brazil
The Flow Country, UK
Vjetrenica Cave, Ravno, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Te Henua Enata, The Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia
