The secrets of this earth are not for all men to see, but only for those who seek them
Posts tagged World Heritage Site
Ruins of Troy – Turkey
Aug 18th
Troy was one of the great cities of the ancient world. It occupied a key position on the trade routes between Europe and Asia, enabling it to become enormously wealthy and powerful. It also played an important role in Greek culture because the Trojan War was the central theme of Homer’s masterpiece, the Iliad.
In 1870 Heinrich Schliemann began excavating a mound at Hisarlik, close to the Dardanelles – just on the Asian side of the border with Europe. This site proved far more complex than expected. Gradually, it became clear that there had been at least nine separate periods of occupation on the spot. More >
Fiordlands National Park – New Zealand
Aug 10th
The hole in the ozone layer that has threatened South Island for decades has stated to close, but the danger is not over yet. While the human-produced chemicals that weakened the ozone layer have been banned or heavily restricted, it will take many years for the damage to be entirely reversed.
When it came to these intensely green, mist-shrouded Middle-earth landscapes, the Lord of the Rings movies did not need stage sets or computer animation: Director Peter Jackson simply shot the films in New Zealand. The South Island’s Fiordlands are perfect examples of that primeval Lord of the Rings look, with plunging waterfalls, pristine lakes, virgin forest and steep peaks surrounding deep-gouged fiords. More >
Sundarbans National Park – Bangladesh
Aug 9th
Sundarbans National Park faces two serious risks. Rising sea levels due to global warming could floor the park and threaten the tigers, wild birds, and other native species. And the River Ganges, which feeds the delta where the park is located, is so polluted from industrial outflow, raw sewage, human remains, and naturally occurring arsenic that the water is no longer safe for humans or animals to drink. More >
Yosemite National Park – California, United States
Aug 9th
Yosemite, high in California’s Sierra Nevada, is a startlingly beautiful place, with iconic mountains and rock formations, stunning waterfalls, lush alpine meadows and forests filled with awe-inspiring trees. Features such as Half Dome and El Capitan are hauntingly familiar even to those who have never been here, because of the photographer Ansel Adams, who made documenting this valley his life’s work. Yosemite is one of the oldest national parks in the US, having been designated in 1890.
This is a rock-climber’s paradise: the smooth face of Half Dome and the jagged granite of El Capitan provide even the most experienced with a challenge. But Yosemite is not just for the active, the views from along, and across, the valley floor are amazing. The three cascades of Yosemite Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in the world, drop a total of 740 metres (2,425 feet) and in May, when the runoff is at its peak, the noise is overwhelming. More >
Pont Alexandre III – Paris, France
Aug 7th
Widely regarded as Paris’s most beautiful bridge, the Pont Alexandre III perfectly represents the spirit of Paris’s 19th century rejuvenation. It connects the Hotel des Invalides with the Grand and Petit Palais – art galleries built for the 1900 World Fair and intended as much to showcase the best of French design and engineering as they were to house fine art. The bridge is within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Banks of the Seine.
The bridge was planned to provide a suitably attractive approach to the two galleries, and a large part of the bridge’s charm comes from its extremely low profile. The designers were given specific instructions that the bridge was not to obstruct the view of either the Champs-Elysees on one bank or the Invalides on the other. Consequently, its single 107-metre span is only 6 metres high. More >
