UNESCO World Heritage Sites

UNESCO World
Heritage Sites
UNESCO
 Stands for “United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization”
 It sponsors a lot of projects like teacher-training
programs, international science programs, the
promotion of freedom of the press, cultural history
projects, the promotion of cultural diversity,
translations of world literature, etc
 They also aim to protect the world's cultural and
natural heritage (World Heritage Sites)
World Heritage Sites
 A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place (such as a

forest, mountain, lake, island, desert, monument,
building, complex, or city) that is listed by UNESCO as
of special cultural or physical significance.
 There are a total of 1,073 World Heritage Sites
 Of these, 832 are cultural, 206 are natural and 35 are
mixed properties.
 Italy is home to the greatest number of World Heritage
Sites with 49 sites, followed by China (45) and Spain
(44).
Criteria for Being a World
Heritage Site
 There are 10 criteria, some Cultural and some Natural
 Nominated sites must be of "outstanding universal value"
and meet at least one of the ten criteria.
 Examples of criteria:
 Is a masterpiece of human creative genius
 Is a unique or exceptional testimony to a tradition or to a
civilization
 It contains natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural
beauty and aesthetic importance
 It is an outstanding example representing major stages of
Earth's history
 It contains very important and significant natural habitats for
conservation of biological diversity
UNESCO’s First Mission
 Two ancient temples in Egypt were moved out of the

way of the flooding Nile River
 Abu Simbel was built 3,000 years ago
 The new dam would flood the site, so UNESCO planned
to move the monuments completely away from the river
— 65 meters higher and 200 meters back
 The delicate work began in 1964. Using tools ranging
from handsaws to bulldozers, the statues and the
temples were carved into 20-ton blocks which were put
back together on the new site.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur-H7dP8FNc, 2:58
The 7 Wonders of
the World
More Than Just One List
 People have made many versions of this list.

Sometimes they focus on natural wonders, others
they focus on man-made wonders.
 Countries or regions can make their own lists.
 There is even an underwater wonder list.
The 7 Wonders of the
Ancient World
The Pyramids
 The Pyramids in
Egypt are the only
ancient wonders
still standing
 Built 2584–2561 BC
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
 Built around 600 BC
 Destroyed by
earthquakes
 Huge building filled
with gardens built by a
king for his queen
 Located in Babylon,
which is now Iraq
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
 Built around 466–

456 BC in Greece
 Destroyed by fire
 It was a large
statue of the god
Zeus, made of gold
and ivory
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
 Built around 550 BC

in what is now
Turkey
 Destroyed by fire
and plundering
 It was a temple
built for the Greek
goddess Artemis
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
 Built in 351 BC in
Turkey
 Destroyed by
earthquakes
 It was a great tomb
built for the wife of
a king
Colossus of Rhodes
 Built 280-292 BC in
Greece
 Destroyed by
earthquakes
 Was a 100 foot tall
statue in the harbour of
the city
Lighthouse of Alexandria
 Built in 280 BC in
Egypt
 Destroyed by
earthquakes
 Was around 400
feet tall; was the
tallest building on
Earth for centuries
The 7 Wonders of the
Medieval Ages
 Stonehenge
 Coliseum
 Catacombs of Kom el
Shoqafa
 Great Wall of China
 Porcelain Tower of
Nanjing
 Hagia Sophia
 Leaning Tower of Pisa
The New 7 Wonders of the
World
7 New Wonders of the World
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeIQI7jdM2k
1. The Great Wall of China
 To protect them from
the raids and invasions
of the various nomadic
groups of the Eurasian
Steppe.
 The entire wall with
all of its branches
measure out to be
21,196 km
 Several walls were
being built as early as
the 7th century BCE
 The majority of the
existing wall is from
the Ming Dynasty
(1368–1644)
2. Petra - Jordan
 A historical and
archaeological city
 The city is famous for its
rock-cut architecture
 Another name for Petra is
the Rose City due to the
color of the stone out of
which it is carved.
 Established possibly as
early as 312 BC as the
capital city of the Arab
Nabataeans, it is a symbol
of Jordan, as well as
Jordan's most-visited
tourist attraction
3. Christ the Redeemer - Brazil
 The statue is 98 ft tall, on a 26 ft

pedestal, and its arms stretch 92 ft
wide.
 It is approximately two-thirds the
height of the Statue of Liberty's height
 The statue is located at the peak of
the 2,300 ft Corcovado mountain in the
Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking
the city of Rio de Janeiro
4. Machu Picchu - Peru
 A 15th-century Incan
town situated on a
mountain ridge
 The Incas built the estate
around 1450
 They abandoned it a
century later at the time
of the Spanish Conquest
 Although known locally, it
remained unknown to the
outside world until an
American historian
“rediscovered” it in 1911
5. Chichen Itza -Mexico
 A large pre-Columbian
city built by the Mayan
people
 Built around 750-900
AD on the Yucatan
peninsula
 It was built close to
two large natural sink
holes that would have
provided water
throughout the year as
there were no rivers or
streams passing
through this area.
 One of the sink holes
was thought to have
been used for human
sacrifice in times of
droughts
6. Colosseum – Italy
 The largest ampitheatre
ever built
 In Rome, Italy
 Built 72-90 AD
 It could hold between
50,000 and 80,000
spectators
 It was used for
gladiatorial contests and
public spectacles such as
mock sea battles, animal
hunts, executions, re-
enactments of famous
battles, and dramas
based on Classical
mythology
7. Taj Mahal – India
 An ivory-white marble
mausoleum in the city of
Agra.
 It was commissioned in
1632 by the emperor Shah
Jahan (reigned 1628–1658),
to house the tomb of his
favourite wife, Mumtaz
Mahal.
 The walls are inlaid with
semi-precious stones
 Because of the Muslim
practice of no
humans/animals being
portrayed, the art is all
calligraphy and beautiful
patterns
The 7 Natural Wonders of
the World
1. The Grand Canyon - USA
 A steep-sided canyon carved

by the Colorado River in the
state of Arizona
 277 miles long, up to 18
miles wide and attains a
depth of over a mile
 For thousands of years, the
area has been continuously
inhabited by Native
Americans, who built
settlements within the
canyon and its many caves.
 The Pueblo people
considered the Grand
Canyon a holy site, and
made pilgrimages to it
2. The Great Barrier Reef - Australia
 The world's largest coral
reef system composed of
over 2,900 individual reefs
and 900 islands
 A problem now is mass
coral bleaching caused by
climate change
 Incredibly diverse wildlife
 30 species of whales,
dolphins, and porpoises
 More than 1,500 fish
species live on the reef
 Six species of sea turtles
3. Harbor of Rio de Janeiro -
Brazil
 When the first European
explorers came here,
the bay they found was
spectacularly
surrounded by huge,
oddly-shaped mountains
 Taking a cue from the
date on which they'd
found this amazing
harbor, they named it
the "January River," or
Rio de Janeiro.
4. Mt Everest – the Himalayas
 Earth's highest
mountain
 Its peak is 29,029 ft
above sea level
 The international
border between China
(Tibet Autonomous
Region) and Nepal runs
across Everest's
precise summit point
 As of 2016, there are
well over 200 corpses
still on the mountain,
with some of them
even serving as
landmarks
5. Aurora – polar regions
 A natural light display

in the sky,
predominantly seen in
the high latitude
(Arctic and Antarctic)
regions.
 Auroras are produced
when the
magnetosphere is
disturbed by the solar
wind
 The result emits light
of varying colour and
complexity
6. Paricutin Volcano - Mexico
 A volcano located 322

km west of Mexico
City.
 The volcano surged
suddenly from the
cornfield ofa local
farmer in 1943,
attracting both popular
and scientific attention
 This eruption
presented the first
occasion for modern
science to document
the full life cycle of an
eruption
7. Victoria Falls - Zimbabwe
 A waterfall in southern
Africa on the Zambezi
River at the border of
Zambia and Zimbabwe.
 While it is neither the
highest nor the widest
waterfall in the world,
Victoria Falls is
classified as the
largest, based on its
combined width and
height, resulting in the
world's largest sheet of
falling water.
 Victoria Falls is roughly
twice the height of
North America's Niagara
Falls and well over
twice the width of its
Horseshoe Falls.
7 Wonders of the Underwater
World
 Palau
 Belize Barrier Reef
 Great Barrier Reef
 Deep-Sea Vents
 Galápagos Islands
 Lake Baikal
 Northern Red Sea
7 Wonders of Canada
1. The Sleeping Giant – Thunder Bay
 A landform on Sibley
Peninsula which
resembles a giant lying
on its back
 One Ojibway legend
identifies the giant as
Nanabijou, who was
turned to stone when
the secret location of a
rich silver mine was
disclosed to white men
2. Niagara Falls - Ontario
 The collective name
for three waterfalls
that straddle the
international border
between Ontario
and New York
 The Horseshoe
Falls, the American
Falls and the Bridal
Veil Falls
 Located on the
Niagara River,
which drains Lake
Erie into Lake
Ontario
3. Bay of Fundy – East coast
 A bay between New
Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, and Maine
 It has the highest
tidal range in the
world
 The famous
Hopewell Rocks are
very popular with
tourists
4. Nahanni National Park – Northwest
Territories
 A beautiful park filled
with canyons and
rivers such as the
South Nahanni river
 There are hot springs
 It is located in 3
different ecozones
5. Northern Lights – northern
Canada
6. The Rockies – Western
Canada
 Mt Robson is the
highest mountain at
12,972 feet
 It is the northern
portion of the North
American Rockies
7. Cabot Trail – Nova Scotia
 A highway and scenic

roadway in northern Cape
Breton Island in Nova
Scotia, Canada
 It is named after the
explorer John Cabot who
landed in Atlantic Canada
in 1497, although most
historians agree his
landfall likely took place
in Newfoundland and not
Cape Breton Island
Now you do the research…
 http://whc.unesco.org/e  Old City of Jerusalem

n/list/
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all of the UNESCO sites by  Galapagos Islands
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 What is one of the
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fits?

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UNESCO World

 Stands for “United Nations Educational, Scientific and

 A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place (such as a

 Two ancient temples in Egypt were moved out of the

 People have made many versions of this list.

 Built around 466–

 Built around 550 BC

 The statue is 98 ft tall, on a 26 ft

 A steep-sided canyon carved

 A natural light display

 A volcano located 322

 A highway and scenic

 http://whc.unesco.org/e  Old City of Jerusalem

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