IN PICTURES | 10 bucket-list-worthy additions to Unesco's World Heritage Sites list

From an island of rock in the Chinese sky to an abandoned, ancient city in Oman, Unesco's 2018 pick of protection-worthy sites are sure to inspire new travel plans

16 September 2018 - 00:00 By The Sunday Telegraph

1. SANSA, SOUTH KOREA
The Sansa are Buddhist mountain monasteries located throughout the southern provinces of the Korean Peninsula. The arrangement of the seven temples, established from the seventh to ninth centuries, include the madang (open courtyard) flanked by four buildings (Buddha hall, pavilion, lecture hall and dormitory). These monasteries are sacred places, which have survived as living centres of faith and daily religious practice to the present.
2. CHAÎNE DES PUYS, FRANCE
This site, in central France, comprises the Limagne fault, the alignments of the Chaîne des Puys volcanoes and the inverted relief of the Montagne de la Serre. It is an emblematic segment of the West European Rift, created in the aftermath of the formation of the Alps 35 million years ago. This is an exceptional illustration of continental break-up.
3. MEDINA AZAHARA, SPAIN
The site of a city built in the mid-10th century by the Umayyad dynasty as the seat of the Caliphate of Cordoba. It was laid to waste during the civil war that put an end to the caliphate in 1009-10. The remains were forgotten until their rediscovery early last century. With roads, bridges, water systems and buildings, the site provides great insight into the now vanished Western Islamic civilisation of Al-Andalus.
4. NEO-GOTHIC/ART-DECO ENSEMBLES, INDIA
Having become a global trading centre, the city of Mumbai implemented an ambitious urban planning project in the second half of the 19th century. It led to the construction of ensembles of public buildings bordering the Oval Maidan open space, first in the Victorian neo-gothic style and then, in the early 20th century, in the art-deco idiom.
5. NAUMBURG CATHEDRAL, GERMANY
The Cathedral of Naumburg, whose construction began in 1028, is an outstanding testament to medieval art and architecture. Its Romanesque structure is flanked by two Gothic choirs; the western one reflects changes in religious practice and the appearance of science and nature in the figurative arts.
6. FANJINGSHAN, CHINA
Located within the Wuling mountain range in Guizhou Province (southwest China), Fanjingshan ranges between 500-2,600m above sea level, favouring highly diverse types of vegetation and relief. It is an island of metamorphic rock in a sea of karst, home to many plant and animal species which originated in the Tertiary period, between 65 million and two million years ago. Fanjingshan has the largest primeval beech forest in the subtropical region.
7. ANCIENT CITY OF QALHAT, OMAN
Located on the east coast of the Sultanate of Oman, this site includes the ancient city of Qalhat, surrounded by inner and outer walls, as well as necropolises. The city developed as a major port on the east coast of Arabia between the 11th and 15th centuries and was key in the trade links between the east coast of Arabia, East Africa, India, China and southeast Asia.
8. IVREA, ITALY
This industrial city in Piedmont was developed as the testing ground for Olivetti, manufacturer of business products. It was designed over four decades from the '30s to express a vision of the relationship between industry and architecture.
9. TEHUACÁN CUICATLÁN VALLEY, MEXICO
Located in the Mesoamerican region, this area has the richest biodiversity in all of North America and is one of the main centres of diversification for the cacti family, which is endangered worldwide.
The valley harbours the densest forests of columnar cacti in the world, shaping a unique landscape that also includes agaves, yuccas and oaks. Archaeological remains demonstrate technological developments and the early domestication of crops.
10. GÖBEKLI TEPE, TURKEY
These megalithic structures in the Germus mountains of southeastern Anatolia were erected by hunter-gatherers in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic age. They were probably used in connection with funerary rituals. - The Sunday Telegraph..

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.