See the 12 World Heritage Sites the U.N. Protected First
See the 12 World Heritage Sites the U.N. Protected First
1 minute read
Part of the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde in Colorado, showing dwellings and kivas. The kivas may be distinguished by their circular shape.Werner Forman—Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Monday marks the 70th birthday of UNESCO, the United Nations agency that was signed into being in London on Nov. 16, 1945. The organization, which aims to promote educational, scientific and cultural collaboration between nations, is perhaps best known today for maintaining the World Heritage List. That list comprises natural and cultural properties that, according to the World Heritage Committee’s original operational guidelines from its establishment in 1977, “can be considered of outstanding universal value for the peoples of the world” and deserve protection.
These days, the List is a long one, with over 1,000 properties—but back in 1978, only these dozen sites made the first class of the list.
Colorized exterior view of the Aachen Cathedral in 1927. Germany.ullstein bild—Getty ImagesQuito's Plaza Grande square seen on Sept. 12, 2008, in a week in which the Ecuadorean capital celebrates its 30th anniversary as a World Heritage Site. Founded by the Spanish in 1534, the city of Quito was in 1978 the first capital to be inscribed in the UNESCO's cultural heritage list. Rodrigo Buendia—AFP/Getty ImagesBeach with vegetation, Floreana Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.DeAgostini—Getty ImagesKrakow Historic Centre in Poland.DEA/W. Buss—DeAgostini/Getty ImagesView of the town on Goree Island, off Cape Verde, an important selling-station for the Atlantic slave trade, Senegal, Africa. Werner Forman—Universal Images Group/Getty ImagesL'anse Aux Meadows National Historic Site in Newfoundland, Canada, Replicas Of Norse Houses From 1000 Years Ago.Wolfgang Kaehler—LightRocket via Getty ImagesPart of the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde in Colorado, showing dwellings and kivas. The kivas may be distinguished by their circular shape. Werner Forman—Universal Images Group/Getty ImagesNahanni National Park Reserve, Northwest Territories, Canada. De Agostini Picture Library—Getty ImagesA rock-hewn church in Lalibela, Ethiopia.DEA/C.Sappa—DeAgostini/Getty ImagesSemien mountains National Park with arid plateaux separated by valleys and rising to pinnacles, in Ethiopia.Mariusz Kluzniak—Moment/Getty ImagesInterior of Wieliczka salt mine in Poland.DEA/W. Buss—DeAgostini/Getty ImagesGeyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.DEA/M. Saini—DeAgostini/Getty Images
