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Statue at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt. ISTOCK
Special for L2
here there goes a riddle: what? What do the Great Barrier Reef with its turquoise waters and Petra, the Pink City carved out of the rocks of Jordan, have in common? At first glance it would seem that nothing but both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, an organization that is part of the United Nations and that in 1972 created the World Heritage Site. a program and list of sites of importance to humanity for their cultural values and natural qualities in order to protect and preserve them for future generations.
There are those who collect stamps, postcards and coins; when I travel I prefer to “collect” sites on this list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These places, which can be monuments, buildings, sections of cities, mountains, forests, islands and even deserts, are always unforgettable, and are often the highlight of a trip.
A Through decades of my travels around the world I have had the opportunity to visit many of the sites on the list of World Heritage Sites – a list with more than 1,100 cultural and natural places scattered for more than 160 points of the planet. Every time I visit one, I take a look at it, studying as much detail as possible, and I put it next to the others in one of the “albums” on the table. special places in my memory where they are always ready to be recalled whenever I want.
Among the cultural sites I have already visited are the beautiful and exotic Petra in Jordan, which looks like something out of “The Arabian Nights”, the Taj Mahal mausoleum in Agra, India, with a white marble so luminous that under certain lights it seems to float above the earth, and the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt, so imposing and ancient that they remind the traveler of the ancient Arabian proverb, “Man fears time; time fears the Pyramids”.
I have recreated myself with an al fresco picnic with a view of the Castle of Chichén-Itzá. in Mexico. In Italy, I “collected” the Vatican in Rome, Venice and its lagoon, the historic center of Florence, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Tarquinia necropolis, the Amalfi Coast with its beautiful views and fruit and vegetable vendors, among other places.
In France, I have visited the moving Notre Dame in Paris before the fire that ravaged it. in 2019, and the mystical Mont St. Michel; and in Greece, the Acropolis of Athens with its iconic Parthenon. I have recreated myself in the historic district of Old Quebec in Canada. and I have walked the streets of the Old City in Jerusalem and those of the picturesque Sintra in Portugal and I have given free rein to the imagination in the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. In China, I have seen the imperial palaces of the Ming dynasty in Beijing and the imposing Great Wall (which stretches for 13,171 miles – although I have not walked all of them!). And I was moved by the sight of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
Among the natural places on the list that I have already visited are the pristine Galapagos of Ecuador with its exotic fauna, the beautiful Great Barrier Reef of Australia with its fabulous marine life, and I have sighted birds and other wildlife in Florida’s Everglades State Park and have marveled at the majestic trees of the redwood forests of California’s state and national parks.
These sites feature prominently in my “collection” of World Heritage Sites, but I have two others that are special jewels, because they are like “Holy Grails” when it comes to travel – exotic and unforgettable: the mysterious Easter Island or Rapa Nui in Chile and the necropolis of ancient Thebes in Egypt.
Easter Island/Rapa Nui/Easter Island Moai
The mystical Easter IslandIt is a small piece of land of only 63 square miles in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, one of the most isolated places on the planet where the traveler comes across colossal sculptures or moai created between the years 800 and 1600, with the purpose, it is believed, of paying honor to ancestors.
Most of the small island, with three volcanoes, lakes and villages is a national park and has with almost 1,000 moai. These are enigmatic, monolithic, monumental statues carved from tufa (volcanic rock). They are sculptures of human beings whose features include prominent eyebrows, long noses, and lips that appear to be pouting.
The mysticism associated with the statues is interesting. A local guide told us that the statues acted as “antennas.” Placed over the graves of distinguished ancestors who were believed to possess “mana,” a supernatural quality that protects people, the statues “transmitted” the “mana” from ancestors to living people.
At the Tahai ceremonial center in the town of Hanga Roa, several statues are displayed on altar-like platforms called ahus. At Rano Raraku, the volcano that became In the main quarry for the moai, there are about 400 moai scattered around the area. Among the statues is one that weighs 200 tons.
Another must-see is the Ahu Tongariki, the largest ceremonial center on the island with 15 statues and the Pacific behind.
The necropolis of ancient Thebes (today Luxor) in Egypt
The treasures here are include the Karnak Temple, from around 2134 to 2040 BC, with its fabulous Avenue of the Ram-Headed Sphinxes, which when you walk through it feels transported to the age of the great pharaohs of 4,000 years ago. The Temple itself It has the Hypostyle Hall with its 134 majestic columns inspired by papyrus flowers and decorated with hieroglyphics.
Another must-see is the Luxor Temple from the 16th century before Christ with its own Avenue of the Sphinxes with Human Heads, and an obelisk that is the twin of the one that adorns the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
For more information and a complete list of World Heritage Sites of the UNESCO, and so on. not to lose them on your travels, visit UNESCO World Heritage Center – World Heritage List.