Angra do Heroísmo on the Azores

19 April 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  11 minutes

© Concierge.2C/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Concierge.2C/cc-by-sa-3.0

Angra do Heroísmo, or simply Angra, is a city and municipality on Terceira Island, Portugal, and one of the three capital cities of the Azores. Founded in 1478, Angra was historically the most important city in the Azores, as seat of the Bishop of the Azores, government entities, and having previously served as the capital city of Portugal during the Liberal Wars. The population in 2011 was 35,402, in an area of 239.00 km². It was classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1983.   read more…

Theme Week Bulgarian Black Sea Coast – Nesebar

29 March 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Happyna/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Happyna/cc-by-sa-4.0

Nesebar (often transcribed as Nessebar and sometimes as Nesebur) is an ancient city and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Nesebar Municipality. As of December 2019, the town has a population of 13,600 inhabitants.   read more…

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and the Terracotta Army

29 March 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  7 minutes

Tomb of the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di © flickr.com - wit/cc-by-sa-2.0

Tomb of the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di © flickr.com – wit/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (pinyin: Qínshǐhuáng Líng) is the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty.   read more…

Lulworth Cove on the Jurassic Coast

20 March 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  5 minutes

Lulworth Cove © Nilfanion/cc-by-sa-4.0

Lulworth Cove © Nilfanion/cc-by-sa-4.0

Lulworth Cove is a cove near the village of West Lulworth, on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, southern England. The cove is one of the world’s finest examples of such a landform, and is a World Heritage Site and tourist location with approximately 500,000 visitors every year, of whom about 30 per cent visit in July and August. It is close to the rock arch of Durdle Door and other Jurassic Coast sites.   read more…

Theme Week Calabria – Palmi

23 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  5 minutes

Monte Sant'Elia © Nikater

View from Monte Sant’Elia © Nikater

Palmi (Reggino: Parmi; Latin: Palmae) is a comune (municipality) of about 19,303 inhabitants in the province of Reggio Calabria in Calabria. It is seat of the district, which includes 33 municipalities in the plain of Palmi, with a population of approximately 170,000 inhabitants.   read more…

Saint-Louis-lès-Bitche in Lorraine

15 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  4 minutes

Saint-Louis crystal glass manufacturer © Gryffindor/cc-by-sa-3.0

Saint-Louis crystal glass manufacturer © Gryffindor/cc-by-sa-3.0

Saint-Louis-lès-Bitche (literally St. Louis near Bitche; German: Münzthal; Lorraine Franconian: Minzdal) is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France.   read more…

Theme Week Armenia – Yerevan

27 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  10 minutes

Republic Square and Government House © Sonanik/cc-by-sa-3.0

Republic Square and Government House © Sonanik/cc-by-sa-3.0

Yerevan (sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country, as its primate city. It has been the capital since 1918, the fourteenth in the history of Armenia and the seventh located in or around the Ararat Plain. The city also serves as the seat of the Araratian Pontifical Diocese, which is the largest diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church and one of the oldest dioceses in the world.   read more…

Theme Week Armenia – Gyumri

25 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

City Hall © Valen1988/cc-by-sa-4.0

City Hall © Valen1988/cc-by-sa-4.0

Gyumri is an urban municipal community and the second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city was known as Alexandropol, it became the largest city of Russian-ruled Eastern Armenia with a population above that of Yerevan. The city became renowned as a cultural hub, while also carrying significance as a major center of Russian troops during Russo-Turkish wars of the 19th century.   read more…

Theme Week Armenia – Vagharshapat

24 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  9 minutes

Zvartnots Cathedral and Mount Ararat © Vahagn Grigoryan/cc-by-sa-4.0

Zvartnots Cathedral and Mount Ararat © Vahagn Grigoryan/cc-by-sa-4.0

Vagharshapat is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about 18 km (11 mi) west of the capital Yerevan, and 10 km (6 mi) north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is commonly known as Ejmiatsin (also spelled Echmiadzin or Etchmiadzin), which was its official name between 1945 and 1995. It is still commonly used colloquially and in official bureaucracy, a case of dual naming.   read more…

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