Global Heritage Network

Agra Fort

2012-05-16

Agra Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Agra, India. The fort is also known as Lal Qila, Fort Rouge and Red Fort of Agra. It is about 2.5 km northwest of its much more famous sister monument, the Taj Mahal. The fort can be more accurately described as a walled palatial city.

Khirbat al-Mafjar (Hisham's Palace)

2012-05-15

Hisham's Palace (Arabic: Khirbat al-Mafjar) is the archaeological remains of an Umayyad winter palace located five km north of Jericho in the West Bank.

San Jose de Moro

2012-05-11

San Jose de Moro is an archaeological site in the Pacanga District, Chepen District, of Northwestern Peru.

Ciudad Perdida

2012-05-11

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a UNESCO designated Biosphere Reserve, is a triangle-shaped mountainous massif comprising 12,000 square miles that rises from the Colombian coastline to an altitude of approximately 19,000 feet within 30 miles of the Caribbean, making it one of the highest and most ecologically diverse coastal mountains in the world. From A.D. 200 and until A.D. 1600-1650, the northern portion of the massif was inhabited by a number of autonomous polities of varying size and political power known collectively as the Tayrona. Archaeological research since the early 1920s has shown that during this time period the Tayrona built over 250 stone masonry towns spread out through a 2000 square mile area. Ciudad Perdida, which means “Lost City”, was accidentally discovered in 1975 by “guaqueros” or looters, the people responsible for the destruction of many archaeological sites throughout the Sierra Nevada and Colombia as they search for pre-Columbian objects. After 30 years of research at the Park, archaeologists have located more than two hundred structures covering an area of approximately thirty hectares (80 acres). The structures include dwellings of various sizes, terraces, stone-lined paths and staircases, plazas, ceremonial and feasting areas, canals, and storehouses. Outside these thirty hectares, and still covered by forest, more structures can be found awaiting further archaeological research. Although the upper section of the Buritaca river is currently uninhabited, five hundred years ago Ciudad Perdida was surrounded by settlements. Ciudad Perdida was one of the more than two hundred and fifty towns inhabited by the Tayrona up until the end of the 16th century. In comparison to the other twenty six settlements found in the upper section of the Buritaca river basin, it appears to be the largest and most impressive of them all, which it is believed to be the center of political, social, and economic power in this specific part of the Sierra Nevada. Nevertheless, we are only beginning to understand Ciudad Perdida’s complex history and the changes it underwent throughout time. Ciudad Perdida is reached through a 20 kilometer trail that winds upriver from the small town of El Mamey.

Rutho Monastery (Wadi al-Tur)

2012-05-11

El-Tor (also transliterated as Al-Tur and At-Tur, Arabic: الطور‎), also known as Tur Sinai, formerly Raithu, is the capital of South Sinai Governorate of Egypt, located at the Sinai Peninsula. The name of the city comes from the Arabic name of the mountain where the prophet Moses received the tablets from God; this mountain is called Jabal Al Tor.

Archaeological Complex of Pachacamac

2012-05-07

The temple of Pachacamac is an archaeological site 40 km southeast of Lima, Peru in the Valley of the Lurín River. Most of the common buildings and temples were built c. 800-1450 CE, shortly before the arrival and conquest by the Inca Empire. To date, several pyramids have been uncovered; archaeologists have identified at least 17 pyramids (many of them irreversibly damaged by the El Niño weather phenomenon). Besides pyramids, the site had a cemetery and multicolored fresco of fish from the Early Intermediate period (c. 200-600 CE). Later, the Huari (c. 600-800 CE) constructed the city, probably using it as an administrative center. A number of Huari-influenced designs appear on the structures and on the ceramics and textiles found in the cemeteries of this period. After the collapse of the Huari empire, Pachacamac continued to grow as a religious center. The majority of the common architecture and temples were built during this stage (c. 800-1450 CE).

Sacred City Of Caral - Supe

2012-05-07

Caral is a large settlement in the Supe Valley, near Supe, Barranca province, Peru, some 200 km north of Lima. Caral is the most ancient city of the Americas, and is a well-studied site of the Caral civilization or Norte Chico civilization. Caral was inhabited between roughly 2600 BC and 2000 BC[1], enclosing an area of more than 60 hectares[2]. Caral was described by its excavators as the oldest urban center in the Americas, a claim that was later challenged as other ancient sites were found nearby. Accommodating more than 3,000 inhabitants, it is the best studied and one of the largest Norte Chico sites known.

Cahuachi Archaeological Site

2012-04-30

Cahuachi, in Peru, was a major ceremonial center of the Nazca culture and overlooked some of the Nazca lines from 1 CE to about 500 CE. Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Orefici has been excavating the site for the past few decades, bringing a team down every year. The site contains over 40 mounds topped with adobe structures. It is a huge architectural complex covering 0.6 sq. miles (1.5 km2). It has also been studied by Helaine Silverman, who has written a book on Cahuachi.

Marcahuamachuco

2012-04-27

The site of Marcahuamachuco was a major regional center in the Andean Early Middle Horizon period (300–700A.D.). Located in the northern Peruvian highlands of La Libertad and until recently a difficult site to reach, today a new road makes it accessible in three and a half hours from Trujillo, the third largest city on the country´s Pacific coast and the location of major Moche heritage sites.

Tambo Colorado

2012-04-27

Tambo Colorado is a well-preserved Inca adobe complex on the coast of Peru, also known as Puka Tampu, Pucallacta or Pucahuasi. The site is located on the south coast of Perú in the Pisco River Valley about 40 km along the highway to Ayacucho know as the Via de los Libertadores, close to the town of Pisco. Initial reports from the 2007 Peru Earthquake reported no major damage to the site. The site was most likely built at the end of the 15th century during the reign of the Inca king Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui also known as Pachacutec.

Chankillo

2012-04-26

Chankillo is an ancient monumental complex in the Peruvian coastal desert, found in the Casma-Sechin Oasis in the Ancash Department of Peru. The ruins include the hilltop Chankillo fort, the nearby Thirteen Towers solar observatory, and residential and gathering areas. The Thirteen Towers are believed to have been a solar observatory built in the 4th century BC. The site covers about four square kilometres (1.5 square miles) and is believed to be a fortified temple that was occupied in the 4th Century BC.

Chan Chan Archaeological Zone

2012-04-25

The largest Pre-Columbian city in South America, Chan Chan is an archaeological site located in the Peruvian region of La Libertad, five km west of Trujillo. Chan Chan covers an area of approximately 20 km², and had a dense urban center of about 6km².[1] Chan Chan was constructed by the Chimor (the kingdom of the Chimú), a late intermediate period civilization which grew out of the remnants of the Moche civilization. The vast adobe city of Chan Chan was built by the Chimu around AD 850 and lasted until its conquest by the Inca Empire in AD 1470. It was the imperial capital of the Chimor until it was conquered in the 15th century. It is estimated that around 30,000 people lived in the city of Chan Chan.

Humayun's Tomb, Delhi

2012-04-24

Humayun's tomb (Urdu: ہمایوں کا مقبرہ Humayun ka Maqbara) is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's wife Hamida Banu Begum in 1562 AD, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, a Persian architect.[1] It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent,[2] and is located in Nizamuddin East, Delhi, India, close to the Dina-panah citadel also known as Purana Qila, that Humayun founded in 1533. It was also the first structure to use red sandstone at such a scale[3][4] The tomb was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993,[2] and since then has undergone extensive restoration work, which is still underway. Besides the main tomb enclosure of Humayun, several smaller monuments dot the pathway leading up to it, from the main entrance in the West, including one that even pre-dates the main tomb itself, by twenty years; it is the tomb complex of Isa Khan Niyazi, an Afghan noble in Sher Shah Suri's court of the Suri dynasty, who fought against the Mughals, constructed in 1547 CE.

Fortress of Massanganu

2012-04-19

The Kingdom of Ndongo (or Kingdom of Ngola) is the name of a pre-colonial African state in modern day Angola built by the Mbundu, a Bantu-speaking people inhabiting northern Angola.

Ruin of M'banza Kongo

2012-04-19

M'banza-Kongo, formerly known as São Salvador (in Portuguese), is the capital of Angola's northwestern Zaire Province.[1] M'banza Kongo (properly Mbanza Koongo or Kôngo in most acceptable orthographies) was founded some time before the arrival of the Portuguese and was the capital of the dynasty ruling at that time (1483). The site was temporarily abandoned during civil wars in the 17th century. It lies close to Angola's border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. M'banza-Kongo was once the home of the Manikongo, the ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo, which at its peak reached from southern Africa's Atlantic coast to the Nkisi River. The Jalankuwo, the Manikongo's judgement tree, can still be found in the downtown area of the city on the grounds of the royal palace and present day Royal Museum. It is also known for the ruins of its 16th century cathedral (built in 1549), which many Angolans claim is the oldest church in sub-Saharan Africa.

Tipasa

2012-04-19

Tipaza (formerly Tefessedt, Chenoua: Bazar, Arabic: تيبازة‎) is a town on the coast of Algeria, capital of the Tipaza province. The modern town, founded in 1857, is remarkable chiefly for its sandy beach, and Roman ruins.

Timgad

2012-04-18

Timgad (Arabic: تيمقاد‎, called Thamugas or Thamugadi by the Romans) was a Roman colonial town in North Africa founded by the Emperor Trajan around 100 A.D. The full name of the town was Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi. Trajan commemorated the city after his mother Marcia, father Marcus Ulpius Traianus and his eldest sister Ulpia Marciana. The ruins are noteworthy for representing one of the best extant examples of the grid plan as used in Roman city planning.

Chinese Section of the Silk Road

2012-04-18

The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa. The land routes were supplemented by sea routes, which extended from the Red Sea to coastal India, China and Southeast Asia.

Djémila

2012-04-18

Jamila (Arabic: جميله ‎) is a popular given name in Arabic and in many other languages. It means "beautiful" (in feminine). Variants of the name are Gamila, Cemila, Cemile, Djemila, Djémila, Djamila and Jamyla).

Itchan Kala

2012-04-17

Itchan Kala is the walled inner town of the city of Khiva, Uzbekistan. Since 1990, it has been protected as the World Heritage Site. The old town retains more than 50 historic monuments and 250 old houses, dating primarily from the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries. Djuma Mosque, for instance, was established in the tenth century and rebuilt from 1788 to 1789, although its celebrated hypostyle hall still retains 112 columns taken from ancient structures. The most spectacular features of Itchan Kala are its crenellated brick walls and four gates at each side of the rectangular fortress. Although the foundations are believed to have been laid in the tenth century, present-day 10-meters-high walls were erected mostly in the late seventeenth century and later repaired.

Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad

2012-04-17

Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad (Arabic: قلعة بني حماد‎) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Algeria. It is located in the mountains northeast of M'Sila, near the town of Bechara (Bishara), about 225 km southeast of Algiers. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1980. The site was the first capital of the Hammadid empire. It was founded in 1007 and destroyed in 1152. Notable aspects of the city include its large mosque.

Oued Souf

2012-04-17

El Oued (Arabic: ولاية الوادي‎) is a Saharan province of Algeria (n° 39) dominated by Oued Souf. It was named after its eponymous capital. Notable towns include El Oued itself and Guemar, Debila, and Robbah.

Pikillacta Archaeological Site

2012-04-16

Piquillacta, in Southern Quechua Piki Llaqta (City of fleas), is a large Huari archaeological site 20km east of Cusco in the province of Quispicanchi. The site is also known as Piki Llacta, Pikillacta or Piquillacta.

Nedroma and the Trara

2012-04-16

Nedroma (Arabic: ندرومة‎) is a city in Tlemcen Province, Algeria. Once the capital of Trara, it was built on the ruins of a Berber city, Abd al-Mu'min is native of Nedroma[1].

Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra

2012-04-16

Berat is a town located in south-central Albania. It is the capital of both the District of Berat and the larger County of Berat. The old town was inscribed on the World Heritage List in July 2008. During Antiquity the town's territory is believed to have been the site of a Greek polis, Antipatreia (Greek: Ἀντιπάτρεια, "city of Antipater"), while during the early Byzantine Empire the name of the town was Pulcheriopolis (Πουλχεριόπολις, "city of Pulcheria").