Argo Profile
We had always liked travelling, thought we really started collecting WHS in 2006. Then came the children, making the collection more challenging, as our goal is to visit these sites together as a family. Fortunately, living in Europe gives many opportunities of reasonable trips with two young children: we try to cover Europe in the most complete way, leaving long haul trips for later.
Our alias “Argo” relates to the name of the mythological ship which was used by Jason and companions for their trips, including the famous Golden Fleece quest – thus a good name for our own quest of WHS!
Recent Reviews Argo
Negotinske Pivnice (T)
Argo France - 16-Apr-23

It seems the tradition of growing vine and making wine around Negotin, a small town in the East of Serbia bordering Bulgaria and Romania, dates back from Roman times. This led to the development of wine cellars, but mots of these settlements are now lost or were destroyed. The most remarkable of the few remaining ones (from 19th and 20th centuries) is in Rajac – a village which gives its name to one of the Serbian wines. We made a stop there in summer 2022.
The wine cellars, or “Pivnice”, form a distinct, geographically separated settlement : the village is in the valley from where a small winding road leads to the cellars on top of the hill, overlooking the valley. When arriving, you would believe to have reached the next village but actually all the buildings are wine cellars only. They have square or rectangular plan, with one level only (although a handful for them have two levels), partly dug into the ground, probably to keep a more stable temperature inside, which is best for wine storage. Wine is still made here and can be tasted and purchased in a few of them
Read OnLes sites à fossiles néandertaliens de Wallonie (T)
Argo France - 14-Apr-23

We managed to visit three of the four caves proposed under the name “Neanderthal fossil caves in Wallonia” in April 2023 : Spy, Scladina and Goyet.
Spy cave was already reviewed : as mentioned, this is more a shelter than a cave. It is well sign-posted from the car park and can be accessed at any time following a pleasant and easy walk in a wood. On that Sunday morning, the other people we met were doing some exercise or just enjoying the sunshine, and the cave could easily be missed or overlooked. There is nothing left from Neanderthal, just a plaque remembering those who discovered pieces of skeleton here (the famous “Homme de Spy” was found in 1886). We did not visit the nearby museum : its limited opening time did not fit well with our agenda.
Read OnFrontiers of the Roman Empire – The Danube Limes (Serbia) (T)
Argo France - 05-Dec-22

As we already know, these serial locations in Serbia will be inscribed one day as an extension of the WHS that Germany, Austria and Slovakia already share. Without any surprise, the archaeological remains are globally poor and underwhelming (in my opinion, only Hadrian Wall should have been inscribed as the best Roman limes in Europe ; not even to mention the inscription of the different types of limes under different WH properties). We happened to see some of these sites without actually looking for them while touring Serbia in summer 2022, and still they tell something of this distant past that is worth mentioning I believe.
Read OnChurch St. George (Sv Gjorgji) Kurbinovo (T)
Argo France - 21-Aug-22

Both our French guidebook and our English guidebook were indicating that the key to open Saint George church was to be collected at a house in the village of Kurbinovo before driving up to the church, but they disagreed on the exact house where to ask for it. To preserve the reputation of these two very well-known Editors, we decided to ignore them and went directly to the church. This turned out to be a good option: the church is under huge restoration work (August 2022) and the two workers (who were having their coffee in the shadow of a nearby tree when we arrived at around 10 in the morning) were happy to let us in.
Read OnChurch of San Salvador de Valdediós (T)
Argo France - 03-Jan-21

This tiny church is proposed as an extension of the six already inscribed “Asturian Monuments” in and around Oviedo in Northern Spain. The first three inscribed ones were the most famous and typical ones (Santa Maria and San Miguel on Monte Naranco, Santa Cristina), built at the time of king Ramiro I, which is the “zenith” period of the kingdom of Asturias. Then three other monuments were added to this serial WHS, covering earlier years (San Julian, Camara Santa). San Salvador de Valdedios would be the seventh component and would represent the last phase of the Asturian architecture.
Read OnProfile Data
- Name
- Argo
- Country
- France
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 08.05.23
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Visited WHS
Rating StatsAleppo 5Cordoba 5Damascus 5Granada 5Istanbul 5Meteora 5Palmyra 5Petra 5Pompei 5Rome 5Siena 5Acropolis 4.5Cuzco 4.5Dubrovnik 4.5Ephesus 4.5Florence 4.5Kraków 4.5Palenque 4.5Pergamon 4.5Prague 4.5Teotihuacan 4.5Toledo 4.5Versailles 4.5Vézère Valley 4.5Assisi 4Avignon 4Bosra 4Brugge 4Bukhara 4Masada 4Naples 4Olympia 4Potosi 4Rapa Nui 4Ravenna 4Rhodes 4Seville 4Split 4Syracuse 4Tallinn 4Valletta 4Altamira Cave 3.5Aphrodisias 3.5Arles 3.5Avila 3.5Belfries 3.5Biblical Tells 3.5Bryggen 3.5Brú na Bóinne 3.5Budapest 3.5Caceres 3.5Chaîne des Puys 3.5Choirokoitia 3.5City of Bath 3.5Corfu 3.5Cuenca 3.5Delos 3.5Elvas 3.5Evora 3.5Garajonay 3.5Guanajuato 3.5Gwynedd Castles 3.5Ironbridge Gorge 3.5Itchan Kala 3.5Kew Gardens 3.5Kotor 3.5Matera 3.5Monticello 3.5Mostar 3.5Mystras 3.5Neolithic Orkney 3.5Oporto 3.5Paphos 3.5Qhapaq Ñan 3.5Querétaro 3.5Reims 3.5San Gimignano 3.5Sceilg Mhichíl 3.5Segovia 3.5Sintra 3.5Stevns Klint 3.5The Four Lifts 3.5Thessalonika 3.5Tiwanaku 3.5Uluru 3.5Valparaiso 3.5Verona 3.5Vienna 3.5Villa d'Este 3.5Vizcaya Bridge 3.5Vézelay 3.5Zollverein 3.5Belem 3Bordeaux 3Corvey 3Ferrara 3Kairouan 3Le Havre 3Lyon 3Lübeck 3Modena 3Mérida 3Orange 3Pienza 3Puebla 3Riga 3Salzburg 3Sucre 3Telc 3Trebic 3Trier 3Visby 3Warsaw 3Zamość 3Abbey of St Gall 2.5Albi 2.5Aquileia 2.5Banska Stiavnica 2.5Bardejov Town 2.5Butrint 2.5Chaco Culture 2.5Epidaurus 2.5Fontainebleau 2.5Guimarães 2.5Hospicio Cabañas 2.5Ivrea 2.5Jelling 2.5Kernavė 2.5Kinderdijk 2.5Lake District 2.5Morelia 2.5Nessebar 2.5Nice 2.5Poblet Monastery 2.5Potsdam 2.5Provins 2.5Regensburg 2.5Reichenau 2.5Rila Monastery 2.5Røros 2.5Schönbrunn 2.5ShUM Sites 2.5Speyer Cathedral 2.5Trogir 2.5Um er-Rasas 2.5Vall de Boi 2.5Vilnius 2.5Úbeda and Baeza 2.5Burgundy 2Carthage 2Genoa 2Graz 2Lima 2Nancy 2Saltaire 2Stećci 2Tarraco 2Torun 2Urbino 2Vegaøyan 2Wadi Rum 2Aranjuez 1.5Camino Real 1.5Crespi d'Adda 1.5Drottningholm 1.5Holasovice 1.5Hollókö 1.5Karlskrona 1.5Litomysl Castle 1.5Luther Memorials 1.5Madara Rider 1.5Old Rauma 1.5Pannonhalma 1.5Skogskyrkogarden 1.5Stoclet House 1.5Tequila 1.5Van Nellefabriek 1.5Bamberg 1Battir 1Schokland 0.5Reviewed WHS
Visited TWHS
- Agioi Varnavas and Ilarion at Peristerona (Five-domed churches) (T)
- Aguas Livres Aqueduct (T)
- Amalienborg and its district (T)
- Ancienne chocolaterie Menier à Noisiel (T)
- Ancient Cities of Lycian Civilization (T)
- Ancient Greek Theatres (T)
- Apamee (Afamia) (T)
- Aqaba Marine Reserve (T)
- Archaeo-astronomical Site Kokino (T)
- Archaeological site of Ancient Messene (T)
- Archaeological Site of Priene (T)
- Arsenal de Rochefort et fortifications de l'estuaire de la Charente (T)
- Bahoutdin Architectural Complex (T)
- Balaton Uplands Cultural Landscape (T)
- Baptism Site “Eshria’a” (Al-Maghtas) (T)
- Baroque Temples of Collao (T)
- Bet She'an (T)
- Bishop's Basilica and Late-Antique Mosaics of Philippopolis, Roman Province of Thrace (T)
- Bouches de Bonifacio (T)
- Bradyseism in the Flegrea Area (T)
- Brooklyn Bridge (T)
- Bulwarked Fortifications (T)
- Bulwarked Frontier Fortifications (T)
- Cascata delle Marmore and Valnerina: Monastic sites and ancient hydrogeological reclamation works (T)
- Cathédrale de Saint-Denis (T)
- Cattolica Monastery in Stilo and Basilian-Byzantine complexes (T)
- Central Park (T)
- Centre ancien de Sarlat (T)
- Chapultepec Woods, Hill and Castle (T)
- Chashma-Ayub Mausoleum (T)
- Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte (T)
- Chatham Dockyard and its Defences (T)
- Chor-Bakr (T)
- Chott El Jerid (T)
- Church of Panagia Aggeloktisti (T)
- Church of San Salvador de Valdediós (T)
- Church St. George (Sv Gjorgji) Kurbinovo (T)
- Churches of the Altiplano (T)
- Cíes Islands–Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park (T)
- Cité de Carcassonne et ses châteaux sentinelles de montagne (T)
- Cittadella (Victoria - Gozo) (T)
- Creswell Crags (T)
- Darwin's Landscape Laboratory (T)
- Degania & Nahalal (T)
- Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo's Home-Study Museum (T)
- Djerdap National Park (T)
- Domaine de Fontainebleau : château, jardins, parc et forêt (T)
- Dreams in Stone - the palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee (T)
- Early Synagogues in the Galilee (T)
- Ebla (Tell Mardikh) (T)
- Eise Eisinga Planetarium (T)
- El Ferrol of the Illustration Historical Heritage (T)
- Ellis Island (T)
- Ensemble de grottes à concrétions du Sud de la France (T)
- Ensemble of Alvaro Siza's Architecture Works in Portugal (T)
- Fishpond Network in the Trebon Basin (T)
- Flow Country (T)
- Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube Limes in Bulgaria (T)
- Frontiers of the Roman Empire – The Danube Limes (Serbia) (T)
- Gdansk - Town of Memory and Freedom (T)
- Great City of Chicomostoc-La Quemada (T)
- Großglockner High Alpine Road / Großglockner Hochalpenstraße (T)
- Group of Mozarabic buildings on the Iberian Peninsula (T)
- Guano Islands, Islets, and Capes National Reserve System (T)
- Habitat troglodytique et le monde des ksour du Sud tunisien (T)
- Hala Sultan Tekke and the Larnaka Salt Lake Complex (T)
- Hall in Tyrol - The Mint (T)
- Hangar Y (T)
- Head Office and Garden of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Hôpital Notre-Dame à La Rose - Lessines (T)
- Île de Djerba (T)
- Jerash Archaeological City (Ancient Meeting Place of East and West) (T)
- Kaunas 1919-1939: The Capital Inspired by the Modern Movement (T)
- Klirou Bridge (T)
- Knights Fortifications around the Harbours of Malta (T)
- L’observatoire du pic du Midi de Bigorre, pionnier en haute montagne (T)
- La Camargue (T)
- La Moneda Palace (T)
- Lake Maggiore and Lake D'Orta lakelands (T)
- Lake Titicaca (T)
- Late Medieval Bastioned Fortifications in Greece (T)
- Le noyau historique ou la 'Cuve' de Gand, et les deux abbayes qui sont à son origine (T)
- Le site archéologique de Sbeïtla (T)
- Les citadelles mosanes (T)
- Les passages de Bruxelles / Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (T)
- Les Plages du Débarquement, Normandie, 1944 (T)
- Les sites à fossiles néandertaliens de Wallonie (T)
- Les témoignages matériels de la construction de l’État des Pyrénées : la Co-principauté d’Andorre (A) (T)
- Les témoignages matériels de la construction de l’État des Pyrénées : la Co-principauté d’Andorre (F) (T)
- Les villes antiques de la Narbonnaise et leur territoire: Nimes, Arles, Glanum, aqueducs, via Domitia (T)
- Les villes bastionnées des Pays-Bas du nord-ouest de l'Europe (T)
- Loarre Castle (T)
- Maaloula (T)
- Maltese Catacomb Complexes (T)
- Marais salants de Guérande (T)
- Markovi Kuli (T)
- Mausoleum and Sacred area of Hecatomnus (T)
- Mdina (Citta Vecchia) (T)
- Mesta Livestock trails (T)
- Metz Royale et Impériale, enjeux de pouvoir, confrontations stylistiques et identité urbaine (T)
- Montagne Sainte-Victoire et sites cezaniens (T)
- Mothia and Lilibeo Island: The Phoenician-Punic Civilization in Italy (T)
- Mount Vernon (T)
- Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof (T)
- Negotinske Pivnice (T)
- Nîmes, l'Antiquité au présent (T)
- Noréas de Hama (T)
- Noyau historique d'Antwerpen -Anvers- de l'Escaut aux anciens remparts de vers 1250 (T)
- Ödön Lechner's independent pre-modern architecture (T)
- Orvieto (T)
- Plasencia - Monfragüe - Trujillo : Paysage méditerranéen (T)
- Pobiti Kamani Natural Monument (T)
- Pombaline Lisbon (T)
- QUMRAN: Caves and Monastery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (T)
- Rabati Malik Caravanserai (T)
- Rade de Marseille (T)
- Roman Ways. Itineraries of the Roman Empire (T)
- Rostov Kremlin (T)
- Rouen : ensemble urbain à pans de bois, cathédrale, église Saint-Ouen, église Saint Maclou (T)
- Rural Temples of Cusco (T)
- Sacred Titicaca Lake (T)
- Sajama National Park (T)
- Salento and the Barocco Leccese (T)
- Salt Mines of Maras (T)
- San Francisco Church and Convent (T)
- Sea of Galilee & its Ancient Sites (T)
- Shaubak Castle (Montreal) (T)
- Silk Roads Sites in Uzbekistan (T)
- Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor (T)
- Sites funéraires et mémoriels de la Première Guerre mondiale (Front Ouest) (T)
- Sites funéraires et mémoriels de la Première Guerre mondiale (Front Ouest) (Belgium) (T)
- Sites mégalithiques de Carnac (T)
- Sites of Great Moravia: Slavonic Fortified Settlement at Mikulcice - Church of St.Margaret at Kopcani (T)
- Sites of Great Moravia: Slavonic Fortified Settlement at Mikulcice - Church of St.Margaret at Kopcani (T)
- Sultan Bayezid II Complex: A Center of Medical Treatment (T)
- The Ancient Plovdiv (T)
- The ancient town of Nicopolis ad Istrum (T)
- The Architectural Works of Alvar Aalto - a Human Dimension to the Modern Movement (T)
- The concept of the lenticular historical town core of Kosice City (T)
- The cultural landscape of the Benedictine settlements in medieval Italy (T)
- The historic urban site of Počitelj (T)
- The Jewish Cemetery of Altona Königstrasse. Sephardic Sepulchral Culture of the 17th and 18th century between Europe and the Caribbean (T)
- The late ancient tomb of Silistra (T)
- The Lofoten islands (T)
- The Murge of Altamura (T)
- The Old Town of Jakarta (T)
- The Olive Grove Landscapes of Andalusia (T)
- The Ribeira Sacra, Lugo and Orense (T)
- The Rise of Systematic Biology (T)
- The Roussensky Lom National Park (T)
- The royal necropolis of the Thracian city of Seuthopolis – a serial site, extension of the Kazanlak Thracian tomb (T)
- The Royal Sites of Ireland: Cashel, Dún Ailinne, Hill of Uisneach, Rathcroghan Complex, and Tara Complex (T)
- The Silver Route (T)
- The town of Melnik and the Rozhen Monastery (T)
- The Transhumance: The Royal Shepherd's Track (T)
- The Twin Monastery of Wearmouth Jarrow (T)
- Thracian Tomb with Wall Paintings beside Alexandrovo village (T)
- Trakai Historical National Park (T)
- Troodos, Mt.Olympus (T)
- Two neolithic dwellings with their interior and household furnishings and utensils completely preserved. (T)
- Via Appia 'Regina Viarum' (T)
- Via Francigena in Italy (T)
- Victoria Lines Fortifications (T)
- Viking Age Ring Fortresses (T)
- Vila Viçosa (T)
- Volterra: Historical City and Cultural Landscape (T)
- Zadar - Episcopal complex (T)
- Zagorochoria - North Pindos National Park (T)
- Žatec – the Hops Town (T)
Reviewed TWHS
- Negotinske Pivnice (T)
- Les sites à fossiles néandertaliens de Wallonie (T)
- Frontiers of the Roman Empire – The Danube Limes (Serbia) (T)
- Church St. George (Sv Gjorgji) Kurbinovo (T)
- Church of San Salvador de Valdediós (T)
- Group of Mozarabic buildings on the Iberian Peninsula (T)
- Cíes Islands–Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park (T)
- The Ribeira Sacra, Lugo and Orense (T)
- The Lofoten islands (T)
- Rabati Malik Caravanserai (T)
- Vila Viçosa (T)
- Mausoleum and Sacred area of Hecatomnus (T)
- Archaeological Site of Priene (T)
- Creswell Crags (T)
- Flow Country (T)
- Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof (T)
- Pobiti Kamani Natural Monument (T)
- The royal necropolis of the Thracian city of Seuthopolis – a serial site, extension of the Kazanlak Thracian tomb (T)
- Thracian Tomb with Wall Paintings beside Alexandrovo village (T)
- The late ancient tomb of Silistra (T)
- Bishop's Basilica and Late-Antique Mosaics of Philippopolis, Roman Province of Thrace (T)
- Hangar Y (T)
- Mesta Livestock trails (T)
- Church of Panagia Aggeloktisti (T)
- Hala Sultan Tekke and the Larnaka Salt Lake Complex (T)
- Agioi Varnavas and Ilarion at Peristerona (Five-domed churches) (T)
- Parco Nazionale della Sila - Sila, gran bosco d'Italia (T)
- The Murge of Altamura (T)
- Cattolica Monastery in Stilo and Basilian-Byzantine complexes (T)
- Kaunas 1919-1939: The Capital Inspired by the Modern Movement (T)