Nan Profile

Why?

If you enjoy spending your holidays in a club hotel in the Caribbean drinking Mai Tais, that's fine. It's your holiday and do as you please. And I personally enjoy the occasional Mai Tai on the beach, too. For me, though, spending more than a few days in the aforementioned Caribbean club hotel would be akin to purgatory. Because I like moving around, seeing new things and going to distant places.

As such I have read my fair share of guide books to figure out where to go and what to see. For instance, a few years back I visited Chile. A great place with astonishing nature to explore. Meanwhile Santiago de Chile, the capital, is fairly lackluster, having been destroyed by multiple earthquakes over the centuries. Still, any guidebook you pick up will spend a full chapter on Santiago extolling its virtues.

World Heritage Sites are different. They are as objective as it gets. They make you travel off the beaten path. I will always fondly remember my cab ride in a Czech winter landscape to Holasovice. And while Holasovice is just for the WHS connoisseurs, more often than not WHS are great sites.

Initially, I focused on quantity. And while this may seem stressful, it did give me a good picture and overview. Of late (ever since reaching the magical 300) I collect differently. Now I plan my trips on the truly great sites and pick up any site to the left and right I can visit on top.

So, should you become a WHS traveler, too? My honest recommendation is to do as you please. But if you are going to country anyhow (and be it in a club hotel), then use the map provided on this site and check out if any world heritage site is nearby. It may force to travel a bit off the beaten path, but trust me, it will be worth it.

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Germany Last Update 20.11.21 522 WHS Visited 254 Reviews 521 WHS Rated 116 TWHS Visited

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Recent Reviews Nan

Las Medulas

Nan Germany - 16-Nov-21

For a long time, I couldn't place Las Medulas. I had stumbled across the name repeatedly when filling out my checklist. My only association was to the famed Velazquez painting in the Prado, Las Meninas. Thanks to Jay's review, the site jumped ahead in my internal queue. Wanting to visit friends across Spain for a late autumn escape, I settled on going to the North Western Spain as part of my trip. Lesson learnt: Northern Spain in November is wet and cold.

Las Medulas is - as pointed out by previous reviewer's - not a huge area. The Romans mined the area extensively and created some stunning rock structures in the process. This is prime hiking territory (oh, Nan and his hiking), and I enjoyed my visit greatly.

Read On

Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Dacia (T)

Nan Germany - 19-Oct-21

The Roman Empire had it's largest extend under Trajan. He defeated the eternal enemy of Rom, Parthia, and incorporated Mesopotamia as a province into the empire. However, the conquest was short lived. His immediate successor, Hadrian of Hadrian's Wall fame, cut Mesopotamia lose again. It was too far away from the heartland of the empire and consequently too hard to defend.

The second conquest of Trajan, though, remained a Roman province for about 150 years: Dacia, present day Romania. The reason were the Dacian gold mines in and around Rosia Montana (already inscribed). To get a glimpse, you can visit the National Museum of Art of Romania in Bucharest where several gold pieces pre and post Roman are on exhibition.

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Villages with Fortified Churches

Nan Germany - 15-Oct-21

On a summer quest through Romania, I visited Biertan, the most prominent of the villages with fortified churches. Biertan is a small, colorful village and the fortified church in the center overshadows everything. It's built on a rock and has multiple layers of walls. The massive defenses feel a bit out of place, but it just goes to show how contested the area was in the past. The church itself is rather barren.

Best parts of my visit was strolling around the village and getting to experience the Romanian country side.

Read On

Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines

Nan Germany - 18-Oct-21

First thing first, Wieliczka is a unique site well worth the visit. The artistry at display and how the miners transformed a mundane, industrial mine into architecture and art is astonishing. Having seen my fair share of mines hunting world heritage sites, I have not encountered anything like it. To me, discounting the darkness of Auschwitz, Wieliczka is the most unique site of Poland, a site truely eminating OUV.

With that in mind, I found myself with a spare day in Cracow. I was considering visiting yet another wooden church (which I love!). But then I figured by triangulation, that if Wieliczka is great and Bochnia is an extension of Wielizcka, then Bochnia, even if it's a lesser version of Wieliczka, should be pretty great, too

Read On

Krzemionki prehistoric striped flint mining region

Nan Germany - 18-Oct-21

First things first, it's Q3 2021 and the tunnel is open again. With it the site is fully accessible for visitors. I had waited for more than a year to complete Poland again; Covid travel restrictions may have also played a role.

The tunnel links multiple mines and follows the flint stone layer upwards, giving you a good understanding of the spread and rather limited depth of flint stones. It's assumed that the flint stones formed as a ground layer of a lake, so the flint stone layer tilt upwards. Supposedly, the deeper layers are of better quality. Side note: Flint stone mining was a temporary activitiy. The soil of the area was too bad for permanent habitation.

Read On

Profile Data

Name: Nan
Country: Germany
Most Impressive: Petra, Machu Picchu, Angkor
Proposal: Seoraksan, Korea. Okefenokee, USA.

Recently Visited WHS

Update 20.11.21: Altamira Cave

Asturian Monuments

Roman Walls of Lugo

Burgos Cathedral

Las Medulas

Rock-Art of the Mediterranean Basin

Úbeda and Baeza

Vizcaya Bridge

Tower of Hercules

Medina Azahara

Visited WHS

Rating Stats

Ancient Thebes 5

Angkor 5

Florence 5

Iguazu National Park 5

Los Glaciares 5

Machu Picchu 5

Mesa Verde 5

Palenque 5

Petra 5

Pyramids (Memphis) 5

Rapa Nui 5

Rome 5

Teotihuacan 5

Vatican City 5

Venice and its Lagoon 5

Acropolis 4.5

Amsterdam Canal Ring 4.5

Chichen-Itza 4.5

Cordoba 4.5

Dubrovnik 4.5

Fatehpur Sikri 4.5

Granada 4.5

Grand Canyon 4.5

Great Wall 4.5

Loire Valley 4.5

Los Alerces National Park 4.5

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor 4.5

Meteora 4.5

Paris, Banks of the Seine 4.5

Piazza del Duomo (Pisa) 4.5

Ping Yao 4.5

Pompei 4.5

Prague 4.5

Ravenna 4.5

Sceilg Mhichíl 4.5

St. Petersburg 4.5

Te Wahipounamu 4.5

Versailles 4.5

Vienna 4.5

West Norwegian Fjords 4.5

Yosemite National Park 4.5

Aachen Cathedral 4

Agrigento 4

Ancient Kyoto 4

Arab-Norman Palermo 4

Archaeological Site of Delphi 4

Berat and Gjirokastra 4

Brugge 4

Budapest 4

Castel del Monte 4

Classical Gardens of Suzhou 4

Cueva de las Manos 4

Dengfeng 4

Dolomites 4

El Escurial 4

Everglades 4

Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings 4

Guanajuato 4

Ha Long Bay 4

Haeinsa Temple 4

Hal Saflieni Hypogeum 4

Himeji-jo 4

Humayun's Tomb 4

Iguacu 4

Imperial Palace 4

Istanbul 4

Itsukushima Shrine 4

Jantar Mantar 4

Kew Gardens 4

Kinderdijk 4

Kotor 4

Kremlin and Red Square 4

Laponian Area 4

Longmen Grottoes 4

Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve 4

Mont-Saint-Michel 4

Nasca Lines 4

Neolithic Orkney 4

Oaxaca and Monte Alban 4

Olympia 4

Peninsula Valdes 4

Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands 4

Rietveld Schröderhuis 4

Riga 4

Selimiye Mosque 4

Siena 4

Sintra 4

Skocjan Caves 4

South China Karst 4

Studley Royal Park 4

Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch 4

Teide National Park 4

Temple of Heaven 4

Trang An 4

Tugendhat Villa 4

Upper Middle Rhine Valley 4

Valletta 4

Vicenza 4

Wadden Sea 4

West Lake 4

Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines 4

Wooden Churches of Southern Malopolska 4

Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region 4

Works of Antoni Gaudí 4

Altamira Cave 3.5

Assisi 3.5

Auschwitz Birkenau 3.5

Bordeaux 3.5

Bryggen 3.5

Brú na Bóinne 3.5

Calakmul 3.5

Caves of Yagul and Mitla 3.5

Central University City Campus of the UNAM 3.5

Cesky Krumlov 3.5

Champagne 3.5

Churches of Chiloé 3.5

Churches of Moldavia 3.5

Churches of Peace 3.5

Churches of the Pskov School of Architecture 3.5

Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape 3.5

Cracow 3.5

Cuenca 3.5

Dacian Fortresses 3.5

Danube Delta 3.5

Edinburgh 3.5

El Fuerte de Samaipata 3.5

Fagus Factory 3.5

Fortified City of Carcassonne 3.5

Fujisan 3.5

Grand Place, Brussels 3.5

Great Spa Towns of Europe 3.5

Gyeongju 3.5

High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago 3.5

Hill Forts of Rajasthan 3.5

Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis 3.5

Kii Mountain Range 3.5

L'viv 3.5

Lake District 3.5

Las Medulas 3.5

Malbork Castle 3.5

Matera 3.5

Megalithic Temples of Malta 3.5

Mexico City and Xochimilco 3.5

Mountain Railways of India 3.5

Museumsinsel (Museum Island) 3.5

Mycenae and Tiryns 3.5

Mystras 3.5

Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles 3.5

Reims 3.5

Rhodes 3.5

Sambor Prei Kuk 3.5

Schönbrunn 3.5

Sydney Opera House 3.5

Syracuse 3.5

Tallinn 3.5

The trulli of Alberobello 3.5

Tongariro National Park 3.5

University of Coimbra 3.5

Villa Romana del Casale 3.5

Villages with Fortified Churches 3.5

Visby 3.5

Westminster 3.5

White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal 3.5

Wooden Churches of Maramures 3.5

Xidi and Hongcun 3.5

Aggtelek and Slovak Karst 3

Agra Fort 3

Albi 3

Amiens Cathedral 3

Ancient Nara 3

Antequera Dolmens Site 3

Aquileia 3

Archaeological Site of Aigai 3

Arequipa 3

Arles 3

Avignon 3

Avila 3

Bamberg 3

Belem 3

Bellinzone 3

Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe 3

Bursa and Cumalikizik 3

Canterbury 3

Cathedral of St. James in Sibenik 3

Changdeokgung Palace Complex 3

Churches and Convents of Goa 3

Cilento and Vallo di Diano 3

City of Bath 3

Cologne Cathedral 3

Costiera Amalfitana 3

Cuzco 3

Derwent Valley Mills 3

Dorset and East Devon Coast 3

Falun Great Copper Mountain 3

Flemish Béguinages 3

Fontainebleau 3

Forth Bridge 3

Fortifications of Vauban 3

Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz 3

Giant's Causeway 3

Grand Canal 3

Great Smoky Mountains 3

Greater Blue Mountains 3

Gwynedd Castles 3

Hiraizumi 3

Hoi An 3

Horyu-ji Area 3

Hué 3

Hwaseong Fortress 3

Imperial Tombs 3

Isole Eolie 3

Jaipur City, Rajasthan 3

Jesuit Missions of Trinidad and Jesus 3

Jongmyo Shrine 3

Kaiping Diaolou 3

Kutna Hora 3

Kyiv 3

Luang Prabang 3

Luis Barragán House and Studio 3

Lyon 3

Macao 3

Maritime Greenwich 3

Maulbronn Monastery 3

Mostar 3

Mount Athos 3

Nikko 3

Old Rauma 3

Oporto 3

Plain of Jars 3

Plitvice Lakes 3

Poblet Monastery 3

Pont du Gard 3

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal 3

Potosi 3

Potsdam 3

Preah Vihear Temple 3

Qhapaq Ñan 3

Quedlinburg 3

Rammelsberg and Goslar 3

Rjukan / Notodden 3

Rock Carvings in Tanum 3

Rock Drawings in Valcamonica 3

Royal Joseon Tombs 3

Røros 3

Salamanca 3

San Miguel de Allende 3

Santiago de Compostela 3

Segovia 3

Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple 3

Seville 3

Shirakawa-go and Gokayama 3

Southern Öland 3

Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District 3

Split 3

Statue of Liberty 3

Stevns Klint 3

Stonehenge 3

Strasbourg 3

Sucre 3

Summer Palace 3

Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona 3

Taj Mahal 3

The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier 3

Tower of London 3

Trebic 3

Trinity Sergius Lavra 3

Urbino 3

Urnes Stave Church 3

Uxmal 3

Valparaiso 3

Vegaøyan 3

Villa d'Este 3

Vilnius 3

Völklingen Ironworks 3

Warsaw 3

Wartburg Castle 3

Würzburg Residence 3

Xochicalco 3

Yaroslavl 3

Zollverein 3

Abbey of St Gall 2.5

Asturian Monuments 2.5

Australian Convict Sites 2.5

Banska Stiavnica 2.5

Bardejov Town 2.5

Bauhaus Sites 2.5

Belfries 2.5

Belovezhskaya Pushcha / Bialowieza Forest 2.5

Berlin Modernism Housing Estates 2.5

Blaenavon Industrial Landscape 2.5

Blenheim Palace 2.5

Boyana Church 2.5

Burgundy 2.5

Butrint 2.5

Caceres 2.5

Camino Real 2.5

Chartres Cathedral 2.5

Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay 2.5

Convent of Christ in Tomar 2.5

Corfu 2.5

Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland 2.5

Durham Castle and Cathedral 2.5

Elvas 2.5

Engelsberg Ironworks 2.5

Euphrasian Basilica in Porec 2.5

Evora 2.5

Fortress of Suomenlinna 2.5

Fray Bentos 2.5

Gammelstad 2.5

Genbaku Dome 2.5

Gorham's Cave Complex 2.5

Graz 2.5

Grimeton Radio Station 2.5

Hallstatt-Dachstein 2.5

Heritage of Mercury 2.5

Independence Hall 2.5

Ironbridge Gorge 2.5

Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos 2.5

Jodrell Bank Observatory 2.5

Kalwaria Zebrzydowska 2.5

Keoladeo National Park 2.5

Le Havre 2.5

Liangzhu Archaeological Site 2.5

Longobards in Italy 2.5

Lübeck 2.5

Mantua and Sabbioneta 2.5

Margravial Opera House 2.5

Medici Villas and Gardens 2.5

Medina of Tétouan 2.5

Melaka and George Town 2.5

Monastery of Alcobaça 2.5

Monastery of Batalha 2.5

Muskauer Park 2.5

Nancy 2.5

Naples 2.5

Nesvizh 2.5

New Lanark 2.5

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai 2.5

Orange 2.5

Palau de la Musica Catalana & Hospital de Sant Pau 2.5

Palmeral of Elche 2.5

Panamá 2.5

Petäjävesi Old Church 2.5

Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk 2.5

Plantin-Moretus Museum 2.5

Popocatepetl monasteries 2.5

Provins 2.5

Puebla 2.5

Qutb Minar 2.5

Red Fort 2.5

Rhaetian Railway 2.5

Rila Monastery 2.5

Rock Art of Alta 2.5

Roman Walls of Lugo 2.5

Route of Santiago de Compostela 2.5

Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans 2.5

Roșia Montană 2.5

Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy 2.5

Saltaire 2.5

San Gimignano 2.5

Santa Maria delle Grazie 2.5

Sian Ka'an 2.5

Sighisoara 2.5

Singapore Botanic Gardens 2.5

Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution 2.5

Skogskyrkogarden 2.5

Speyer Cathedral 2.5

Spissky Hrad and Levoca 2.5

Stralsund and Wismar 2.5

Tarraco 2.5

Telc 2.5

The Four Lifts 2.5

Thessalonika 2.5

Tiwanaku 2.5

Toledo 2.5

Tomioka Silk Mill 2.5

Tower of Hercules 2.5

Trier 2.5

Trogir 2.5

Val d'Orcia 2.5

Val di Noto 2.5

Van Nellefabriek 2.5

Vat Phou 2.5

Villa Adriana (Tivoli) 2.5

Vizcaya Bridge 2.5

Vlkolinec 2.5

Wachau Cultural Landscape 2.5

Western Ghats 2.5

Wooden Churches of the Slovak Carpathians 2.5

Alcala de Henares 2

Archaeological site of Philippi 2

Benedictine Convent of St. John 2

Canal du Midi 2

Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust 2

Centennial Hall 2

China Danxia 2

Christiansfeld 2

City of Luxembourg 2

Curonian Spit 2

Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios 2

Epidaurus 2

Ferrara 2

Gardens and Castle at Kromeríz 2

Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa Dolmen 2

Holy Trinity Column 2

Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine 2

Jelling 2

Karlskrona 2

Kernavë 2

Kladruby nad Labem 2

Kronborg Castle 2

Krzemionki prehistoric striped flint mining region 2

La Lonja de la Seda 2

Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces 2

Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape 2

Lima 2

Litomysl Castle 2

Ljubljana 2

Major Town Houses 2

Mining Sites of Wallonia 2

Modena 2

Monastery of Horezu 2

Monte San Giorgio 2

Morelia 2

Mudejar Architecture of Aragon 2

Mérida 2

Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes 2

Nessebar 2

Nice 2

Novgorod 2

Novodevichy Convent 2

Peking Man Site 2

Pienza 2

Pilgrimage Church of Wies 2

Prehistoric Pile Dwellings 2

Residence of Bukovinian & Dalmatian Metropolitans 2

Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo 2

Roskilde Cathedral 2

Royal Palace at Caserta 2

Saint-Emilion 2

Salzburg 2

Sammallahdenmäki 2

San Marino and Mount Titano 2

Santa Maria de Guadelupe 2

Struve Geodetic Arc 2

Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae 2

Thracian tomb of Sveshtari 2

Town Hall and Roland, Bremen 2

Venetian Works of Defence 2

Verona 2

Zamosc 2

Úbeda and Baeza 2

Aranjuez 1.5

Beemster Polder 1.5

Birka and Hovgarden 1.5

Botanical Garden, Padua 1.5

Campeche 1.5

Caves and Ice Age Art 1.5

Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye 1.5

Classical Weimar 1.5

Colonia del Sacramento 1.5

Crespi d'Adda 1.5

Donana National Park 1.5

Drottningholm 1.5

Fertö/Neusiedlersee 1.5

Frontiers of the Roman Empire 1.5

Genoa 1.5

Hedeby and Danevirke 1.5

Holasovice 1.5

Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal 1.5

Ivrea 1.5

La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle 1.5

Luther Memorials 1.5

Madara Rider 1.5

Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt 1.5

Medina Azahara 1.5

Mining Cultural Landscape Erzgebirge 1.5

Mount Etna 1.5

Naumburg Cathedral 1.5

Par force hunting landscape 1.5

Pirin National Park 1.5

Portobelo-San Lorenzo 1.5

Primeval Beech Forests 1.5

Querétaro 1.5

Regensburg 1.5

Reichenau 1.5

Residences of the Royal House of Savoy 1.5

Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France 1.5

Semmering Railway 1.5

Torun 1.5

Verla Groundwood and Board Mill 1.5

Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch 1

Corvey 1

Danube Limes 1

Dutch Water Defence Lines 1

Hildesheim Cathedral and Church 1

Lower German Limes 1

Mafra Palace, Convent and Royal Hunting Park 1

Messel Pit 1

Mir Castle 1

Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin 1

Old City of Berne 1

Rock-Art of the Mediterranean Basin 1

Schokland 1

ShUM Sites 1

Stari Grad Plain 1

Stoclet House 1

Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver Mine 1

Thang Long 1

The Porticoes of Bologna 1

Tokaji Wine Region 1

Water Management System of Augsburg 1

Burgos Cathedral 0.5

Hortobágy 0.5

Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro 0.5

Srebarna Nature Reserve 0.5

The Prosecco Hills 0.5

Tlacotalpan 0.5

Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont 0.5

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Nan Profile

Why?

If you enjoy this...

Visited Sites Nan

Legend

Recent Reviews Nan

Las Medulas

Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Dacia (T)

Villages with Fortified Churches

Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines

Krzemionki prehistoric striped flint mining region

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