Riccardo Quaranta Profile

Riccardo Quaranta
Riccardo Quaranta.

My name is Riccardo and I was born near Rome, in Italy. I'm in love with traveling and the beauty of this world. I believe that one of the best ways to appreciate what the world and its people offer is to travel and learn from this amazing experience.

A great way to learn and understand everything that is different from our daily life is by appreciating the heritage that is left for us by people, together with the stunning beauty of nature. This is why I am interested in the UNESCO World Heritage. Through them, I feel like I’m learning what people are capable of doing and I am always amazed at the incredible shows that Nature is capable of disclosing before our eyes. I want to share my passion with the rest of the world, because I strongly believe that the world would be a much better place if everyone could travel and see this incredible beauty with their own eyes, the way I do.

I have also my personal blog: www.theunescochallenge.wordpress.com

Visited Sites Riccardo Quaranta

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Legend

  • Cultural
  • Natural
  • Mixed

Recent Reviews Riccardo Quaranta


Aqaba Marine Reserve (T)

Riccardo Quaranta Italy - 23-Aug-23

Aqaba Marine Reserve (T)

I went scuba diving in the Aqaba Marine Reserve during my trip to Jordan in August 2023, through a local dive center.

Being a scuba diving enthusiast, this was the best way for me to experience this TWHS, however, since the marine reserve is located a few kilometers south of downtown Aqaba, near Tala Bay (where most of the beach resorts are located), the site is easily reached by private car as well and it's also a great spot for snorkeling from the shore if you are not a fan of going too deep underwater in areas such as the so-called Japanese garden or Berenice reef.

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Pella (Modern Tabaqat Fahil) (T)

Riccardo Quaranta Italy - 18-Aug-23

Pella (Modern Tabaqat Fahil) (T)

Pella is the third Decapolis city TWHS I have visited in northern Jordan after Abila and Gadara in August 2023 and, in terms of quality, it's somewhere between the two. The site is not as well managed as Gadara, but it is not left completely on its own as Abila. 

The visitor centre is just off the main road (easy to find on Google maps), on a cliff that overlooks the entire archaeological site, which in fact is not very big. However, the visitor centre is not much more than a ticket booth and what seems to be meant as a small museum that is not ready yet.

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Gadara (Modern Um Qeis or Qays) (T)

Riccardo Quaranta Italy - 17-Aug-23

Gadara (Modern Um Qeis or Qays) (T)

I visited Gadara during my trip to Jordan in August 2023.

I had a rented car and so it has been relatively easy to drive to the three Decapolis cities that are currently TWHS (Abila, Gadara and Pella) in northern Jordan. Gadara is the largest and best managed of them. There is a small museum, reconstructed buildings, the ruins are quite extensive and there are even underground tunnels that can be visited. Overall, the site is worth a visit even for non-WHS aficionados.

Considering the distance among the cities and the size of these archaeological site, it is quiet easy to visit all of them in one day, especially if driving from Jerash, rather than Amman. 

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Abila City (Modern Qweilbeh) (T)

Riccardo Quaranta Italy - 14-Aug-23

Abila City (Modern Qweilbeh) (T)

I visited Abila in August 2023 during my extensive trip in Jordan. I visited it in combination with the others TWHS in northern Jordan making up the series of the Decapolis cities.

I had some expectation on this site based on other TWHS in Jordan (and on Google reviews and WHC description) but, unfortunately, Abila didn't meet them at all.

But let's start from the beginning.

I used Jerash as a base for the exploration of northern Jordan by rental car, as it seemed the easiest thing to do without the need to go back to Amman at the end of every single day and each TWHS in the area can be reached in about 1 hour from Jerash. Reaching Abila was relatively easy, it's clearly marked in Google Maps, although it isn't clear that the last part of the road is on an unpaved steep dirt road that goes through some crops. Nothing impossible though. My regular small sedan could make it easily. However, once I reached the first ruins of Abila, I realised that the site isn't managed or maintained properly. There is nothing, not even a sign marking the importance of the place

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Les tombes de la Basse Selca (T)

Riccardo Quaranta Italy - 31-Aug-22

Les tombes de la Basse Selca (T)

There is not much that can be added to Solivagant's excellent review of les tombes de la Basse Selca in Albania. I will only give an update on how to get there and what to expect as of August 2022 when I visited the tombs on my way from Elbasan to Lin.

Now, the location is even mapped on google maps as "Gradishta e Selcës së Poshtëme" (coordinates: 40.990687532328295, 20.519241375903466). This is the correct position so it's a good way to find the right spot. Don't get confused with the nearby "Gredishtë" as it will lead you to the wrong spot.

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Profile Data

Name
Riccardo Quaranta
Country
Italy
Most Impressive
Rome, Angkor, Machu Picchu, Bagan.
Proposal
Titicaca Lake, Mount Bromo.
Website
website

Recently Visited WHS

Update 01.10.23
Rating Stats
Angkor 5
Bagan 5
Petra 5
Borobudur 4.5
Dolomites 4.5
Matera 4.5
Cuzco 4
Nikko 4
Albi 3.5
Arequipa 3.5
Assisi 3.5
Avila 3.5
Bamberg 3.5
Butrint 3.5
Hoi An 3.5
Meknes 3.5
Olympia 3.5
Paphos 3.5
Pienza 3.5
Rabat 3.5
Ravenna 3.5
Urbino 3.5
Corfu 3
Hué 3
Lima 3
Quito 3
Vigan 3
Ferrara 2.5
Modena 2.5
Macao 2
As-Salt 1.5
Nice 1.5
Old Rauma 1.5
Ivrea 1
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