Svein Elias Profile

I never travelled - until i was in my forties. Then I met Randi who had a wide experience with travelling. Since 2006 we have been travelling together, and since 2010 we have been "hunting" WHS'.
Through the last decade I've learnt to really appreciate the feeling of visiting new places, the curiosity and the excitement seeing different habits and cultures. Seeing nature's grand places with its unique animal life gives me great satisfaction. Historic places is another great experience, it makes you learn history along the way.
Seeing odd places which few people have visited before, preferably combined with the above, is the top of my list. Maybe it's kind of naive, but anyway...
Recent Reviews Svein Elias
Les Mausolées Royaux de Numidie, de la Maurétanie et les monuments funéraires pré-islamiques (Tunisia) (T)
Svein Elias Norway - 22-May-22

On our April tour of Tunisia, we wanted to visit several TWHS’, but there wasn’t time in our schedule to visit them all. Thus, we had to choose between the 16 of them. Visiting Djerba we visited the mausoleum of Henchir Bourgou as a part of the TWHS Djerba, unconsciously we also started our Nubian mausoleum journey. The community likes for this site is a 100%! Although it’s only four votes, still a 100% is overwhelming. There are 5 elements in this nomination, and we suspect the community judgement is based on only one element, the one in Dougga. We managed to visit four elements, and did they live up too the requirements and expectations of our community?
Read OnLe site archéologique de Sbeïtla (T)
Svein Elias Norway - 22-May-22

Sbeïtla is located slightly south of the center of northern Tunisia, as the countries map visually divides in two by the vast salt pan of Chott el Jerid. It’s on the north-south line between Dougga and Chott el Jerid some 100 km southwest of Kairouan. It’s a large roman remain with some near complete structures and a lot of lower structures. In total it shows the size of this once great city.
Arriving just an hour before closing time and even at Ramadan we weren’t very popular neither at the ticket counter nor the gate. The counter had practically been closed already, but er got tickets, and at the gate they told us that we couldn’t do it within the hour. Thus, we hasted along not really knowing which direction to take. Soon we had an uninvited “guide” with us speaking only a few words of English. After telling him a couple of times we could do this by ourselves we gave that up. He hasted along with us saying “mill, olive press, bathtub, fountain, church” and so he continued. After a while we had to admit he was in fact informative in his short language way
Read OnHabitat troglodytique et le monde des ksour du Sud tunisien (T)
Svein Elias Norway - 21-May-22

This is fun! This is great!
A new this interesting TWHS is just fantastic! They appear unique and different! Although the site description can tell us that there are other troglodyte habitats sites and thus not unique, it also says the collective granaries are.
After visiting 8 of the 22 troglodyte habitats in the southern part of Tunisia, we found mainly granaries. Some easily accessible and other more remote, and by far the more remote ones are the most interesting.
Our first one was in the town of Médenine (lower right picture). Except some unwanted odd people hanging around and a private museum inside the ksour that didn’t really appeal, it was good example. The ksour itself is big and contains a two-three story building complex with twisted and rough stairs, certainly interesting
Read OnÎle de Djerba (T)
Svein Elias Norway - 20-May-22

On our Tunisia journey this April, we visited the island of Djerba. Visiting all the country’s WHS’ we wanted to add on a visit the only site which will supposedly be forwarded (next year). Not knowing too much about the island upfront thus we decided to stay a day (and two nights) to explore it. Even though the island is far from small the mentioned elements in the site description are limited, so with all due respect to the island’s nature, history, culture and trade traditions, there is not much to see!
Read OnKarstic caves in prehistoric Apulia (T)
Svein Elias Norway - 19-Oct-21

Our long summer holiday 2021 included a drive down to "the bottom" Italy, and amongst other sites we wanted to visit the three Karstic caves in Apulia, but we didn’t have any luck.
Our first attempt was Grotta dei Cervi which is by the coast 10-12km south of Otranto.
While trying to locate the site by the coordinates we drove back and forth a couple of times and finally ended up at a closed gate by the main road. We had visual of a small building which might be the cave entrance, but we’re not sure. After searching a bit on the internet we found out that this site is only open to authorized personnel and researchers only.
Profile Data
- Name
- Svein Elias
- Country
- Norway
- Most Impressive
- Machu Picchu, Galapagos, Komodo & Grand Canyon
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 27.06.22
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Visited WHS
Rating StatsAngkor 5Ancient Thebes 4.5Baalbek 4.5Florence 4.5Great Wall 4.5Plitvice Lakes 4.5Qadisha Valley 4.5Rila Monastery 4.5Rome 4.5Sigiriya 4.5Victoria Falls 4.5Xochicalco 4.5Brugge 4Budapest 4Ephesus 4Istanbul 4Oporto 4Ping Yao 4Pompei 4Prague 4Toledo 4Tsodilo 4Aachen Cathedral 3.5Anuradhapura 3.5Assisi 3.5Bamberg 3.5Bauhaus Sites 3.5Brú na Bóinne 3.5Butrint 3.5Camino Real 3.5Carlsbad Caverns 3.5Cienfuegos 3.5Cordoba 3.5Cracow 3.5Cuenca 3.5Cuzco 3.5El Pinacate 3.5El Tajin 3.5Epidaurus 3.5Evora 3.5Garajonay 3.5Genoa 3.5Granada 3.5Graz 3.5Hué 3.5Isole Eolie 3.5Jelling 3.5Kinderdijk 3.5Kotor 3.5Laponian Area 3.5Loire Valley 3.5Malbork Castle 3.5Matera 3.5Mostar 3.5My Son 3.5Mystras 3.5Nasca Lines 3.5Neolithic Orkney 3.5Nubian Monuments 3.5Ohrid Region 3.5Old Havana 3.5Olympia 3.5Paphos 3.5Plain of Jars 3.5Pont du Gard 3.5Quedlinburg 3.5Quito 3.5Québec 3.5Rani-ki-Vav 3.5Reims 3.5Riga 3.5Rock Art of Alta 3.5San Gimignano 3.5Segovia 3.5Selimiye Mosque 3.5Seville 3.5Siena 3.5Sighisoara 3.5Skocjan Caves 3.5Split 3.5Summer Palace 3.5Surtsey 3.5Tallinn 3.5Telc 3.5Temple of Heaven 3.5Tequila 3.5Tiwanaku 3.5Trier 3.5Tugendhat Villa 3.5Vat Phou 3.5Versailles 3.5Vienna 3.5Villa d'Este 3.5Wartburg Castle 3.5Zacatecas 3.5Zamosc 3.5Anjar 3Arequipa 3Arles 3Avignon 3Avila 3Belem 3Bryggen 3Byblos 3Caceres 3Chavin 3Elvas 3Ferrara 3Hoi An 3Le Havre 3Lübeck 3Mazagan 3Modena 3Morelia 3Mérida 3Nancy 3Nessebar 3Nesvizh 3Orange 3Paquimé 3Pergamon 3Pienza 3Potsdam 3Puebla 3Ravenna 3Red Fort 3Røros 3Salzburg 3Sintra 3Syracuse 3Torun 3Trogir 3Tyre 3Urbino 3Valletta 3Vegaøyan 3Verona 3Vicenza 3Visby 3Warsaw 3Agrigento 2.5Ahmadabad 2.5Al Ain 2.5Albi 2.5Ayutthaya 2.5Ban Chiang 2.5Belfries 2.5Bellinzone 2.5Bordeaux 2.5Burgundy 2.5Cahokia Mounds 2.5Canal du Midi 2.5Carthage 2.5Centennial Hall 2.5Choirokoitia 2.5Dong Phayayen 2.5El Escurial 2.5Fagus Factory 2.5Gammelstad 2.5Grand Canal 2.5Holasovice 2.5Ironbridge Gorge 2.5Kairouan 2.5Kerkuane 2.5Kew Gardens 2.5Kyiv 2.5Lima 2.5Luang Prabang 2.5Luther Memorials 2.5Medina of Sousse 2.5Medina of Tunis 2.5Monticello 2.5Naples 2.5Poblet Monastery 2.5Reichenau 2.5Saint-Emilion 2.5Schönbrunn 2.5ShUM Sites 2.5Southern Öland 2.5Stevns Klint 2.5Tarraco 2.5Thang Long 2.5Tower of London 2.5Trang An 2.5Val d'Orcia 2.5Vilnius 2.5Vézère Valley 2.5Úbeda and Baeza 2.5Aranjuez 2Corvey 2Hollókö 2Ibiza 2Kandy 2Trebic 2Troy 2Vézelay 2Aquileia 1.5Beemster Polder 1.5Crespi d'Adda 1.5Forth Bridge 1.5Ivrea 1.5Kernavė 1.5Ljubljana 1.5New Lanark 1.5Pearling 1.5Provins 1.5Qalhat 1.5Saltaire 1.5Sammallahdenmäki 1.5Schokland 1.5Stoclet House 1.5Stećci 1Blenheim Palace 0.5Danube Limes 0.5Reviewed WHS
Visited TWHS
- Abraj Al-Kuwait (T)
- Amalienborg and its district (T)
- Ancient Cities of Lycian Civilization (T)
- Ancient Greek Theatres (T)
- Augustow Canal (T)
- Bahá'í House of Worship at New Delhi (T)
- Barbar Temple (T)
- Beng Malea Temple (T)
- Brandberg National Monument Area (T)
- Cascata delle Marmore and Valnerina: Monastic sites and ancient hydrogeological reclamation works (T)
- Cattolica Monastery in Stilo and Basilian-Byzantine complexes (T)
- Central Kalahari Game Reserve (T)
- Central Park (T)
- Centre historique de Saida (T)
- Ceský ráj (Czech Paradise) Rock Cities (T)
- Cetinje Historic Core (T)
- Chobe Linyanti System (T)
- Chott El Jerid (T)
- Citadel of Alessandria (T)
- Cité de Carcassonne et ses châteaux sentinelles de montagne (T)
- Cittadella (Victoria - Gozo) (T)
- City of Motovun (T)
- Coastal Cliffs (T)
- Creswell Crags (T)
- Delhi - A Heritage City (T)
- Diocletian's Palace and the Historical Nucleus of Split (extension) (T)
- Djerdap National Park (T)
- Dreams in Stone - the palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee (T)
- Edifices for Worship of Fortress Type in Belarus, Poland and Lithuania (T)
- Etosha Pan (T)
- Extension of the World Heritage Site "Historic Centre of Prague" with the important Monuments in its Vicinity (T)
- Flow Country (T)
- Francke Foundation Buildings (T)
- Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube Limes in Bulgaria (T)
- Großglockner High Alpine Road / Großglockner Hochalpenstraße (T)
- Guano Islands, Islets, and Capes National Reserve System (T)
- Habitat troglodytique et le monde des ksour du Sud tunisien (T)
- Heiligenkreuz Abbey (T)
- Historic Center of the City of Trujillo (T)
- Historical City Centre of Yogyakarta (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Historical-town planning ensemble of Ston (T)
- Île de Djerba (T)
- Khor Dubai (T)
- Knights Fortifications around the Harbours of Malta (T)
- Koh Ker: Archeological site of Ancient Lingapura Or Chok Gargyar (T)
- Kyiv: Saint Sophia Cathedral with Related Monastic Buildings, St. Cyril's and St. Andrew's Churches, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (T)
- L'amphitheatre de Durres (T)
- L'ensemble rupestre de Basarabi (T)
- Lake Maggiore and Lake D'Orta lakelands (T)
- Lake Titicaca (T)
- Las Pozas, Xilitla (T)
- Le centre historique de la ville de Batroun (T)
- Le Chateau-fort médieval d'Esztergom (T)
- Le complexe hydraulique romain de Zaghouan-Carthage (T)
- Le noyau historique de la ville d'Alba Julia (T)
- Le Palais de Justice de Bruxelles (T)
- Le site archéologique de Sbeïtla (T)
- Les Alpes de la Méditerranée (France) (T)
- Les Alpes de la Méditerranée (Italy) (T)
- Les Alpes de la Méditerranée (Monaco) (T)
- Les Mausolées Royaux de Numidie, de la Maurétanie et les monuments funéraires pré-islamiques (Tunisia) (T)
- Les passages de Bruxelles / Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (T)
- Les Plages du Débarquement, Normandie, 1944 (T)
- Leuven/Louvain, batiments universitaires, l'héritage de six siècles au sein du centre historique (T)
- Makgadikgadi Pans Landscape (T)
- Maltese Catacomb Complexes (T)
- Mdina (Citta Vecchia) (T)
- Médina de Sfax (T)
- Mining Historical Heritage (T)
- Minoan Palatial Centres (T)
- Monastery of Santa María de La Rábida and the Columbus Memorial Places in Huelva (T)
- Mothia and Lilibeo Island: The Phoenician-Punic Civilization in Italy (T)
- Mývatn and Laxá (T)
- Nasca Aqueducts (T)
- Natural and Cultural Landscape of Danube Region (T)
- Natural Reserves of Tatras Mountain (T)
- Negotinske Pivnice (T)
- Nîmes, l'Antiquité au présent (T)
- Noyau historique d'Antwerpen -Anvers- de l'Escaut aux anciens remparts de vers 1250 (T)
- Oasis de Gabes (T)
- Oasis of Fayoum, hydraulic remains and ancient cultural landscapes (T)
- Okavango Delta (T)
- Old Synagogue and Mikveh in Erfurt - Testimonies of everyday life, religion and town history between change and continuity (T)
- Old Town of Bar (T)
- Orvieto (T)
- Petrified Forest National Park (T)
- Phuphrabat Historical Park (T)
- Plasencia - Monfragüe - Trujillo : Paysage méditerranéen (T)
- Pobiti Kamani Natural Monument (T)
- Pombaline Lisbon (T)
- Primošten Vineyards (T)
- Rocks of Belogradchik (T)
- Roman Ways. Itineraries of the Roman Empire (T)
- Royal Seats in Esztergom, Visegrád (T)
- Sacred Titicaca Lake (T)
- Salento and the Barocco Leccese (T)
- Salt Mines of Maras (T)
- Sarajevo - unique symbol of universal multiculture - continual open city (T)
- Saviour Transfiguration Church and St. Sophia Cathedral in the town of Polatsk (T)
- Seruwila to Sri Pada (Sacred Foot Print Shrine), Ancient pilgrim route along the Mahaweli river in Sri Lanka (T)
- Sheikh Abdullah Al-Jabir Palace (T)
- Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road (T)
- Sites funéraires et mémoriels de la Première Guerre mondiale (Front Ouest) (T)
- Sites of Saytagrah (T)
- SS. Boris and Gleb (Kalozha) Church in the city of Hrodna (T)
- Sultan Bayezid II Complex: A Center of Medical Treatment (T)
- System of Fortifications at the Confluence of the Rivers Danube and Váh in Komárno - Komárom (Slova) (T)
- System of Fortifications at the Confluence of the Rivers Danube and Váh in Komárno - Komárom (Slovak) (T)
- Talayotic Culture of Minorca (T)
- Temple d’Echmoun (T)
- The Ancient Plovdiv (T)
- The Architectural Works of Alvar Aalto - a Human Dimension to the Modern Movement (T)
- The Burren (T)
- The Central Axis of Beijing (including Beihai) (T)
- The Cultural Landscape of Civita di Bagnoregio (T)
- The cultural landscape of the Benedictine settlements in medieval Italy (T)
- The Hadrianic city of Italica (T)
- The Historic Centre of Sibiu and its Ensemble of Squares (T)
- The Historic City of Dublin (T)
- The Laponian Area - Tysfjord, the fjord of Hellemobotn and Rago (T)
- The late ancient tomb of Silistra (T)
- The Lofoten islands (T)
- The Murge of Altamura (T)
- The natural and architectural ensemble of Blidinje (T)
- The natural and architectural ensemble of Jajce (T)
- The Olive Grove Landscapes of Andalusia (T)
- The Rise of Systematic Biology (T)
- The Roussensky Lom National Park (T)
- The Tara National Park with the Drina River Canyon (T)
- The town of Melnik and the Rozhen Monastery (T)
- The Transhumance: The Royal Shepherd's Track (T)
- The Turf House Tradition (T)
- Thingvellir National Park (T)
- Tokaj Wine Region (T)
- Torfajökull Volcanic System / Fjallabak Nature Reserve (T)
- Troodos, Mt.Olympus (T)
- Trowulan (T)
- Via Francigena in Italy (T)
- Victoria Lines Fortifications (T)
- Viking Age Ring Fortresses (T)
- VIKING MONUMENTS AND SITES / Thingvellir National Park (T)
- VIKING MONUMENTS AND SITES / Vestfold Ship Burials and Hyllestad Quernstone Quarries (T)
- Villas of the Papal Nobility (T)
- Volterra: Historical City and Cultural Landscape (T)
- Welwitschia Plains (T)
- White Sands National Monument (T)
- Worship wooden architecture (17th -18th centuries) in Polesye (T)
- Žatec – the Hops Town (T)
Reviewed TWHS
- Les Mausolées Royaux de Numidie, de la Maurétanie et les monuments funéraires pré-islamiques (Tunisia) (T)
- Le site archéologique de Sbeïtla (T)
- Habitat troglodytique et le monde des ksour du Sud tunisien (T)
- Île de Djerba (T)
- Karstic caves in prehistoric Apulia (T)
- The Laponian Area - Tysfjord, the fjord of Hellemobotn and Rago (T)
- The Turf House Tradition (T)
- Worship wooden architecture (17th -18th centuries) in Polesye (T)
- Edifices for Worship of Fortress Type in Belarus, Poland and Lithuania (T)
- Saviour Transfiguration Church and St. Sophia Cathedral in the town of Polatsk (T)
Top 200 WHS
- Isole Eolie
- Le Havre
- Ferrara
- Split
- Graz
- Berat and Gjirokastra
- Salzburg
- Warsaw
- Edinburgh
- City of Bath
- Matera
- Old City of Jerusalem
- Rome
- Istanbul
- Venice and its Lagoon
- Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal
- Silk Roads
- Polonnaruva
- Anuradhapura
- Angkor
- Rock Art of Alta
- Ohrid Region
- Plitvice Lakes
- Iguazu National Park
- Okavango Delta
- Victoria Falls
- Central Amazon Conservation Complex
- Works of Antoni Gaudí
- Brú na Bóinne
- Megalithic Temples of Malta
- Nasca Lines
- Stonehenge
- Chichen-Itza
- Tikal National Park
- Mesa Verde
- Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District
- Zamosc
- Vicenza
- Vlkolinec
- San Marino and Mount Titano
- Valletta
- Urbino
- Old Rauma
- City of Luxembourg
- Riga
- Grand Place, Brussels
- Val di Noto
- Mostar
- Messel Pit
- Genoa
- Litomysl Castle
- Gardens and Castle at Kromeríz
- Würzburg Residence
- Wartburg Castle
- Schönbrunn
- Potsdam
- Versailles
- Palmyra
- Petra
- Durmitor National Park
- Dolomites
- Mount Kenya
- Pirin National Park
- Great Himalayan National Park
- Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch
- Machu Picchu
- Kilimanjaro National Park
- Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
- Røros
- Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines
- Tower of London
- Malbork Castle
- Great Wall
- Gwynedd Castles
- Regensburg
- Spissky Hrad and Levoca
- Vilnius
- Kotor
- Sighisoara
- Strasbourg
- Bardejov Town
- Trogir
- Quedlinburg
- Gammelstad
- Torun
- Bamberg
- Telc
- Rammelsberg and Goslar
- Tallinn
- San Gimignano
- Cesky Krumlov
- Budapest
- Brugge
- Vienna
- Cracow
- Dubrovnik
- Siena
- Valparaiso
- Visby
- Bryggen
- Lübeck
- Maritime Greenwich
- Belize Barrier Reef
- Great Barrier Reef
- West Norwegian Fjords
- Cuzco
- Mammoth Cave
- Aggtelek and Slovak Karst
- Skocjan Caves
- Ha Long Bay
- Yosemite National Park
- Sinharaja Forest
- Redwood
- Greater Blue Mountains
- Serengeti
- Ngorongoro
- Yellowstone
- Galapagos Islands
- Komodo National Park
- Site of Xanadu
- Van Nellefabriek
- Rjukan / Notodden
- Grand Canyon
- Monticello
- Museumsinsel (Museum Island)
- Champagne
- Muskauer Park
- Vegaøyan
- Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz
- Blaenavon Industrial Landscape
- Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape
- Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands
- Loire Valley
- Costiera Amalfitana
- Sintra
- Thingvellir
- Santa Ana de los Rios de Cuenca
- Old Havana
- Old Town of Galle
- Quito
- Thracian tomb of Kazanlak
- Madara Rider
- Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal
- Curonian Spit
- Kinderdijk
- Sydney Opera House
- Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo
- Modena
- Medieval Monuments in Kosovo
- Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai
- Studenica Monastery
- Reichenau
- Pannonhalma
- Euphrasian Basilica in Porec
- Pilgrimage Church of Wies
- Boyana Church
- Monastery of Horezu
- Urnes Stave Church
- Churches of Peace
- Rila Monastery
- Cologne Cathedral
- Speyer Cathedral
- Luther Memorials
- Belem
- Westminster
- Mont-Saint-Michel
- Piazza del Duomo (Pisa)
- Vatican City
- Meteora
- Ravenna
- Blue and John Crow Mountains
- Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios
- Mystras
- Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs
- Taj Mahal
- Pyramids (Memphis)
- Rangiri Dambulla Cave Temple
- Kandy
- Lumbini
- Sigiriya
- Kathmandu Valley
- Samarkand
- Medina of Marrakesh
- Syracuse
- Gamzigrad-Romuliana
- Pompei
- Villa Romana del Casale
- Butrint
- Epidaurus
- Archaeological Site of Delphi
- Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae
- Agrigento
- Hierapolis-Pamukkale
- Acropolis
- Olympia
- Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont
- Saint-Emilion
- Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces
- Viñales Valley
- Mount Etna