The towns of Mantua (Mantova in Italian) and Sabbioneta are paired into a single World Heritage site on the basis of representing two different facets of Renaissance city planning: …
Ilya Burlak
United States of America \ Member since January 2017
#311 185 38 5
I only started prioritizing visiting World Heritage sites a few years ago, and with my limited US-based corporate-warrior time-off allocation and family obligations, I can only add a handful to a dozen in any given year. I look forward to visiting them all after I retire...
Check out my website: Burlaki.com
Recent Visits
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61Nov. 30, 2025Italy 2025: Crespi d'Adda, Genoa, Ivrea ...
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01July 11, 2025Greece: Ancient Towers of the Aegean Sea
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25Dec. 4, 2024Hungary: Caves of the Buda Thermal Karst System, Hollókö, Le Chateau-fort médieval d'Esztergom ...
Top 10 Missing
About Ilya Burlak
- Member since
- January 2017
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
Visits
- Rank
- #311
- WHS
- 185
- Tentative Sites
- 38
Website Participation
- Reviews
- 125
-
Ratings
Ratings
World Heritage Sites
- Amsterdam Canal Ring 5.0
- Brugge 5.0
- Vienna 5.0
- Segovia 5.0
- Prague 5.0
- St. Petersburg 5.0
- Kremlin and Red Square 5.0
- Venice and its Lagoon 5.0
- Siena 5.0
- Rome 5.0
- Ravenna 5.0
- Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands 5.0
- Florence 5.0
- Granada 5.0
- Costiera Amalfitana 5.0
- Paris, Banks of the Seine 5.0
- Palau de la Musica Catalana & Hospital de Sant Pau 5.0
- Cordoba 5.0
- Petra 5.0
- West Norwegian Fjords 5.0
- Wadi Rum 5.0
- Works of Antoni Gaudí 5.0
- Loire Valley 5.0
- Sintra 4.5
- Oporto 4.5
- Seville 4.5
- Istanbul 4.5
- Toledo 4.5
- Stonehenge and Avebury 4.5
- Grand Place, Brussels 4.5
- Bryggen 4.5
- Assisi 4.5
- Piazza del Duomo (Pisa) 4.5
- Pompei 4.5
- San Gimignano 4.5
- Versailles 4.5
- Kraków 4.5
- Vatican City 4.5
- Acropolis 4.5
- Villa Romana del Casale 4.5
- Albi 4.0
- Drottningholm 4.0
- Machu Picchu 4.0
- Roskilde Cathedral 4.0
- Delos 4.0
- Old City of Jerusalem 4.0
- Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro 4.0
- Botanical Garden, Padua 4.0
- Dubrovnik 4.0
- Avignon 4.0
- Split 4.0
- Mostar 4.0
- Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles 4.0
- Urbino 4.0
- Mount Etna 4.0
- Verona 4.0
- Vicenza and the Palladian Villas 4.0
- Monastery of Alcobaça 4.0
- Alto Douro 4.0
- Tikal National Park 4.0
- Kyiv Cathedral and Lavra 4.0
- L'viv 4.0
- Brú na Bóinne 4.0
- Chichen-Itza 4.0
- Convent of Christ in Tomar 4.0
- Giant's Causeway 4.0
- Chartres Cathedral 4.0
- Tower of London 4.0
- Westminster 4.0
- Edinburgh 4.0
- Schönbrunn 4.0
- Upper Middle Rhine Valley 4.0
- Gwynedd Castles 4.0
- Monastery of Batalha 4.0
- Potsdam 4.0
- Cologne Cathedral 4.0
- Kinderdijk 4.0
- Rietveld Schröderhuis 4.0
- Budapest 4.0
- Genoa 3.5
- Arab-Norman Palermo 3.5
- Tarraco 3.5
- El Escurial 3.5
- Kotor 3.5
- La Fortaleza and San Juan 3.5
- City of Bath 3.5
- Cuzco 3.5
- Arles 3.5
- Val di Noto 3.5
- Old City of Berne 3.5
- Villa d'Este 3.5
- Bursa and Cumalikizik 3.5
- Kronborg Castle 3.5
- Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines 3.5
- Su Nuraxi di Barumini 3.5
- Graz 3.5
- Guimarães 3.5
- Archaeological Site of Delphi 3.5
- Trinity Sergius Lavra 3.5
- Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont 3.5
- Ferrara 3.5
- Fortified City of Carcassonne 3.5
- Pont du Gard 3.5
- Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy 3.5
- Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios 3.5
- Pienza 3.5
- Mycenae and Tiryns 3.5
- Québec 3.5
- Bom Jesus do Monte 3.5
- Great Spa Towns of Europe 3.0
- Belfries 3.0
- Fortifications of Vauban 3.0
- Reims 3.0
- Alcala de Henares 3.0
- Kew Gardens 3.0
- Maritime Greenwich 3.0
- Statue of Liberty 3.0
- Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal 3.0
- San Marino and Mount Titano 3.0
- Mantua and Sabbioneta 3.0
- Modena 3.0
- Val d'Orcia 3.0
- Canterbury 3.0
- Strasbourg 3.0
- Vézère Valley 3.0
- Medici Villas and Gardens 3.0
- Belem 3.0
- University of Coimbra 3.0
- Trogir 3.0
- Incense Route of the Negev 3.0
- Masada 3.0
- Agrigento 3.0
- Syracuse 3.0
- Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings 3.0
- Caves of Maresha and Bet Guvrin 3.0
- Arequipa 3.0
- Lima 3.0
- The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria 3.0
- Evora 3.0
- Hollókö 3.0
- The Porticoes of Bologna 3.0
- Odesa 3.0
- Neolithic Orkney 2.5
- Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France 2.5
- Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley 2.5
- Santa Maria delle Grazie 2.5
- Belize Barrier Reef 2.5
- Novodevichy Convent 2.5
- New Lanark 2.5
- Wadden Sea 2.5
- Skogskyrkogarden 2.5
- Pannonhalma 2.5
- Schokland 2.5
- Minoan Palatial Centres 2.5
- Beemster Polder 2.5
- Major Town Houses 2.5
- Semmering Railway 2.5
- Old City of Acre 2.5
- Biblical Tells 2.5
- Necropolis of Bet She'arim 2.5
- Bethlehem 2.5
- Cathedral of St. James in Sibenik 2.5
- Independence Hall 2.5
- Residences of the Royal House of Savoy 2.5
- Poblet Monastery 2.5
- The Colonial Transisthmian Route of Panamá 2.5
- Venetian Works of Defence 2.5
- The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier 2.5
- Forth Bridge 2.5
- White City of Tel-Aviv 2.0
- Crespi d'Adda 2.0
- Stecci 2.0
- Canal du Midi 2.0
- Nice 2.0
- Dutch Water Defence Lines 2.0
- Bahá’i Holy Places 2.0
- The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales 2.0
- Frontiers of the Roman Empire 2.0
- Longobards in Italy 1.5
- Van Nellefabriek 1.5
- Stoclet House 1.0
- Mount Carmel Caves 1.0
- Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin 1.0
- Qhapaq Ñan 1.0
- Ivrea 0.5
Tentative Sites
- Nuragic monuments of Sardinia
- Orvieto
- Iznik
- Salt Mines of Maras
- Jerusalem
- Volterra
- Ripa Pannonica in Hungary
- Zadar - Episcopal complex
- Central Park
- Brooklyn Bridge
- Nuruosmaniye Complex
- Early Synagogues in the Galilee
- Ellis Island
- Centre ancien de Sarlat
- Carcassonne fortresses
- Late Medieval Bastioned Fortifications in Greece
- Early Chicago Skyscrapers
- Trading Posts and Fortifications on Genoese Trade
- Ödön Lechner's independent pre-modern architecture
- Caves of the Buda Thermal Karst System
- Royal Seats in Esztergom, Visegrád
- Civil Rights Movement Sites
- Ancient Towers of the Aegean Sea
- Le Chateau-fort médieval d'Esztergom
- Lake Maggiore and Lake D'Orta lakelands
- Olympic Park Munich
- Pombaline Lisbon
- Ancient Greek Theatres
- Mamayev Kurgan Memorial Complex
- Caesarea
- Makhteshim Country
- Ein Karem
- Degania & Nahalal
- The Crusader Fortresses
- Amalienborg and its district
- The Karlstejn Castle
- Les villes antiques de la Narbonnaise
- Stolac
- The archeological site of Tanais
- 185 39
- Locations
- 0
- Zones
- 0
Reviews by Ilya Burlak
Poblet Monastery (Inscribed)
Poblet Monastery
My frequently professed affinity for sacred architecture did not translate into surpassing appreciation of Poblet Monastery. I saw an impressive enough complex which I could not call extraordinary. The historical …
Pienza (Inscribed)
Pienza
The historic center of the Pienza is inscribed on UNESCO List because it occupies a seminal position in the development of the concept of the planned “ideal town”, but you …
Reims (Inscribed)
Reims
My visit to Reims took place nearly a decade ago, but the buildings recognized on this site's inscription have stood for centuries, so I expect that my impressions remain relevant.
…
Tarraco (Inscribed)
Tarraco
An attractive city to the south-west of Barcelona, Tarragona’s claim to UNESCO recognition revolves around its Roman past, as evidenced by a significant number of architectural remains in and around …
Minoan Palatial Centres (Inscribed)
Minoan Palatial Centres
During a stay on Crete in the summer of 2018 I visited two of the properties of this serial site. One of them, Knossos Palace is the most visited tourist …
The city of Bergamo (Removed from tentat…)
The city of Bergamo
Bergamo is a kind of town that invariably leaves a positive impression on any visitor without tipping the scales on the exceptional side. I visited it in November of 2018. …
Residences of the Royal House… (Inscribed)
Residences of the Royal House of Savoy
While in Turin for a single day in November of 2018, I managed to see Palazzo Madama, walked around Zona di Commando, and stopped by Palazzo Reale and Palazzo Carignano …
Venetian Works of Defence (Inscribed)
Venetian Works of Defence
I visited Bergamo in November of 2018 and Zadar and Kotor in July of 2019, each time focusing on the respective city as a whole. I frequently profess my admiration …
Santa Maria delle Grazie (Inscribed)
Santa Maria delle Grazie
The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie is a curious specimen on the World Heritage list. It is not altogether unremarkable, but also not in any sense surpassing to warrant …
Kyiv Cathedral and Lavra (Inscribed)
Kyiv Cathedral and Lavra
I have been to Kiev many times in my childhood, but those visits never included any sightseeing. Decades later, I found myself in Kiev on a business trip. It was …
Assisi (Inscribed)
Assisi
I visited Assisi in the summer of 2014. At that point, the town easily vaulted towards the top of my personal list of the most impressive day-trip destinations, having hosted …
Mycenae and Tiryns (Inscribed)
Mycenae and Tiryns
I visited Mycenae in July 2018. The city was the center of the Late Bronze Age civilization that was the main precursor to the classical Ancient Greek culture. Mycenaeans’ period …
Archaeological Site of Delphi (Inscribed)
Archaeological Site of Delphi
Delphi was the sacred center of the world for the Ancient Greeks and undoubtedly a remarkable achievement of purposeful architecture, a sanctuary built into the challenging landscape to inspire awe …
Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea… (Inscribed)
Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios
Of the three geographically dispersed monasteries inscribed together as this WH site, we could only fit one into our Greek itinerary in July of 2018, and our choice fell on …
Acropolis (Inscribed)
Acropolis
I always find myself awed by grandiose edifices. Beholding the Parthenon up close, unfailingly grandiose despite its ruined state blended with a construction site, made the visit to Acropolis instantly …
Delos (Inscribed)
Delos
Delos archaeological site is vast and is among the most impressive of its kind. Ancient ruins everywhere require a non-trivial application of imagination to see beyond the piles of stones …
The Architectural Work of Le … (Inscribed)
The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier
I saw Villa Savoye in June of 2018. The villa is considered a prime example of Le Corbusier's architectural manifesto with all five principles on display: pilotis, free façade …
Vézère Valley (Inscribed)
Vézère Valley
If you are spending time in the department of Dordogne, it is possible with the right planning to see 3-to-5 locations of this WH site in one day.
My …
Works of Antoni Gaudí (Inscribed)
Works of Antoni Gaudí
I have made multiple visits to the five accessible Gaudí properties in Barcelona over the course of the last 15 years. They are all worth visiting. My personal ranking order …