OK outside

Monumental staircase (new connection):

- Odesa: Potemkin Stairs
- Rome: Spanish Steps
- Vatican City: Bramante Staircase

A sub-connection should be extracted from "Irrigation and drainage", about notable dams (but not those that are a threat to World Heritage).
Marib contains a dam.

Site of Xanadu

- Canal: Tiefan'gang Canal
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1389/

- Fusion: "the site was a unique attempt to assimilate the nomadic Mongolian and Han Chinese cultures."
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1389/

Strict no-photography policy inside:

- Amsterdam Canal Ring: Anne Frank House
- Lumbini: Maya Devi Temple

Best seen from the sky: Site of Xanadu

jonathanfr
What exactly counts as a monumental staircase?
Some examples come to mind: Escadas monumentais in Coimbra Dragon stair in forbidden city, Stairs from park guel?, Every maya temple ever?

**western islamic architecture** (new connection):
Mudejar architecture of Aragon (aljaferia Palace)
Medinat al Zahra
Cordoba (mosque of Cordoba)
Seville (giralda)
Granada
Toledo (mosque of cristo de la luz)
Sintra cultural landscape (Castle of the moors)
Medina of tetouan
Rabat
Medina of fes
Meknes
Mazagan
Marrakesh
Ait ben hadou
Medina of essaouira
Kashba of algiers
Mbzab valley
Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad
Medina of tunis
Kairouan: La Médina et ses Faubourgs
Medina of sousse

Aditionally.
**Nasrid architecture** (new connection):
Seville (Pedro I Palace)
Tetouan
Granada

Is this the same as I would have called "Moorish Architecture"?
I quote from the Wiki section on that term -
"Scholarly references on Islamic architecture often refer to this architectural tradition by a more geographic designation, such as architecture of the Islamic West or architecture of the Western Islamic lands, and some references on Islamic art and architecture consider use of the term "Moorish" to be outdated or contested"
Perhaps the more "modern" (and politically correct!) term came from this significant book - "Marçais, Georges (1954). L'architecture musulmane d'Occident.")??

If so then it would seem that "Nasrid Architecture" is a sub-category of that category? Presumably at the same "level" as e.g "Mudejar" (For which we already have a category). If we have examples of "sub categories" should we also connect the "Category"? If we do everywhere would finish up in 2 (or more) Architectural style Connections. I Note that Granada is in both "Western Islamic" and "Nasrid".....whilst Tetuouan isn't included in the "Western Islamic" which it surely is (It would always have been categorised as "Moorish")

It would indeed be interesting to identify more fully the range of "Categories" of architecture - but shouldn't we first develop a "model" of such categories which avoids overlaps and gaps? Is there a comprehensive one for the entire range of "Islamic" architectural styles which we could take " off the shelf" and fit everything into? The Wiki article on Islamic Architecture has a section on "Islamic Styles" - could that act as a starting point? We have the same "logical" problem as with all "categorisations" -when to subdivide and what to do with examples for which there are not enough examples to jusitfy the Sub-category. Do we put them into an "other Islamic style" category or list them at the Category level together with all the examples already "in" a sub-category
I note also that we already have a Connection for "Timurid" ... but not "Seljuk" architectural styles.

I note that we do have some examples of "staircases" (which could also be assigned the vague epithet "monumental") under the "double Helix" Connection, - Graz, Jam, Chambord and Statue of Liberty. Together, in this case with "non staircase" examples of Double Helices.
We certainly need to avoid getting into listing every staircase there is!! But how to (sub?)-categorise.
Are there any other unusual "types" of straircase?
The word Staircase" in English is also used for outside "steps" and Potemkin Steps and Spanish Steps are of that "type", It would seem "wrong" to mix "stairs" in buildings with these? I have tried to find a 3rd example of "Steps" which are widely known by their name - but have, so far, failed!

We could look for WHS having very "large" numbers (limits to be defined) of steps - e.g Mt Tai is said to have 7200 "steps" to the top!

This is not specific enough for a connection, it needs scope, explanations and named examples in each WHS. And Rabat is mostly neo-Moorish, Ksar Ait-Benhaddou is vernacular. Mazagan only has that 19C minaret.

We already have this https://www.worldheritagesite.org/connection/More+than+500+steps+to+climb


I'd only be in favour if we find a 3rd example of monumental "outside steps". Staircases in buildings are too common.

I am not in favour of adding this, as the Anne Frank House is a tiny building that happens to be in the core zone, but is totally irrelevant to the WHS. I think the "no photography" connection should be about not being able to take photos of the main thing (the "iconic site" within a WHS, as stated in the intro).

Do you have a source for this? I can find plenty of photos online.

Please explain why. Why is it different from any other archaeological site?

I experienced it myself, I was not allowed to photograph in it. But things may have changed, I may have been unlucky on the day of my visit.