Ilya Burlak Profile

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. Looking forward to visiting them all after I am able to retire...
Recent Reviews Ilya Burlak
Wadi Rum
Ilya Burlak USA - 11-Feb-20

My two days in Jordan in November 2019 gave me two of the most amazing places I have ever been to. Incomparable Petra was one. And the following day, Wadi Rum. Although it is inscribed both as a natural and cultural property, Wadi Rum's awe-inspiring natural beauty bowled me over all by itself. I left practically all of the cultural aspect of it aside.
A visit to the protected area starts at the visitor center on its northern edge. If you show up without any prior accommodations for seeing the desert, you can hire a local guide on the spot. Each of them has an SUV on hand to drive you around. It should be noted that if you come in a 4×4, you can pay for a self-driving permit, but I do not expect many people to take that option. In my case, four people including me were picked up by a professional guide directly from our overnight lodgings near Petra in a closed, air-conditioned SUV, and driven to Wadi Rum and around the entire day
Read OnPetra
Ilya Burlak USA - 07-Feb-20

There is very little to add to what has already been said about Petra. It is simply one of the most wondrous places I will have ever seen in my life. I will mainly focus on logistical notes in this review.
The half-built, half-carved into rock city is spread over a huge site. My visit in November of 2019 lasted just around five hours, which allowed me to hit most of the key highlights without lingering anywhere for too long. I had to leave aside some of the farthest points in Petra, most notably the outlying Monastery.
Read OnEin Karem, a village and its cultural landscape (T)
Ilya Burlak USA - 03-Feb-20

My visit to Ein Karem was not too extensive in November of 2019. Yad Vashem is nearby, as is Abbell Synagogue of Hadassah Ein Karem with windows painted by Marc Chagall - the two main points of interest that I planned for one afternoon. I had about an extra hour in my schedule, and decided to drive to the core of the village to take a quick look.
That part of Ein Karem is [...]
Read OnMakhteshim Country (T)
Ilya Burlak USA - 03-Feb-20

If you are driving on Route 40 to Eilat, you will go through Makhtesh Ramon, the largest and most well-known of makhteshim. In Mitzpe Ramon on its northern edge there is a visitor center and a chain of viewpoints over the geological formation. Viewpoints are all free to access, including that right by the visitor center. It is quite easy to take a look at the makhtesh with a reasonably short stop on you driving journey, which is what I did in November of 2019. I did not go inside the visitor center at all, and have no first-hand knowledge of what it might offer for a park-visiting fee. (Note that Israel Pass includes Mitzpe Ramon Visitor Center in its list.)
Read OnCaesarea (T)
Ilya Burlak USA - 30-Jan-20

By the time I came to Caesarea, I was already having a mild case of archaeology overload from my time in Israel over two weeks in November of 2019, so I suspect I moved through the site too quickly. A true student of ancient history could likely spend 3-4 hours here easily – and will probably benefit from having a guide on hand. I still got the impression that the place was worth visiting while keeping myself to the major points of interest.
There are layers of structures and street networks in the principal part of the archaeological site. As everywhere, the surviving arches are among the most eye-catching artifacts. In some places, parts of original mosaics can still be seen
Read OnProfile Data
- Name
- Ilya Burlak
- Country
- USA
- Website
- website
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 15.03.20
-
- Old City of Jerusalem
- Istanbul
- Petra
- Masada
- Old City of Acre
- White City of Tel-Aviv
- Biblical Tells
- Incense Route of the Negev
- Bahá’i Holy Places
- Wadi Rum
- Bethlehem
- Mount Carmel Caves
- Necropolis of Bet She'arim
Visited WHS
Rating StatsBrugge 5Budapest 5Cordoba 5Florence 5Granada 5Petra 5Prague 5Ravenna 5Rome 5Segovia 5Siena 5Vienna 5Wadi Rum 5Acropolis 4.5Assisi 4.5Bryggen 4.5Cracow 4.5Istanbul 4.5Oporto 4.5Pompei 4.5Potsdam 4.5San Gimignano 4.5Seville 4.5Sintra 4.5Stonehenge 4.5Toledo 4.5Vatican City 4.5Versailles 4.5Albi 4Avignon 4Delos 4Kyiv 4L'viv 4Mostar 4Split 4Urbino 4Verona 4Vicenza 4Arles 3.5City of Bath 3.5El Escurial 3.5Ferrara 3.5Graz 3.5Guimarães 3.5Kotor 3.5Kronborg Castle 3.5La Fortaleza 3.5Pienza 3.5Pont du Gard 3.5Québec 3.5Tarraco 3.5Villa d'Este 3.5Belem 3Belfries 3Evora 3Masada 3Modena 3Reims 3Trogir 3Beemster Polder 2.5Bethlehem 2.5Biblical Tells 2.5Forth Bridge 2.5New Lanark 2.5Old City of Acre 2.5Poblet Monastery 2.5Schokland 2.5Skogskyrkogarden 2.5Wadden Sea 2.5Stećci 2Van Nellefabriek 1.5Reviewed WHS
- Wadi Rum
- Petra
- Old City of Acre
- Bahá’i Holy Places
- Masada
- Incense Route of the Negev
- Bethlehem
- Old City of Jerusalem
- Biblical Tells
- Necropolis of Bet She'arim
- Mount Carmel Caves
- White City of Tel-Aviv
- Istanbul
- Semmering Railway
- Kotor
- Dubrovnik
- Stećci
- Mostar
- Trogir
- Cathedral of St. James in Sibenik
- Split
- Evora
- Sintra
- Belem
- Convent of Christ in Tomar
- Monastery of Batalha
- Guimarães
- Bom Jesus do Monte
- Alto Douro
- Oporto
- University of Coimbra
- Monastery of Alcobaça
- Medici Villas and Gardens
- Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings
- Giant's Causeway
- Stoclet House
- Mantua and Sabbioneta
- Poblet Monastery
- Pienza
- Reims
- Tarraco
- Residences of the Royal House of Savoy
- Venetian Works of Defence
- Santa Maria delle Grazie
- Kyiv
- Assisi
- Mycenae and Tiryns
- Archaeological Site of Delphi
- Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios
- Acropolis
- Delos
- The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier
- Vézère Valley
- Works of Antoni Gaudí
- Canal du Midi
- Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France
- Albi
- Rock-Art of the Mediterranean Basin
- Fortifications of Vauban
Visited TWHS
- Amalienborg and its district (T)
- Ancient Greek Theatres (T)
- Brooklyn Bridge (T)
- Caesarea (T)
- Central Park (T)
- Centre ancien de Sarlat (T)
- Cité de Carcassonne et ses châteaux sentinelles de montagne (T)
- Degania & Nahalal (T)
- Dreams in Stone - the palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria (T)
- Early Chicago Skyscrapers (T)
- Early Medieval Monastic Sites (T)
- Early Synagogues in the Galilee (T)
- Ein Karem, a village and its cultural landscape (T)
- Ellis Island (T)
- Great Spas of Europe (UK) (T)
- Historic Center of the Port City of Odessa (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Jerusalem (T)
- Late Medieval Bastioned Fortifications in Greece (T)
- Les villes antiques de la Narbonnaise (T)
- Makhteshim Country (T)
- Mamayev Kurgan Memorial Complex "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" (T)
- Minoan Palatial Centres (Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Zakros, Kydonia) (T)
- Nice, la ville neuve née du tourisme, ou l’invention de la Riviera (T)
- Nuruosmaniye Complex (T)
- Orvieto (T)
- Pombaline Lisbon (T)
- Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Routes in Portugal (T)
- Site of the Retiro and the Prado in Madrid (T)
- Slate Industry of North Wales (T)
- The archeological site of Tanais (T)
- The city of Bergamo (T)
- The Crusader Fortresses (T)
- The Historic City of Dublin (T)
- The Karlstejn Castle (T)
- The natural and architectural ensemble of Stolac (T)
- The Porticoes of Bologna (T)
- Volterra: Historical City and Cultural Landscape (T)
- Zadar - Episcopal complex (T)
Reviewed TWHS
- Ein Karem, a village and its cultural landscape (T)
- Makhteshim Country (T)
- Caesarea (T)
- Jerusalem (T)
- The Crusader Fortresses (T)
- Early Synagogues in the Galilee (T)
- Degania & Nahalal (T)
- Nuruosmaniye Complex (T)
- The natural and architectural ensemble of Stolac (T)
- Zadar - Episcopal complex (T)
- Pombaline Lisbon (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Dreams in Stone - the palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria (T)
- Site of the Retiro and the Prado in Madrid (T)
- The Karlstejn Castle (T)
- Volterra: Historical City and Cultural Landscape (T)
- The Historic City of Dublin (T)
- Ellis Island (T)
- Central Park (T)
- Brooklyn Bridge (T)
- Ancient Greek Theatres (T)
- Late Medieval Bastioned Fortifications in Greece (T)
- Centre ancien de Sarlat (T)
- Minoan Palatial Centres (Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Zakros, Kydonia) (T)
- The city of Bergamo (T)