Kyle Magnuson Profile

I am originally from Northern Wisconsin. I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in History, and a Master's degree in Teaching (Social Studies) from the University of Southern California (USC). As an undergraduate I completed coursework in China, Scotland, and Korea. As a member of AmeriCorps, I provided educational services to communities throughout Los Angeles. Today, I am a founding teacher at Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy #8, where I teach U.S. History.
My Flickr
NEXT TRIPS: 2021-2022
- Civil Right Movement Sites (Alabama, Georgia)
- Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (Virginia)
- UK: Edinburgh to London (10 WHS)
- Slovenia & Croatia (8-10 WHS)
- Ghana (Forts and Castles Gold Coast, Asante Traditional Buildings, Mole National Park)
- Calgary (Banff, Dinosaur, Writing on Stone, Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump, Waterton Lakes)
ROAD TRIPS: 2021-2022
- Santa Fe: Aztec Ruins National Monument & Pueblo Pintado
- Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks
- New Orleans: Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point
- Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California
- Nuevo Casas Grandes: Archaeological Zone of Paquimé
Recent Reviews Kyle Magnuson
Rural Temples of Cusco (T)
Kyle Magnuson California - United States of America - 08-Aug-19

The Church of San Pedro Apóstol de Andahuaylillas, the "Sistine Chapel of the Andes" was mostly lost to me in 2009. Its hard to appreciate such a structure without information and during a pit-stop on the way to Puno! Granted, the church does not take much time to explore, its murals and elaborate interior are exceptional. Considering this nomination has 10 components, this can barely be counted as a visit. However, since The Church of San Pedro Apóstol de Andahuaylillas is one of the key properties I though I would write a review.
Read OnMount Vernon (T)
Kyle Magnuson California - United States of America - 19-Apr-19

Mount Vernon simply cannot be separated with the man and its not what the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association want. As stated on the official website, "The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association is an intrepid group of American patriots who have been preserving and promoting George Washington's Mount Vernon for more than 160 years." If the property was managed by the National Park Service, perhaps the narrative of Mount Vernon would be more expansive in scope. The justification of Outstanding Universal Value outlined in the nomination refers to Mount Vernon as an "evolved cultural landscape of the 18th-century American south".
Read OnCarlsbad Caverns
Kyle Magnuson California - United States of America - 26-Dec-18

Government Shutdown: Review
After the uproar of the 2013 government shutdown which laster 16 days, the National Park Service developed a contingency plan that allowed many national park service sites to remain partially open, but without any form of visitor services (concessions, tours, visitor center, restrooms, etc). However, NPS sites with vulnerable or fragile resources such as Native American ruins, historic buildings, and caverns were locked and closed. In addition, no fees were collected.
Read OnRoute of Magellan (T)
Kyle Magnuson California - United States of America - 02-Sep-18

A cultural route that connects Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Chile, Indonesia, Philippines, Portugal, and Spain? This is an ambitious undertaking only comparable to the Silk Road and Qhapaq Ñan world heritage sites.
Based on numerous tangible and intangible elements, its still unclear which sites would make up this world circumnavigating route. One wonders will there actually be large natural marine areas from Africa to South America included as components?
"A fascinating trail whose waterways, landscapes and geographical landmarks remains intact as they were seen by Magellan and his sailors 500 years ago." - UNESCO description
Read OnMonastery of Alcobaça
Kyle Magnuson California - United States of America - 02-Sep-18

This was the first monastery we visited on our road trip to Coimbra. It certainly was not a disappointment as the day was ideal for these rural small town monasteries. The royal pantheon is noteworthy and the details on these tombs are really superb. These sarcophagi with their stories finely carved on their exteriors are memorable.
There are some unique elements to Alcobaça that stand out. The kitchen (later addition) is so huge that at first I was not sure this is actually what it was. The Cloister of Silence is really special, the carvings and statuettes are finely detailed. It was fairly obvious which cloister columns have been repaired. Certain columns looked almost new, while others were heavily weather-worn.
Read OnProfile Data
- Name
- Kyle Magnuson
- Country
- California - United States of America
- Most Impressive
- Imperial Palace (China), The Great Wall (China), El Pinacate (Mexico), Machu Picchu (Peru), Istanbul (Turkey), Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings (USA), Grand Canyon (USA), Mesa Verde (USA), Redwoods (USA), Yosemite (USA)
- Proposal
- Ancestral Sites of the Diné & Hopi (Navajo Nation), Sinagua Cultural Landscape (Arizona), Rock Art of the Chumash People (California), Coso Rock Art District (California)
- Website
- website
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 28.06.20
-
Visited WHS
Rating StatsEl Pinacate 4.5Grand Canyon 4.5Imperial Palace 4.5Istanbul 4.5Mesa Verde 4.5Redwood 4.5Jeju 4Segovia 4Sintra 4Toledo 4Cuzco 3.5El Escurial 3.5Gyeongju 3.5Haeinsa Temple 3.5Macao 3.5Mammoth Cave 3.5Mount Taishan 3.5Namhansanseong 3.5Qhapaq Ñan 3.5Silk Roads 3.5Southern Öland 3.5Summer Palace 3.5Temple of Heaven 3.5Versailles 3.5Aranjuez 3Belem 3Lima 3Carlsbad Caverns 2.5Drottningholm 2.5Skogskyrkogarden 2.5Reviewed WHS
- Carlsbad Caverns
- Monastery of Alcobaça
- Monastery of Batalha
- Sintra
- Convent of Christ in Tomar
- Belem
- Mafra Palace, Convent and Royal Hunting Park
- Segovia
- El Escurial
- Aranjuez
- University of Coimbra
- Drottningholm
- Kronborg Castle
- Roskilde Cathedral
- Skogskyrkogarden
- Southern Öland
- Par force hunting landscape
- Olympic National Park
- El Pinacate
- Seowon, Neo-Confucian Academies
- Macao
- San Antonio Missions
- Works of Antoni Gaudí
- Great Wall
- Versailles
- Mesa Verde
- Paris, Banks of the Seine
- Statue of Liberty
- Independence Hall
- Temple of Heaven
- Teotihuacan
- Central University City Campus of the UNAM
- Mexico City and Xochimilco
- Grand Canyon
- Qhapaq Ñan
- South China Karst
- Silk Roads
- Forth Bridge
- El Pinacate
- Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries
- Taos Pueblo
- Edinburgh
- Machu Picchu
- Summer Palace
- Chaco Culture
- Toledo
- Cahokia Mounds
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
- Temple, Mansion and Cemetery of Confucius
- Imperial Tombs
- Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings
- Redwood
- Everglades
- Imperial Palace
- Baroque Churches
- Hahoe and Yangdong
- Namhansanseong
- Baekje Historic Areas
- Gyeongju
- Haeinsa Temple
- Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa Dolmen
- Jongmyo Shrine
- Mammoth Cave
- Istanbul
- Lima
- Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple
- Mount Taishan
- Hwaseong Fortress
- Royal Joseon Tombs
- New Lanark
- Cuzco
- Jeju
- Yosemite National Park
- Changdeokgung Palace Complex
Visited TWHS
- Amalienborg and its district (T)
- Ancient Mountain Fortresses in Central Korea (T)
- Brooklyn Bridge (T)
- California Current Conservation Complex (T)
- Central Park (T)
- Chapultepec Woods, Hill and Castle (T)
- City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (T)
- Daegokcheon Stream Petroglyphs (T)
- Early Chicago Skyscrapers (T)
- El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (T)
- Ellis Island (T)
- Alvaro Siza's Architecture Works (T)
- Gaya Tumuli (T)
- Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Mount Vernon (T)
- Mt. Soraksan Nature Reserve (T)
- Naganeupseong, Town Fortress and Village (T)
- Nice, la ville neuve née du tourisme, ou l’invention de la Riviera (T)
- Nuruosmaniye Complex (T)
- Oeam Village (T)
- Petrified Forest National Park (T)
- Pombaline Lisbon (T)
- Rade de Marseille (T)
- Route of Magellan (T)
- Rural Temples of Cusco (T)
- Seoul City Wall (T)
- Site of the Retiro and the Prado in Madrid (T)
- Sites of fossilized dinosaurs throughout the Southern seacoast (T)
- Sites of Globalization (T)
- Southwest Coast (T)
- Southwestern Coast Tidal Flats (T)
- The Central Axis of Beijing (including Beihai) (T)
- The Historic City of Dublin (T)
- The Rise of Systematic Biology (T)
- Upo Wetland (T)
- White Sands National Monument (T)
Reviewed TWHS
- Lake Titicaca (T)
- Rural Temples of Cusco (T)
- Mount Vernon (T)
- Route of Magellan (T)
- Sites of Globalization (T)
- The Historic City of Dublin (T)
- Alvaro Siza's Architecture Works (T)
- Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Pombaline Lisbon (T)
- Southwest Coast (T)
- Site of the Retiro and the Prado in Madrid (T)
- Brooklyn Bridge (T)
- Early Chicago Skyscrapers (T)
- The Rise of Systematic Biology (T)
- Amalienborg and its district (T)
- Ellis Island (T)
- Central Park (T)
- California Current Conservation Complex (T)
- Nice, la ville neuve née du tourisme, ou l’invention de la Riviera (T)
- Nuruosmaniye Complex (T)
- Gaya Tumuli (T)
- Daegokcheon Stream Petroglyphs (T)
- Seoul City Wall (T)
- Chapultepec Woods, Hill and Castle (T)
- White Sands National Monument (T)
- Trading Posts and Fortifications on Genoese Trade Routes from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea (T)
- The Central Axis of Beijing (including Beihai) (T)
- Oeam Village (T)
- El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (T)
- Upo Wetland (T)
- Southwestern Coast Tidal Flats (T)
- Sites of fossilized dinosaurs throughout the Southern seacoast (T)
- Naganeupseong, Town Fortress and Village (T)
- Ancient Mountain Fortresses in Central Korea (T)
- Petrified Forest National Park (T)
- Mt. Soraksan Nature Reserve (T)
- City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (T)
- Rade de Marseille (T)
Top 50 Missing Sites
- Bagan
- Chicago School of Architecture
- Ciudad Perdida, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
- Concordia
- Dilwara Temples at Mt Abu
- Dzongs of Bhutan
- El Nido Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area
- Kaieteur National Park, Iwokrama Forest and the Kanuku Mountains
- Klondike and the Gold Rush Trails
- Laas Gaal
- Lake Titicaca
- Major Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright
- Nan Madol
- Okavango Delta
- Plain of Jars / Sites Mégalithiques de la province de Xieng Khouang
- Silk Roads
- Sistema Vial Andino/Qhapaq Ñan
- Svalbard
- Torres del Paine National Park
- Ur
Top 200 WHS
- Volcanoes of Kamchatka
- Hawaii Volcanoes
- Teide National Park
- Ferrara
- Shibam
- Edinburgh
- Toledo
- Sana'a
- Old City of Jerusalem
- Rome
- Istanbul
- Venice and its Lagoon
- Qhapaq Ñan
- Silk Roads
- Ayutthaya
- Ellora Caves
- Moenjodaro
- Sukhothai
- Angkor
- Vézère Valley
- Decorated cave of Pont d'Arc
- Altamira Cave
- Sundarbans National Park
- Iguazu National Park
- The Sundarbans
- Okavango Delta
- Victoria Falls
- Three parallel rivers of Yunnan
- Pantanal
- Kenya Lake System
- Central Amazon Conservation Complex
- Works of Antoni Gaudí
- Neolithic Orkney
- Çatalhöyük
- Stonehenge
- Palenque
- Chichen-Itza
- Caral-Supe
- Tikal National Park
- Teotihuacan
- Chan Chan
- Mesa Verde
- SGang Gwaay
- Chaco Culture
- Paris, Banks of the Seine
- St. Petersburg
- Florence
- Site of Carthage
- Villa d'Este
- Classical Gardens of Suzhou
- Dinosaur Provincial Park
- Fontainebleau
- Potsdam
- Golestan Palace
- Changdeokgung Palace Complex
- Imperial Palace
- Rapa Nui
- Nemrut Dag
- Petra
- Persepolis
- Tchogha Zanbil
- Samarra
- Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch
- Machu Picchu
- Kilimanjaro National Park
- Sagarmatha National Park
- Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
- Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines
- Great Wall
- Crac des Chevaliers
- Gwynedd Castles
- Agra Fort
- Statue of Liberty
- Genbaku Dome
- Auschwitz Birkenau
- Kutna Hora
- Vienna
- Dubrovnik
- Siena
- Belize Barrier Reef
- Great Barrier Reef
- Rock Islands
- West Norwegian Fjords
- Mexico City and Xochimilco
- Skocjan Caves
- Ha Long Bay
- South China Karst
- Selimiye Mosque
- Meidan Emam, Esfahan
- Sub-Antarctic Islands
- Temple of Heaven
- Sun Temple, Konarak
- Prambanan
- Khajuraho Group of Monuments
- Chola Temples
- Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona
- Los Glaciares
- Te Wahipounamu
- Ilulissat Icefjord
- Yosemite National Park
- Glacier parks
- Rio Abiseo National Park
- Jiuzhaigou Valley
- Tropical Rainforest Sumatra
- Redwood
- Cape Floral Region
- Alejandro de Humboldt National Park
- Serengeti
- Ngorongoro
- Yellowstone
- Galapagos Islands
- Aldabra Atoll
- Komodo National Park
- Gulf of California
- Koguryo Kingdom
- Ancient Kyoto
- Fagus Factory
- China Danxia
- Grand Canyon
- Nubian Monuments
- Ancient Thebes
- Central University City Campus of the UNAM
- Jantar Mantar
- Museumsinsel (Museum Island)
- Olympic National Park
- Cerrado Protected Areas
- Lorentz National Park
- Virunga National Park
- Namib Sand Sea
- El Pinacate
- St. Kilda
- Pergamon
- Medici Villas and Gardens
- Uluru
- Bali Subak system
- Persian Garden
- Wadi Rum
- West Lake
- Thingvellir
- Guanajuato
- Québec
- Puebla
- Meroe
- Great Zimbabwe Ruins
- Cliff of Bandiagara
- Shushtar
- Kremlin and Red Square
- Sceilg Mhichíl
- Mount Athos
- Westminster
- Mont-Saint-Michel
- Piazza del Duomo (Pisa)
- Vatican City
- Meteora
- Lalibela
- Aachen Cathedral
- Mystras
- Göreme NP
- Royal Joseon Tombs
- Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
- Etruscan Necropolises
- Taj Mahal
- Pyramids (Memphis)
- Yungang Grottoes
- Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple
- Taxila
- Longmen Grottoes
- Mount Emei, including Leshan Giant Buddha
- Mogao Caves
- Mahabodhi Temple Complex
- Borobudur
- Potala Palace
- Sigiriya
- Dazu Rock Carvings
- Ajanta Caves
- Xidi and Hongcun
- Hué
- Kathmandu Valley
- Ping Yao
- Samarkand
- Medina of Marrakesh
- Damascus
- Aleppo
- Leptis Magna
- Pompei
- Villa Romana del Casale
- Cyrene
- Hierapolis-Pamukkale
- Acropolis
- Mycenae and Tiryns
- Olympia
- Hani Rice Terraces
- Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
- Timbuktu
- Ghadames
- Djenné
- Ksar of Aït Ben Haddou
- Aksum
- Jeju