Recent Reviews Walter
Tajik National Park
Walter Switzerland - 20-Sep-19

This propriety covers more than 2.5 million hectares in the east of Tajikistan, about 18% of the national territory, at the center of the so-called “Pamir Knot”, a meeting point of the highest mountain ranges on the Eurasian continent. It consists of high plateaux in the east and, to the west, rugged peaks, some of them over 7,000 meters high.
Visit to this propriety is difficult, because it is the remotest part of Tajikistan. Even if independent travel is possible, I would recommend to travel with a local guide or through a guided tour
Read OnSilk Roads Sites in Kyrgyzstan (T)
Walter Switzerland - 12-Sep-19

This serial nomination consists of 14 proprieties, assembled in six different groups. One group (The Upper Chui Valley with its three elements), is already on the WHS as part of the Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor Silk Roads.
I had the chance to visit some of those proprieties on my trip to Central Asia in June 2019
First, I headed with a rental car in the southeastern high-mountainous part of Kyrgystan, some 300 km from Bishkek, arounf the town of Naryn. It is where the first group (the nomadic monuments of Inner Tien Shan) lie. I visited two proprieties, Koshoi-Korgon and Tash-Rabat and had a quick look at a third one.
Read OnSilk Roads Sites in Tajikistan (T)
Walter Switzerland - 03-Sep-19

This serial nomination has 8 different proprieties, six of them having an additional specific entry as their own on the tentative list. I had a chance to visit four of them on my trip to Central Asia in June 2019. Ancient Penjikent and Ancient Town of Khulbuk are reviewed on their specific entries.
Two components are therefore reviewed: Yamchun Castle and Hissar Castle.
These two castles stand on two totally different extremes. Hissar is heavily reconstructed, extremely popular with Tadjik for wedding, and very close to Dushanbe. Yamchun is in the empty, isolated and magnificent Wakham valley, in the extreme south of Tadjikistan, about two days drive (on very very bad roads) from Dushanbe.
Read OnPalace of the governor of Khulbuk (T)
Walter Switzerland - 24-Aug-19

Hulbuk is a medieval town on Southern Tadjikistan, in the village of Kurban Shaid (Pingan on google map, near Vose). It lies next to the main road from Dushanbe to Kulab (and from there to the Pamir highway).
It is on the TL as “Palace of the Governor”, but appears for to be for examination in 2020 (although incomplete) as ”medieval town”. It also appears on “Silk Roads in Tadjikistan” project, sometimes written Khulbuk, sometimes Hulbuk.
Hulbuk was the capital of the Banijuridsm, Turco-Iranian dynasty reigning ca 847 to 963, vassals of the Samanids (who ruled Samarcande) and their successors, until its destruction, probably by the Mongols.
Read OnMausoleum of "Mukhammad Bashoro" (T)
Walter Switzerland - 24-Aug-19

This propriety is 30 km east of Pendjikent in Tajikistan. As the border is now opened, it is easier to visit on a day-trip from Samarkand (e-visa necessary for TJ)
The small mausoleum of Mukhammad Bashoro was built in the XI-XII centuries both as a mausoleum and a mosque. It is one of the oldest in the region. A portal with rich decoration made of teracotta was added in 1332. Mukhammad Bashoro was a respected expert of the Khasish (the prophet’s sayings and deeds) who died in 866 might have been buried here, and a mausoleum was later built to replace a previous mosque.
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The cultural landscape (turf houses) of the Feroe Island.
The culutral landscape of Aran island (Ireland)
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 11.07.20
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Visited WHS
Rating StatsAni 5Baalbek 5Florence 5Granada 5Kotor 5Petra 5Pompei 5Prague 5Rome 5Valletta 5Iguacu 4.5Ouro Preto 4.5Uluru 4.5Yakushima 4.5Anjar 4Assisi 4Avignon 4Budapest 4Caceres 4Cordoba 4Cracow 4Istanbul 4Kyiv 4Lyon 4Mostar 4Mtskheta 4Naples 4Oporto 4Riga 4Salzburg 4Seville 4Tallinn 4Tamgaly 4Vilnius 4Wadi Rum 4Arles 3.5Diamantina 3.5Salamanca 3.5Sheki 3.5Split 3.5Aquileia 3Avila 3Bamberg 3Belem 3Bryggen 3Ephesus 3Ferrara 3Genoa 3Gyeongju 3Ivrea 3Kernavë 3Modena 3Nancy 3Potsdam 3Québec 3Røros 3Segovia 3Sintra 3Stećci 3Telc 3Toledo 3Trebic 3Trogir 3Urbino 3Verona 3Vicenza 3Vienna 3Visby 3Vézelay 3Nesvizh 2.5Pampulha 2.5Sarazm 2.5Tyre 2.5Valongo Wharf 2.5Bordeaux 2Corvey 2Cuenca 2Elvas 2Evora 2Ibiza 2Jelling 2Lübeck 2Mérida 2Orange 2Pienza 2Trier 2Warsaw 2Aranjuez 1.5Battir 1.5Byblos 1.5Graz 1Tarraco 1Beemster Polder 0.5Centennial Hall 0.5Qalhat 0.5Schokland 0.5Torun 0.5Reviewed WHS
- Tajik National Park
- Sarazm
- Valongo Wharf
- Ani
- Belovezhskaya Pushcha / Bialowieza Forest
- Upper Svaneti
- ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape
- Mining Cultural Landscape Erzgebirge
- Namib Sand Sea
- Pico Island
- Aflaj irrigation system
- Medici Villas and Gardens
- Battir
- Stevns Klint
- Route of Santiago de Compostela
- White City of Tel-Aviv
- Ksar of Aït Ben Haddou
- Baptism Site "Bethany Beyond the Jordan"
- Wadi Rum
- Um er-Rasas
- Quseir Amra
- Haeinsa Temple
- Struve Geodetic Arc
- Laponian Area
Visited TWHS
- "Baku Stage" Mountain (T)
- "Binegadi" 4th Period Fauna and Flora Deposit (T)
- "Lok-Batan" Mud Cone (T)
- Abbey of Kremsmünster (T)
- Aguas Livres Aqueduct (T)
- Aires volcaniques et forestières de la Martinique (T)
- Alaverdi Cathedral (T)
- Alpine and pre-alpine meadow and marsh landscapes (T)
- Amalienborg and its district (T)
- Ancares - Somiedo (T)
- Archaeo-astronomical Site Kokino (T)
- Archipelago of la Maddalena and Islands of Bocche di Bonifacio (T)
- Augustow Canal (T)
- Azraq (T)
- Bet She'an (T)
- Big Bend National Park (T)
- Bishop's Basilica and Late-Antique Mosaics of Philippopolis, Roman Province of Thrace (T)
- Breiðafjörður Nature Reserve (T)
- Brooklyn Bridge (T)
- Bulwarked Fortifications of the "Raia" (Border) (T)
- Bulwarked Frontier Fortifications (T)
- Caesarea (T)
- Cascata delle Marmore and valnerina: Monastic sites and ancient hydrogeological reclamation works (T)
- Central Park (T)
- Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte (T)
- Cittadella (Victoria - Gozo) (T)
- City of Motovun (T)
- Classical Karst (in Slovene language: Klasicni kras) (T)
- Coastal Cliffs (T)
- Cultural Landscape of Innsbruck-Nordkette/Karwendel (T)
- Darwin's Landscape Laboratory (T)
- David Gareji Monasteries and Hermitage (T)
- Degania & Nahalal (T)
- Djerdap National Park (T)
- Dreams in Stone - the palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria (T)
- Early Medieval Monastic Sites (T)
- Early Synagogues in the Galilee (T)
- Edifices for Worship of Fortress Type in Belarus, Poland and Lithuania (T)
- Eglise et Monastère de Sao Bento, Rio de Janeiro (T)
- El Ferrol of the Illustration Historical Heritage (T)
- El-Bariyah: wilderness with monasteries (T)
- Ellis Island (T)
- Ensemble of Alvaro Siza's Architecture Works in Portugal (T)
- Fishriver Canyon (T)
- Flow Country (T)
- Fortified Manasija Monastery (T)
- Francke Foundation Buildings (T)
- Franja Partisan Hospital (T)
- Fuzina Hills in Bohinj (T)
- Great Spas of Europe (Czechia) (T)
- Grenadines Island Group (Grenada) (T)
- Hangar Y (T)
- Head Office and Garden of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Historical-town planning ensemble of Ston (T)
- Jerusalem (T)
- Knights Fortifications around the Harbours of Malta (T)
- L'oeuvre architecturale d'Henry van de Velde (T)
- La Camargue (T)
- Lake Maggiore and Lake D'Orta lakelands (T)
- Le champ de bataille de Waterloo, la fin de l’épopée napoléonienne (T)
- Le noyau historique médiéval ou la "Cuve" de Gand (T)
- Le Palais de Justice de Bruxelles (T)
- Le Panorama de la Bataille de Waterloo (T)
- Le rivage méditerranéen des Pyrénées (T)
- Le tronçon Bavay-Tongres de la chaussée romaine Boulogne-Cologne (T)
- Les passages de Bruxelles / Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (T)
- Les tombes de la Basse Selca (T)
- Les villes antiques de la Narbonnaise (T)
- Leuven/Louvain, batiments universitaires, l'héritage de six siècles au sein du centre historique (T)
- Levadas of Madeira Island (T)
- Makhteshim Country (T)
- Maltese Catacomb Complexes (T)
- Markovi Kuli (T)
- Massif du Mont Blanc (T)
- Massif du Mont-Blanc (T)
- Mdina (Citta Vecchia) (T)
- Mid-Atlantic Ridge (T)
- Mining Historical Heritage (T)
- Mosquée de Tinmel (T)
- Mývatn and Laxá (T)
- Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie (T)
- Nîmes, l'Antiquité au présent (T)
- Noyau historique d'Antwerpen -Anvers- de l'Escaut aux anciens remparts de vers 1250 (T)
- Ödön Lechner's independent pre-modern architecture (T)
- Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales, Meudon (T)
- Orvieto (T)
- Padova Urbs Picta. Giotto, the Scrovegni Chapel and the 14th century painting cycles (T)
- Paimio Hospital (formerly Paimio Sanatorium) (T)
- Palais de la Culture, ancien siège du Ministere de l'Education et de la Santé, Rio de Janeiro (T)
- Parc national de la Vanoise (T)
- Parc national des Écrins (T)
- Petrified Forest National Park (T)
- Pombaline Lisbon (T)
- Ponds in the Bay of Oristano and the Sinis Peninsula island of Mal di Ventre (T)
- Primošten Vineyards (T)
- Qawra/Dwejra (T)
- QUMRAN: Caves and Monastery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (T)
- Rade de Marseille (T)
- Reef System in the Cuban Caribbean (T)
- Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Routes in Portugal (T)
- Saimaa-Pielinen Lake System (T)
- Samtavisi Cathedral (T)
- Sea of Galilee & its Ancient Sites (T)
- Shaubak Castle (Montreal) (T)
- Site of the Retiro and the Prado in Madrid (T)
- Sites funéraires et mémoriels de la Première Guerre mondiale (Front Ouest) (Belgium) (T)
- Sites mégalithiques de Carnac (T)
- Sites of Great Moravia: Mikulcice - Kopcani (T)
- Sítio Roberto Burle Marx (T)
- Slate Industry of North Wales (T)
- Smederevo Fortress (T)
- SS. Boris and Gleb (Kalozha) Church in the city of Hrodna (T)
- St. George Fortified System (T)
- St. George Historic District (T)
- Surakhany, Atashgyakh (Fire - worshippers, temple - museum at Surakhany) (T)
- Talayotic Culture of Minorca (T)
- Tbilisi Historic District (T)
- The Ancient Plovdiv (T)
- The archaeological site of the city of Dvin (T)
- The Bachkovo Monastery (T)
- The basilica and archaeological site of Yererouk (T)
- The Burren (T)
- The Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions (T)
- The Céide Fields and North West Mayo Boglands (T)
- The city of Bergamo (T)
- The Crusader Fortresses (T)
- The cultural landscape of the Benedictine settlements in medieval Italy (T)
- The Fortress of Terezín (T)
- The forts of Rostaq and al-Hazm (T)
- The Galilee Journeys of Jesus & the Apostles (T)
- The Historic City of Dublin (T)
- The Jewish Cemetery of Altona Königstrasse (T)
- The Karlstejn Castle (T)
- The Lofoten islands (T)
- The Mediterranean Facet of the Pyrenees (France-Spain) (T)
- The Memorial of Chatam Sófer (T)
- The monasteries of Tatev and Tatevi Anapat and the adjacent areas of the Vorotan Valley (T)
- The monastery of Noravank and the upper Amaghou Valley (T)
- The Monastic City of Clonmacnoise and its Cultural Landscape (T)
- The natural and architectural ensemble of Blagaj (T)
- The natural and architectural ensemble of Blidinje (T)
- The natural and architectural ensemble of Stolac (T)
- The Rise of Systematic Biology (T)
- The Rock paintings of Astuvansalmi at Ristiina (T)
- The royal necropolis of the Thracian city of Seuthopolis (extension) (T)
- The Royal Sites of Ireland (T)
- The Silver Route (T)
- The Tara National Park with the Drina River Canyon (T)
- The timeless, humanistic architecture of Jože Plečnik (T)
- The Turf House Tradition (T)
- Thingvellir National Park (T)
- Thracian Tomb with Wall Paintings beside Alexandrovo village (T)
- Timna (T)
- Torfajökull Volcanic System / Fjallabak Nature Reserve (T)
- Trakai Historical National Park (T)
- Triple-arch Gate at Dan & Sources of the Jordan (T)
- Two neolithic dwellings (T)
- Uplistsikhe Cave Town (T)
- Vardzia-Khertvisi (T)
- Velebit Mountain (T)
- Victoria Lines Fortifications (T)
- VIKING MONUMENTS AND SITES / Thingvellir National Park (T)
- Villas of the Papal Nobility (T)
- White Sands National Monument (T)
Reviewed TWHS
- Silk Roads Sites in Kyrgyzstan (T)
- Silk Roads Sites in Tajikistan (T)
- Palace of the governor of Khulbuk (T)
- Mausoleum of "Mukhammad Bashoro" (T)
- The Site of Ancient Town of Pyanjekent (T)
- Ishak Pasha Palace (T)
- Tushpa/Van Fortress, the Mound and the Old City of Van (T)
- Palais de la Culture, ancien siège du Ministere de l'Education et de la Santé, Rio de Janeiro (T)
- Sítio Roberto Burle Marx (T)
- The Tombstones of Ahlat the Urartian and Ottoman citadel (T)
- Akdamar Church (T)
- Edifices for Worship of Fortress Type in Belarus, Poland and Lithuania (T)
- Franja Partisan Hospital (T)
- Augustow Canal (T)
- SS. Boris and Gleb (Kalozha) Church in the city of Hrodna (T)
- "Binegadi" 4th Period Fauna and Flora Deposit (T)
- Mta-Tusheti (T)
- Gremi Church of Archangels and Royal Tower (T)
- Alaverdi Cathedral (T)
- Dmanisi Hominid Archaeological Site (T)
- Shatili (T)
- Ananuri (T)
- The Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions (T)
- The basilica and archaeological site of Yererouk (T)
- Samtavisi Cathedral (T)
- Vardzia-Khertvisi (T)
- The Silver Route (T)
- David Gareji Monasteries and Hermitage (T)
- Levadas of Madeira Island (T)
- Talayotic Culture of Minorca (T)
- Mid-Atlantic Ridge (T)
- El-Bariyah: wilderness with monasteries (T)
- Mosquée de Tinmel (T)
- Azraq (T)
Top 50 Missing Sites
- Atacama Desert
- Chernobyl
- Ciudad Perdida, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
- Concordia
- Coron Island Natural Biotic Area
- Devils Island (on French Guiana)
- Dzongs of Bhutan
- Island of Inishmore
- Jebel Shams, Wadi Nakhur, and Wadi Ghul
- Laas Gaal
- Mt Kailash
- Plain of Jars / Sites Mégalithiques de la province de Xieng Khouang
- Salisbury Plains, Grytviken
- Scrovegni's Chapel
- Shwedagon Pagoda
- Svalbard
- The Soviet Architecture of Moscow
- Triple arch Gate at Dan & Sources of the Jordan
- Vatnajökull National Park
- Vers une architecture: Major Buildings of Le Corbusier