UNESCO’s Underwater Cultural Heritage Sites: A Photo Gallery

by Melanie Renzulli on




Ancient shipwrecks, sunken World War II vessels, underwater caves, and submerged cities – these are but a few of the treasures classified as significant and in need of protection on UNESCO’s underwater cultural heritage list.

UNESCO has been promoting the protection of the world’s cultural and natural heritage for almost four decades, yet its convention on underwater cultural heritage has been in existence only since 2001. UNESCO adopted the convention as a way to ensure that underwater archeological sites were protected in situ (in their underwater location), although there are a few maritime and archeological museums that hold significant artifacts from the ocean. Another reason to preserve these sites in the sea is to honor their role as underwater graveyards, such as with the wreckage of the Titanic. Indeed, many of the sunken sites on the heritage list function “as a time capsule, providing a complete snapshot of the life on board at the time of sinking.”

Scuba diving near many of these heritage sites is not allowed or near impossible. But since wreck diving is a popular and exhilarating adventure activity, UNESCO recommends four diving trails in Australia, Florida, Israel, and Sweden and has drawn up a Code of Ethics for Diving on Submerged Archeological Sites for divers who do want to explore wrecks and ruins. For the rest of us, there’s this gallery of some of the amazing artifacts resting on the ocean floor.

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[All photos: UNESCO]

Pyramids and monasteries among the many ancient monuments under restoration

by Sean McLachlan on


Around the world, ancient monuments are crumbling. As our heritage wears away through neglect, “development”, or simply the harsh treatment of time, some countries are doing something about it.

The pyramid of Djoser, the oldest of the pyramids of Egypt, will be the object of a major restoration effort. The government recently announced that funding has been earmarked for restoration after the people previously working on the site put down their tools, saying they weren’t getting paid. The money that’s owed to the company would be paid and workers would be assured their salaries, said Mohammad Abdel-Maksoud, Egypt’s new Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The famous Zahi Hawass was let go during the recent revolution. Hawass was briefly replaced by Abdel-Fattah al-Banna, but al-Banna quickly resigned amid criticisms of his lack of credentials.

The Djoser pyramid at Saqqara was constructed from 2667 to 2648 BC and is a step pyramid rather than a true pyramid. It now suffers from numerous structural problems and a crumbling facade.

In Tibet, the Chinese government is investing almost $9 million to restore monasteries and homes of the 10th century Guge Kingdom. Among the attractions in the ruins are some colorful Buddhist murals, caves, palaces, and pagodas. BBC News has an interesting video showing of the site here.

It’s not all good news, though. Many treasures of the past are under threat. While Rome’s Colosseum is being restored, several structures in Pompeii collapsed last year. In Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, volunteers and experts had to clean away graffiti sprayed on Native American rock art. In England the Priddy Circles, a collection of Neolithic earthworks from 5,000 years ago, were half destroyed when someone bulldozed them.

It’s nice to see some governments working hard to maintain their monuments, but lack of funding and simple human stupidity are making their job difficult.

[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

Brochs: the prehistoric castles of Scotland

by Sean McLachlan on


In Scotland, the past is still very much present. In rural areas you can hear people speaking Scots Gaelic or Lowland Scots like their forefathers did. There are castles and stone circles all over the region. The most enigmatic remains from the past are the brochs.

Brochs are mysterious drystone towers dating to around two thousand years ago. Built without mortar or nails, they’re architectural wonders, yet nobody is sure what they were for.

The best example surviving today is the broch of Mousa, pictured above in this photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons. Built around 100 B.C., it still stands to its original height of 13 meters (43 ft). A stairway cleverly constructed inside the thick wall spirals up to the top, where a walkway offers a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside.

Archaeologists used to think brochs were fortresses, a sort of prehistoric castle. This idea has given way to theories that they were homes of the elite or even simple farmhouses. This former archaeologist thinks the original theory is more likely. To me they feel like forts, and are far more imposing than the standard homes of the day. Plus in Lowland Scots the word brough means fort. In Old Norse, the language of the Vikings, borg also means fort. The Vikings reused some brochs as fortified bases from which the ransack the countryside. Many brochs have earthen ramparts around them, or are located on easily defensible spots such as beside a cliff or on an island in a loch.

%Gallery-130017%It’s hard to say how many brochs there are in Scotland because archaeologists argue over which sites are brochs and which aren’t. Estimates vary from barely a hundred to almost six hundred. Most are clustered in the far north, especially on the windswept Shetland and Orkney islands. Researchers can’t agree on when they were built either. Most agree it was from about 500 BC to 200 AD, but they can’t get more precise than that. This was the Iron Age, when competing tribes fought over land and crafted elaborate weapons and jewelry.

Perhaps the oldest known broch is being excavated right now. A broch at Nybster in Caithness may date back to 500 or even 700 BC, although it’s unclear if these early walls constituted a broch or if the broch was built on top of it. Prince Charles visited the excavation this week. Charles studied archaeology at university and has even gotten the royal hands dirty on several excavations.

All this academic debate just adds to the mystery. Located in the rugged far north of Scotland, often in remote areas, they can’t fail to impress. The sheer effort and skill required to build them in such a hostile environment commands respect.

They have more mysteries to offer up too. Inside there’s often evidence for rooms, floors, or other structures, but none have survived in good enough shape to show what they were used for.

To learn more about brochs and ancient Scotland, check out the BBC’s Mysterious Ancestors website.

Madrid day trip: Segovia

by Sean McLachlan on


Madrid offers a wide range of interesting day trips, from a Renaissance castle and Spanish Civil War bunker to challenging hikes. My personal favorite is the ancient town of Segovia just on the other side of the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains. With a beautiful cathedral and castle, one of the best preserved Roman aqueducts anywhere, winding medieval streets, and delicious cuisine, it’s a great choice for a day trip or overnight stay.

The best way to get to Segovia is by bus, which takes a little over an hour. Segovia’s Wikipedia entry says a high-speed train gets there in half an hour, but the high speed train doesn’t go to Segovia, it goes to a station called Segovia several kilometers away from town. You have to take a bus from there. To get to the train station in Segovia proper you go on a local train that takes an hour and fifty minutes. Wikipedia has mistakes!? Shocking!!!!

Anyway, Segovia is a convenient, delightful trip from Madrid. The three big hits are the aqueduct, the cathedral, and the Alcázar, or castle. The Roman aqueduct dates to the late first century AD. Segovia, like many Spanish cities, was a Roman town and perhaps has more ancient roots. The aqueduct is one of the best preserved anywhere and stands 93.5 feet tall in some places and starts at a water source almost ten miles away. It supplied the city with water until the early 20th century. The Romans sure knew how to build things!

The Santa Iglesia Catedral is an impressive Gothic pile started in 1525 and consecrated after many remodels in 1768, making it possibly the youngest Gothic cathedral in Europe. The expansive Plaza Mayor stands to one side. Take time to sip a coffee at one of the many outdoor cafes and enjoy the view. Inside are a series of chapels with often gruesome art, like a dinner party atop a tree. Death is cutting down the trunk with his scythe while Jesus rings a bell. Everyone is ignoring Jesus and a demon is about to pull the tottering tree into Hell. Nice!

%Gallery-128499%Segovia is built on a promontory, and its 12th century castle, the Alcázar, sits at the highest end like the prow of a ship. A rectangular tower soars towards the sky, topped by a beautiful set of round turrets. Inside are the usual displays of armor, weapons, and medieval art that you’d expect in a castle, and a large artillery museum too. The most impressive part of the castle is the view from the top. You get sweeping vistas of the Renaissance skyline of Segovia with its many churches and old houses, as well as the rolling countryside around the city. It gets my vote as one of the best views you can get anywhere close to Madrid.

To learn more about Segovia’s past, check out the Casa del Sol Museo de Segovia. Here you’ll see prehistoric artifacts, Roman sculpture, Visigothic jewelry, medieval and Renaissance art, and tools from Segovia’s early modern period. It’s a great museum but easy to miss, so don’t miss it!

After seeing these sites, take a stroll through the medieval streets of the old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Like Harar, Ethiopia, another medieval walled city that’s on UNESCO’s list, the labyrinthine streets and alleys can get you lost pretty quickly, but the city’s small enough that you won’t stay lost for long. Check out the local artisans specializing in ceramics, the food shops selling tasty meats and cheeses, and more than a score of Romanesque churches.

Segovia gets pretty full in summer, so book your hotel well ahead. Two hotels I’ve stayed at and enjoyed are Natura and Los Linajes. Spring and fall are better times to go, especially September when it’s still warm but the school groups and university backpackers have left. Winter can be bitterly cold.

There are plenty of places to eat. Many restaurants serve two local specialties: cochinillo, roast suckling pig; and Judiones de la granja, which is faba beans with chorizo, garlic, and, if you’re being traditional, a pig’s ear! For a cheap lunch option find a place offering menú del día, a set menu where you have three or four choices for appetizer, main course, and dessert with a drink included. La Taberna de Abraham Seneor at Calle Judería Vieja 17 & 19 in the old Jewish quarter serves up a filling one for €11.90. There are also numerous cafes with outdoor seating in good weather. My favorite place to sit is Plazuela de San Martín, where you can gaze out on a sparkling fountain, a 15th century house, and a Romanesque church.

Tomorrow I’ll be talking more about the Alcázar, my favorite castle in Spain, and Wednesday I’ll be exploring the many beautiful churches of Segovia. Stay tuned!

Four natural wonders added to UNESCO World Heritage List

by Kraig Becker on

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, also known as UNESCO, has added four new locations to its list of World Heritage sites. The destinations fall under the category of “natural wonders,” and were cited for their spectacular beauty, biodiversity, and importance to the surrounding ecosystems.

Newly added to the list was Japan‘s Ogasawara Islands, which are home to more than 200 endangered bird species, as well as a “critically endangered” bat. Much like the Galapagos Islands, this remote archipelago has a number of unique plants and animals, some of which can only be found there. The islands are also viewed as a living laboratory where the process of evolution can be studied in a self-contained environment that mixes influences from both northeast and southeast Asia in unusual ways.

The Ningaloo Coast, located along Australia‘s lonely western shores, was also given the nod thanks in no small part to its outstanding biodiversity. Just off the coast is one of the world’s largest near-shore coral reef systems, which stretches for miles and is home to sea turtles, whale sharks, and other exotic sealife. An intricate network of underwater caves spiderwebs across the region as well, creating a distinct ecosystem all its own, that boasts even more unusual and unique wildlife. Back on dry land, the Ningaloo Coast also provides spectacular scenery along rugged hiking trails.
Jordan‘s Wadi Rum received World Heritage status thanks to its blend of both nature and culture. The towering rock walls and maze-like canyons, surrounded by a breathtakingly beautiful desert, is only part of the reason this destination was recognized by UNESCO. It is also home to several distinct Bedouin tribes who have inhabited the region for thousands of years, leaving traces of their culture that date back to before the pyramids were built. There are reportedly more than 25,000 rock carvings and an additional 20,000 inscriptions, found throughout the area, some of which show the earliest examples of what would eventually evolve into the earliest alphabet.

The fourth location added to the list is the Lake System in Kenya. Consisting of three interconnected bodies of water, all located inside the Great Rift Valley, the region is home to one of the most biologically diverse avian populations in the world. UNESCO notes that there are no less than 13 species of threatened birds that live in the Lake System, some of which exclusively breed and nest there. The region also plays host to plenty of other wildlife as well, including giraffes, lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, and black rhinos.

Any one of these locations would make an amazing destination for adventurous travelers. These are fragile ecosystems however, so if you do go, be sure it is with a reputable guide service that believes in sustainable travel and ecotourism. After all, these places have been designated as World Heritage sites for a reason, and UNESCO isn’t the only one that wants to see them stick around for future travelers to enjoy as well.

[Photo credit: Alessandro Balsamo/UNESCO]