Incoming: 21 fresh entries for your travel bucket list. UNESCO have named 2016’s new World Heritage Sites following their annual meeting in Istanbul, Turkey.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization meets each year to induct significant sites, both natural and cultural, to its prestigious preservation list. To be considered, the sites must meet one or more of 10 criteria such as representing “a masterpiece of human creative genius,” containing “exceptional natural beauty,” or exhibiting “an important interchange of human values.”
There are now 1,052 places of “outstanding universal value” that have received the honour. This year’s World Heritage Sites span the globe from Brazil, to China, to Canada, to Spain. Highlights include:
- The Archaeological Site of Ani, Turkey: Once a thriving medieval town known as the “City of 1,001 Churches,” Ani was razed by an earthquake in 1319. Today only ruins remain.
- Antequera Dolmens, Spain: UNESCO calls this collection of megalithic tombs “one of the most remarkable architectural works of European prehistory.”
- The Persian Qanat, Iran: Iran’s ancient water transport system used 11 underground tunnels to support agricultural and permanent settlements throughout the country’s arid regions.
- Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art, China: Rock art is all that remains to illustrate the life and rituals of the Luoyue people, who date from the period around the 5th century BCE to the 2nd century CE.
- Nalanda Mahavihara, India: These crumbling stupas, shrines, viharas, and art once comprised a monastic and scholastic institution dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE.
- Nan Madol, Micronesia: Humans constructed these 99 artificial islets off the coast of Pohnpei between 1200 and 1500 CE. Today they harbour the remains of stone palaces, temples, tombs, and residential domains.
- Sanganeb Marine National Park and Dungonab Bay, Sudan: Sudan’s dual site contains a coral reef in the central Red Sea and a bay with a highly diverse system of flora and fauna, including a globally significant population of dugongs.
You can view the full list of newly inducted World Heritage Sites, along with in depth descriptions of each, here.
Archaeological Site of Ani
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ani-turkey.jpg)
Turkey
Antequera Dolmens Site
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/antequera-dolmens.jpg)
Spain
Archipiélago de Revillagigedo
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Archipiélago-de-Revillagigedo.jpg)
Mexico
The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/corbusier.jpg)
Argentina, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Japan, Switzerland
The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ahwar.jpg)
Iraq
Gorham's Cave Complex
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/gorhams.jpg)
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Khangchendzonga National Park
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Khangchendzonga-National-Park.jpg)
India
Antigua Naval Dockyard and Related Archaeological Sites
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/antigua.jpg)
Antigua and Barbuda
Ennedi Massif: Natural and Cultural Landscape
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ennedi.jpg)
Chad
Hubei Shennongjia
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Hubei-Shennongjia.jpg)
China
Stećci Medieval Tombstones Graveyards
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/medieval-graveyard.jpg)
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia
Lut Desert
![World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/lut-desert-1.jpg)
Iran
Mistaken Point
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/mistaken-point.jpg)
Canada
Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda University) at Nalanda, Bihar
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Nalanda-Mahavihara.jpg)
India
Nan Madol: Ceremonial Centre of Eastern Micronesia
![Nan Madol: Ceremonial Centre of Eastern Micronesia](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/nan-madol.jpg)
Micronesia
Pampulha Modern Ensemble
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Pampulha.jpg)
Brazil
Archaeological Site of Philippi
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/philipi.jpg)
Greece
The Persian Qanat
![The Persian Qanat](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Qanat.jpg)
Iran
Sanganeb Marine National Park and Dungonab Bay – Mukkawar Island Marine National Park
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Sanganeb-Marine-National-Park.jpeg)
Sudan
Western Tien-Shan
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/tien-shan.jpg)
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape
![New World Heritage Sites](https://www.dmarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/zuojiang-huashan-rock-art.jpg)
China