Unesco's World Heritage Sites Viewed from Space

In 1972 Unesco created the World Heritage Convention linking together the concepts of nature conservation and the preservation of cultural heritage. Based on the understanding that sites and monuments are threatened with deterioration or disappearance over time, the organization determines that those of outstanding universal value deserve special protection from the dangers they are facing. Therefore, the efforts to identify, protect, preserve, and value the sites included on this list are meant to safeguard and pass the world's cultural and natural heritage on to future generations.

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Overall, to be included on the Unesco World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria created by the organization. According to Unesco, a site has outstanding universal value when it has cultural and/or natural importance that transcends national boundaries and is therefore of great relevance to current and future generations of mankind as a whole.

The criteria are regularly revised by the World Heritage Committee to reflect the evolution of the World Heritage concept itself. The list is also constantly updated with new sites, separated into categories: cultural heritage, natural heritage, and mixed heritage.

Cultural Heritage

The following shall be considered as cultural heritage: monuments such as architectural works, sculpture, painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings; groups of buildings which are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science; and sites by works of man or the combined works of nature and man, which are of outstanding universal value from the historical, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological point of view.

Brasilia

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Created by @benjaminrgrant, source imagery: @digitalglobe

 Venice and its Lagoon

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Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery @maxartechnologies

Historic Centre of Prague

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Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery @maxartechnologies

Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites

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Stonehenge. Aerial photograph by @copter_shot

Historic Centre of Florence

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Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery @maxartechnologies

Alto Douro Wine Region

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Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery @maxartechnologies

Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea

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Photo by @southamerica

Vatican City

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Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery @maxartechnologies

Old City of Berne

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Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery @maxartechnologies

Ancient City of Damascus

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Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery @maxartechnologies

Historic Centre of Naples

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Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery @maxartechnologies

Sydney Opera House

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Created by @benjaminrgrant, source imagery: @nearmap

Medina of Marrakesh

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Created by @benjaminrgrant, source imagery: @maxartechnologies

Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments

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Arles Amphitheatre. Drone photo by @lucasmiguel

Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur

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Created by @benjaminrgrant, source imagery: @digitalglobe

Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th Centuries: Stato da Terra – Western Stato da Mar

Unesco's World Heritage Sites Viewed from Space - Image 11 of 24
Palmanova. Created by @dailyoverview

Natural Heritage

According to Unesco, natural heritage includes physical and biological formations which are of outstanding universal value from the aesthetic or scientific point of view; geological formations and areas which constitute the habitat of threatened species of animals and plants of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation; and natural sites of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty.

Grand Canyon National Park

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Source imagery by @planetlabs

Mount Etna

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Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery: @planetlabs

Vatnajökull National Park - Dynamic Nature of Fire and Ice

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Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery @maxartechnologies

The Sundarbans

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Created by @benjaminrgrant, source imagery: @nasa

Yellowstone National Park

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Grand Prismatic Spring. Plane photography by @chrisleipelt.photos

Mixed Heritage

Mixed heritage includes sites that meet criteria and definitions of both cultural and natural heritage.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

Unesco's World Heritage Sites Viewed from Space - Image 10 of 24
Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery @maxartechnologies

Check out the complete Unesco World Heritage list here.

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About this author
Cite: Moreira, Susanna. "Unesco's World Heritage Sites Viewed from Space" [Sítios na lista de Patrimônio Mundial da Unesco vistos do espaço] 04 Nov 2020. ArchDaily. (Trans. Duduch, Tarsila) Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/950685/unescos-world-heritage-sites-viewed-from-space> ISSN 0719-8884

Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brasil. Created by @benjaminrgrant, source imagery: @digitalglobe

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