As I research shore excursions, one phrase keeps popping up – UNESCO World Heritage Site. Obviously, it is something important, but what exactly is it? My inquiring mind wants to know.
UNESCO stands for The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. A heritage site is a place anywhere in the world deemed of cultural or physical significance by UNESCO. It could be a forest, a building, a town, a body of water, a monument or a natural geological formation. “The program catalogues, names and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity.” That's s direct quote from Wikipedia, so it must be true.
There are 911 properties on the list of World Heritage Sites and more are added yearly.
Could I get to all of them before I die? Probably not, but I could die trying. On this cruise, I can tick a few off the list.
I could zip across a UNESCO protected biosphere near Cabo San Lucas
During our stop in Acapulco, I could visit Xochicalco, a UNESCO World Heritage site, founed circa AD 650 by the Olmeca-Xicallanca, a group of Mayan traders from Campeche.
Antigua Guatemala, our fourth stop, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1773 but its monuments are still preserved as ruins.
The historic area and inner harbour of Willemstad on the Caribbean island of Curacao, where we stop on October 5th, is a World Heritage site, too.
Four down, 907 to go. I better hurry if I plan to visit them all.
BTW, there are 15 World Heritage sites in Canada
Wow! This was very interesting as I had no idea about all of this! I am intrigued to check them out; especially Canada! Thanks for the posting and I think, knowing you...you'll see more than half before you depart this world (-:
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