5 Unesco Cultural Greats Part 1
From rock-hewn cities to Welsh castles; mountaintop temples to island prisons, we celebrate the UNESCO-listed wonders that make the world a more cultured place WORDS SARAH BAXTER 5 Unesco Cultural Greats Part 1.
The United Nations Educational, Scientifi c and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was born out of the horrors of the Second World War, with the remit of spreading peace. The idea of designating and conserving World Heritage sites – places deemed of great import for their cultural, historical or scientifi c value – was ratifi ed in 1972. Just six years later, the fi rst 12 were announced, ranging from Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands to Germany’s Aachen Cathedral. Today, 1,073 sites have been listed and protected for posterity, with a new batch due to be added this July. The variety is staggering. But the idea is that each one makes the world a more enriching, more fascinating, more united place. Here are just some of the more remarkable from around the globe…
1. ANCIENT KYOTO, JAPAN
WHY? Revel in the country’s former capital
It was 150 years ago that Japan’s capital began to shift to Edo (modern-day Tokyo), but Kyoto – its imperial capital for over 1,000 years – remains the country’s cultural and spiritual heart. Some 17 elements make up UNESCO’s Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto site, spanning the evolution of Japanese wooden architecture and landscape gardens from the tenth to the 17th centuries. This collection includes the golden tiers of Kinkaku-ji, the Zen garden of Ryoan-ji and the towering pagoda of To-ji, Japan’s tallest. Spring visitors should head for the serene Ninna-ji, renowned for its late-blooming cherry trees, while the autumn colours are especially spectacular at the mountain-tucked Tenryu-ji. GET THERE: Kyoto is around 2.5 hours by train from Tokyo.
2. LALIBELA, ETHIOPIA
WHY? Find living faith buried in ancient architecture
The medieval rock-hewn churches of this ‘New Jerusalem’ in the highlands of Ethiopia were among the first 12 sites designated by UNESCO in 1978 – a nod to their splendour. With the help of angels (allegedly), these sunken chapels were chiselled from monolithic blocks, with windows, floors, doors and decoration subsequently carved in. Colonnaded Bet Medhane Alem, the biggest, is more than 11.5m high; some are only accessible via tunnels or ropes. Despite its age, Lalibela remains a place of devotion, alive with pilgrims, swirling incense and hypnotic chants. It’s like stepping back 900 years. GET THERE: Lalibela is a 90-minute flight from Addis Ababa.
3. SAMBOR PREI KUK, CAMBODIA
WHY?Seek an ‘alternative Angkor’
Newly inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2017, the impressive, forest-cloaked complex of Sambor Prei Kuk comprises over 100 temples yet sees precious few visitors. Predating Angkor, this archaeological site on the eastern bank of Tonle Sap lake was once capital of the Chenla Empire, which thrived in the late sixth and early seventh centuries, and helped inspire the Khmer-style architecture seen at Cambodia’s more famous UNESCO site. Hire a guide, both for greater insight and protection again unexploded ordnance, and explore a quiet mix of still-standing temples, sandstone carvings and crumbling ruins that are slowly being swallowed by the jungle. GET THERE: Sambor Prei Kuk is 30km north of Kampong Thom and 175km east of Angkor.
4. ROBBEN ISLAND, SOUTH AFRICA
WHY?Sail out on Mandela’s centenary
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in the Eastern Cape village of Mvezo on 18 July 1918 but spent 18 years, from 1964 to 1982, incarcerated on this small outcrop just of Cape Town. Robben Island is now a living museum, where a former prisoner-turned-guide will take you on a tour. Visit the old leper graveyard, the African penguin colony, the lime quarry where Mandela and the other inmates were forced to toil, and the Maximum Security Prison, where you can walk the corridors, ascend the watchtowers and finish your explorations at Mandela’s two-metre by three-metre cell. GET THERE: Robben Island is roughly a 30-to-60-minute ferry ride from Cape Town’s Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.
5. KATHMANDU VALLEY, NEPAL
WHY? Support heritage that is slowly edging its way back from the brink
The devastating earthquake of April 2015 devastated UNESCO’s Kathmandu Valley site, with the Durbar Squares of Patan, Hanuman Dhoka (Kathmandu) and Bhaktapur almost completely destroyed. But all’s not lost. UNESCO has proposed a plan to restore the whole site and repairs are beginning – museums have reopened and the cracks in Boudhanath’s vast stupa have been filled. Though work is well behind schedule, the plan to ‘build back better’ should ensure that when the valley’s tiered temples and Buddhist shrines are finally restored, they’re still worthy of theirWorld Heritage status. GET THERE: Kathmandu is about a 12-hour flight from the UK, plus stopover.
sources: Wanderlust UK , July 2018
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