Top 20 World Heritage Sites You Must Visit

In its modern form, the Palace of Versailles was built between 1661 and 1715 by King Louis XIV, who transformed his father’s hunting lodge into France’s most famous and splendid palace. Its hall of mirrors is one of the most opulent examples of imperial architecture and design. Situated about 20 kilometers from the center of Paris, the palace was the home of the French royal court until 1789, when the royal family was forced to ignominiously return to the capital as a result of the French revolution. The building is therefore famous as a symbol of the Ancien Regime and their system of absolute monarchy.

Uluru is a spectacular red sandstone rock formation rising out the central Australian desert, and one of the world’s most recognisable natural landmarks. The area is home to an abundance of springs, waterholes and rock caves, and is sacred to the local indigenous people, the Pitjantjatjara Anangu. Their rock art can be seen on many of Uluru’s surfaces. Nothing can prepare you for the sight of the Uluru at dawn and dusk, as the rock appears to change colour right before your eyes. While you’re here, be sure not to miss Kata-Tjuta, an equally spectacular nearby rock formation 500 million years in the making.

Marrakesh’s famous medina is a dazzlingly colourful maze of alleyways and shops. The labyrinthine streets are living monument to over a thousand years of urban history on the western edge of the Islamic world. Load up on delicious Moroccan foods, sample exotic African spices, marvel at the incredible silks and pottery and listen to hypnotic North African music. These traditional arab markets, called souks, are organised into different commodities: spices, silks, antiques, musical instruments, olives.

Thebes is a striking illustration of Egyptian civilisation at its peak. As the capital of the Egypt during the Middle and New Kingdoms, it features many temples and palaces. The two great temples – Luxor and Karnak – and the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens are some of the greatest achievements of ancient Egypt.

The ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan has been a crossroad of the world’s people and cultures for over a thousand years. The north-eastern part of the city was destroyed by Genghis Khan’s mongol armies in the 13^th century. In the southern section lies the architectural imprint of the Temurid epoch, with narrow lanes, mosques, madrassas and traditional houses. Major monuments include the Registan mosque and the Bibi-Khanum Mausoleum. The designs of the Temurid masters were crucial to the development of Islamic architecture as far away as India, Persia and Turkey.

The Vatican is one of the most sacred places in all Christendom. It is a tiny independent state located at the center of Rome – its official population of about 1000 makes it the smallest ‘nation’ in the world. The Vatican features some of most famous art and architecture on the planet, including St Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.

Pamukkale, meaning ‘cotton castle’ in English, is a remarkable natural site famous for its dazzling thermal pools. Thick white layers of travertine and limestone cascade down the hillside, the result of the mineral-laden underground hot water springs in the area. Calcium deposits from the springs’ water created these white waterfalls over thousands of years. Do not miss the thermal spa of Hierapolis, established by the kings of Pergamon in the 2nd century BC.

The ancient Persian city of Persepolis was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire from 550 to 330 BC. Its magnificent ruins lie at the foot of Kuh-e-Rahmat in south-western Iran, renowned as the gem of Persian architecture, planning, art and technology. As an archaeological site it is almost without peer, a perfectly preserved ancient civilisation. Though the city was to be the seat of Achaemenid government, it was designed primarily to be a showpiece for receptions and festivals of the kings and their empire.

Istanbul is situated on the Bosphorus peninsula, one of the most strategically important stretches of land and water in human history. At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and controlling the only sea route from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, it has been the site of major political, religious and artistic events for over 2000 years. Its many architectural masterpieces include the Hippodrome of Constantine, the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace and the Suleymaniye Mosque.

Situated in the Cambodian province of Siem Reap, Angkor was the capital of the ancient Khmer Empire, and it one of the most important archaeological sites in South East Asia. The Angkor Archaeological Park stretches over 400 square kilometres and contains the amazing remains of the Khmer capitals from the 9^th to the 5^th century. Be sure not the miss the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and the Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom. With impressive monuments, urban plans and water reservoirs, the site is evidence of an exceptionally advanced ancient civilisation.

Spread over 118 islands, the city of Venice is an extraordinary architectural masterpiece. It was founded in the 5^th century when Venetian populations, desperate to escape Barbarian raids, found refuge on the sandy islands of Torcello, Jesolo and Malamocco. The settlement eventually became permanent and emerged as a major maritime power and trading port, one of the greatest cities of the medieval world. Little remains of the islands’ primitive topography; replaced by the canals of a city built on water. The years of the Venetian Republic’s golden age are represented by buildings of incomparable beauty: San Marco, Palazzo Ducale, San Zanipolo.

Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan from its foundation until the middle of the nineteenth century. As the centre of Japanese culture for over a millennium, it contains many splendid examples of Japanese wooden architecture and gardens. From Kinkaku-ji, the marvellous gold temple, to Fushimi Inara, the famous mountain shrine constructed of hundreds of red torii gates, Kyoto dazzles and beguiles. Be sure not to miss the nearby city of Nara and its 15m high bronze Buddha statue, housed in one of the largest wooden buildings ever constructed.

Atop an isolated rocky island on the vast sandbanks between Normany and Brittany sits Mont-Saint-Michel, a Gothic-style Benedictine abbey and the village that grew in its shadow. Built over 500 years beginning in the 11th century, it is one of France’s most recognisable landmarks. As the island is only accessible at low tide, it was easy to defend against invading armies. Later, the French Ancient Regime exploited this inaccessibility and used it as a prison.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living thing on earth – big enough be visible from space. This 2300km long underwater ecosystem comprises thousands of islands, marine life and colourful corals. In fact, the Reef contains over 400 types of coral, 1500 species of fish and over 4000 types of mollusc. It has been labelled one of the seven natural wonders of the world, though in recent years rising ocean temperatures have threatened the health of large parts of this amazing ecosystem.

Stonehenge is of the most puzzling archaeological sites in the world. It can be a haunting, mystical place. There is still some disagreement among scholars as to its construction and meaning. The famous stones are situated in the middle of the densest complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England. Archaeologists believe it was constructed over a thousand years, from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. Some believe it may have been a burial ground, and deposits of human bone found in the area date back as early as 3000 BC.

The ruins of the Roman city of Pompeii in southern Italy are one of the best preserved cities of classical antiquity. Located just a stone’s throw away from the modern city of Naples, Pompeii and the neighbouring Roman towns of Herculaneum and Terre Annunziata were famously ruined by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The civic buildings that lined the streets of this ancient resort town are still intact today: the Surgeon’s House, the House of Mysteries, the Stabian Baths and the College of the Priests of Augustus.

The Taj Mahal is a huge mausoleum made of white marble. It was built in Agra, India, between 1631 and 1648 by the heartbroken Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess who died giving birth to their child. Masons, stonecutters, carvers, painters and artisans were recruited from all over Central Asia and Iran for its construction. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. The poet Rabindranath Tagore described the structure as ‘a teardrop on the cheek of eternity’. The Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India.

Stretching over 21000km from Dandong in the east to Lop Lake in the west, the Great Wall of China is one of the most ambitious structures ever conceived by man. Chinese states began construction portions of the wall as early as the 7^th century BC to protect themselves against raiders from the nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe. The majority of the existing wall was built by the Ming Dynasty between 1368 and 1644. The most renowned sections wind like a serpent over the hills of Beijing municipality. It is a common misconception that the wall is one continuous structure: in reality it is separated into chunks by natural defences such as mountains, lakes and rivers.

The Acropolis is a world-famous citadel situated on a rocky outcrop above the Greek city of Athens. Its monuments are some of the greatest symbols of classical civilisation. Fortification walls have surrounded the summit for more than 3300 years, but the most impressive structures were built in the 5^th century BC following the Greek victory in their war against the Persians. The Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Propylaia and the temple of Athena Nike were all constructed at this time. The structures – symbolising Democracy, Philosophy, Freedom of Expression – have survived for almost twenty five centuries through wars, fires and earthquakes.

The Egyptian Pyramids are among the most incredible structures ever assembled by humans. They are located in Memphis, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Egypt from 3100 BC to 2200 BC. Towering over 146 meters above the surrounding desert, the Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest man-made structure in the world for more than 3800 years. There are over 100 identified Egyptian pyramids in the area.