Explore UNESCO World Heritage Sites From the Comfort of Home
Imagine gazing at the Pyramids of Giza, lingering with llamas at Machu Picchu, or hiking the heights of the Eiffel Tower, all from the comfort of home. These dazzling monuments are UNESCO World Heritage Sites – and now you can explore them with virtual tours from Google Earth, Google Arts and Culture, and other digital platforms. UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, selects World Heritage Sites based on cultural, historical, scientific, or other form of significance judged to be important for the collective and preservative interests of humanity. Today there are 869 cultural World Heritage Sites around the world. To access your virtual tour, tap or click on each monument’s name which appears in bold below.
France boasts 41 UNESCO World Heritage sites, but arguably the most beloved is the Eiffel Tower. Constructed from 1887 to 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair, it was initially criticized by some of France’s leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable and most-visited monuments in the world.
Listed for the past 30 years as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Château de Versailles constitutes one of the finest achievements of French art of the 17th century. The former hunting lodge of Louis XIII was transformed and extended by his son Louis XIV who installed here the Court and the government of France in 1682. Up until the French Revolution, a line of kings succeeded each other, each taking his turn to embellish the Palace, The Hall of Mirrors, the King’s Grand Apartments, and the gardens. The Palace of Versailles is one of the most visited cultural sites in the world today.
The Taj Mahal is an immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife. The Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India and is considered to be the greatest architectural achievement in the whole range of Indo-Islamic architecture.
Take an interactive tour of Stonehenge with 360 degree views from inside the monument, courtesy of English Heritage. Located in south Wiltshire, Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites are home to some of the most famous megaliths in the world. The significance of these prehistoric monuments is still being explored and understood. English Heritage cares for over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites, from world-famous prehistoric sites and grand medieval castles to Roman forts and a Cold War bunker.
The Great Sphinx of Giza, commonly referred to as the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a reclining or couchant sphinx (a mythical creature with a lion’s body and a human head) that stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The face of the Sphinx is generally believed to represent the face of the Pharaoh Khafra.
In ancient times, the Great Pyramid of Giza was considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Today it is the last standing wonder of the ancient world, as the other five were destroyed by fire or earthquakes. The capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt is known for its extraordinary funerary monuments, including rock tombs, ornate mastabas, temples and pyramids.
The Great Wall of China
The China Guide is offering arm chair travelers the chance to take a virtual hike on the Great Wall of China. As China’s most famous attraction, the Great Wall of China is an essential stop on all China tours. Commonly considered a wonder of the world, the Great Wall boasts a history of over 2,000 years and stretches more than 3,000 miles across several provinces of northern China, making it one of the most impressive ancient structures on the planet.
Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru perched on a 7,970 ft mountain ridge. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, above the Sacred Valley, 50 miles northwest of Cuzco. The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate.
Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura, the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. The temple is at the pinnacle of the high classical style of Khmer architecture, and has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag and is the country’s prime attraction for visitors.
Photo credits:
Photo #1: The Eiffel Tower
Photo #2: The Eiffel Tower
Photo #3: Château de Versailles
Photo #4: Google Arts and Culture
Photo #5: English Heritage
Photo #6: Google Earth
Photo #7: Google Maps
Photo #8: The China Guide
Photo #9: Google Arts and Culture
Photo #10: Google Earth