World Heritage Day 2019

Meridian Column

2019’s International Day for Monuments and Sites, aka World Heritage Day is April 18.  We've visited several UNESCO sites over the years.   We will highlight some of them here.  Click the links to learn more about these sites.

Hammerfest World's Northernmost Town

Our ship, Hurtigruten Ms. Vesteralen, visited Hammerfest, the northernmost town in the world during our Norway coastal voyage. We boarded a bus which took us to the Meridian Column, which is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites and commemorates the first official measurement of the exact size and shape of the Earth.

Kinderdijk - Old Meets New

Much of Holland is below sea level, but yet it doesn't flood. Why? A visit to Kinderdijk gives you the extraordinary opportunity to visit a UNESCO World Heritage in Holland and answer the question for yourself.

During your visit you can see 19 windmills from the 18th century and even go inside one to see what it was like to live there.



St Castor Basilica Koblenz

The Basilica of St. Castor is the oldest church in Koblenz.  It is located near Deutsches Eck at the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle. Pope John Paul II raised St. Castor to a basilica minor on 30 July 1991.

Since 2002, the Basilica of St. Castor has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. In addition, it is a cultural property protected under the Hague Convention.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

  of Pompeii

It was a summer day in August 79 A.D. when  Mt. Vesuvius rumbled, an ominous cloud formed, residents fled to save their lives, and a city was lost in a sea of ash. For nearly 1700 years, the ancient Roman cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii would lay hidden under 75 feet of volcanic ash until their accidental discovery and subsequent excavation.

Pompeii was known as a vacation community for high society before the eruption; it had a forum, amphitheater, gymnasium, shops and an aqueduct that delivered water for irrigation, fountains and private baths. Some of the ruins are remarkably preserved with elaborately detailed mosaics and colorful frescoes decorating the interiors of wealthy homeowners' villas.

What was life like under the volcano? What exactly did happen that summer day in A.D. 79? 

Exploring a Lost City

Fast forward to current day...   we exit our motorcoach and walk along the path to the entrance of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Shortly after entering the site we see evidence of remarkably well preserved buildings from the Lost City.

Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris

This week the world watched in horror as one of the most famous heritage sites was engulfed in flames. Speaking in response to the fire, UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, said

 “Notre Dame represents a historically, architecturally, and spiritually, outstanding universal heritage. It is also a monument of literary heritage, a place that is unique in our collective imagination”.

She continued, "The inferno which engulfed the cathedral, but appears to have left the medieval stonework intact, reminds us of the power of heritage that connects us to one another. We are receiving messages of support from all over the world.”

 The Cathedral is part of the World Heritage site officially known as “Paris, Banks of the Seine”, inscribed on the World Heritage List, in 1991. This photo was taken during a visit on 9/11/2001.