A World Heritage Site is a place (such as a building, city, complex, desert, forest, island, lake, monument, or mountain) that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as being of special cultural or physical significance. The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 UNESCO member states which are elected by the General Assembly.
UNESCO World Heritage sites
-
10Palmeral of Elche
The Palmeral of Elche, a landscape of groves of date palms, was formally laid out, with elaborate irrigation systems, at the time the Muslim city of Elche was erected, towards the end of the tenth century A.C., when much of the Iberian peninsula was Arab.
-
2Pamukkale (Cotton Castle)
Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water.
-
10Paoay Church
The Saint Augustine Church, commonly known as the Paoay Church, is the Roman Catholic church of the municipality of Paoay, Ilocos Norte in the Philippines.
-
10Park Guell
The Park Guell is a public park system composed of gardens and architectonic elements located on Carmel Hill, in Barcelona, Catalonia.
-
10Part of the Chihuahua-Pacific Railway
The Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacifico (Chihuahua-Pacific Railway), also known as El Chepe from its reporting mark CHP, or Ferrocarril Chihuahua-Pacifico is a major rail line in northwest Mexico, linking the city of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, to the city of Los Mochis, Sinaloa and its port Topolobampo.
-
10Pasargadae
Pasargadae was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great who had issued its construction (559–530 BC), it was also the location of his tomb. It was a city in ancient Persia, located near the city of Shiraz, and is today an archaeological site and one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
-
10Pashupatinath Temple
The Pashupatinath Temple is a famous, sacred Hindu temple dedicated to Pashupatinath and is located on the banks of the Bagmati River 5 kilometres north-east of Kathmandu Valley in the eastern city of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
-
10Patan Durbar Square
Patan Durbar Square is situated at the centre of the city of Lalitpur in Nepal. It is one of the three Durbar Squares in the Kathmandu Valley, all of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One of its attraction is the ancient royal palace where the Malla Kings of Lalitpur resided.
-
3Patriarchate of Pec
The Patriarchate of Pec is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located near Pec, in Kosovo. The complex of churches is the spiritual seat and mausoleum of the Serbian archbishops and patriarchs.
-
10Pavlovsk Palace
Pavlovsk Palace is an 18th-century Russian Imperial residence built by Catherine the Great for her son, Grand Duke Paul, in Pavlovsk, within Saint Petersburg. After his death, it became the home of his widow, Maria Feodorovna. The palace and the large English garden surrounding it are now a Russian state museum and public park.
-
5Peacock Island, (Pfaueninsel )
Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island) is an island in the River Havel situated in Berlin-Wannsee, in southwestern Berlin, near the border with Potsdam and Brandenburg.
-
10Pena National Palace
The Pena National Palace is a Romanticist palace in Sao Pedro de Penaferrim, in the municipality of Sintra, Portugal. The palace stands on the top of a hill in the Sintra Mountains above the town of Sintra, and on a clear day it can be easily seen from Lisbon and much of its metropolitan area.
-
10Persepolis
Persepolis, also known as Takht-e-Jamshid, was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550–330 BC).
-
7Petajavesi Old Church
The Petajavesi Old Church is a wooden church located in Petajavesi, Finland. It was built between 1763 and 1765, when Tavastia was still a part of Sweden. The bell tower was built in 1821. It was inscribed in 1994 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
-
10Petergof
Petergof or Peterhof, known as Petrodvorets from 1944 to 1997, is a municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland.
-
10Peterhof Grand Palace
The Peterhof Grand Palace is actually a part of palaces and gardens, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great. These Palaces and gardens are sometimes referred as the "Russian Versailles".
-
10Petra
Petra, originally known as Raqmu to the Nabataeans, is a historical and archaeological city in the southern Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system. Another name for Petra is the Rose City due to the color of the stone out of which it is carved.
-
5Pfalzgrafenstein Castle
Pfalzgrafenstein Castle is a toll castle on the Falkenau island, otherwise known as Pfalz Island in the Rhine river near Kaub, Germany. Known as "the Pfalz," this former stronghold is famous for its picturesque and unique setting.
-
10Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park
Phong Nha-Ke Bang is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Bo Trach and Minh Hoa districts of central Quang Bình Province in the North Central Coast region, about 500 km south of Hanoi.
-
7Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk
The Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk at Zelena Hora is a religious building at the edge of Zdar nad Sazavou, Czech Republic, near the historical border between Moravia and Bohemia. It is the final work of Jan Santini Aichel, a Bohemian architect who combined the Borrominiesque Baroque with references to Gothic elements in both construction and decoration.
-
10Pingyao County
Pingyao is a county in central Shanxi province in China. During the Qing Dynasty, Pingyao was a financial centre of China.
-
10Pirin National Park
Pirin National Park is a World Heritage national park that encompasses the larger part of the Pirin Mountains in the southwest of Bulgaria. It has an area of about 400 km² (150 sq mi) and lies at an altitude from 1,008 to 2,914 m (3,307–9,560 ft).
-
10Place d’Alliance (Alliance Square), Nancy
The Place d’Alliance is certainly the smallest, however the most intimate square of Nancy. It is located just a stone’s throw from the Place Stanislas. It was listed by the UNESCO as a work of art, of peace and refinement alongside the adjacent Place Stanislas and Place de la Carriere.
-
10Place de la Carriere (Carriere Square), Nancy
The discreet square is part of the architectural ensemble of the 18th century wanted by Stanislas I Leszczynski, former King of Poland and father-in-law to King Louis XV of France. Place de la Carriere, along with Place Stanislas and Place d’Alliance have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.
-
10Place Stanislas, Nancy
The Place Stanislas, known colloquially as the place Stan', is a large pedestrianized square in Nancy, Lorraine, France. Since 1983, the architectural ensemble comprising the Place Stanislas, the extension of its axis, the Place de la Carriere, and the Place d'Alliance, has been on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
