19 Amazing New UNESCO World Heritage Sites That Will Take Your Breath Away

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has been preserving landmarks around the world for more over 50 years. UNESCO continues to choose special locations all over the globe that must be shared with future generations. The organization has added 19 new World Heritage Sites to the growing list and the latest additions are truly stunning.

What makes these new landmarks so special? World Heritage Sites are chosen for their cultural, historical, and physical significance. Here are the 19 stunning new locations that are now destined to mesmerize more people in the future.

1. Sansa Buddhist Mountain Monasteries (Korea)

The seven temples that make up this new World Heritage Site were built between the 7th and 9th century. Although the location regularly plays host to hundreds of tourists, the Sansa is still an ideal place for daily religious practice.

2. Chiribiquete National Park (Colombia)

The Amazon park is home to over 75,000 paintings that decorate the walls in several rock shelters. The location is aptly dubbed, “The Maloca of the Jaguar” and is known for its table-top mountains.

3. Fanjingshan (China)

The Wuling mountain range of the Guizhou Province has a gorgeous giant in its midst. Fanjingshan is actually an island of metamorphic rock surrounded by karst. It is also home to several ancient species that survived from the Tertiary period.

4. Caliphate City of Medina Azahara (Spain)

The former seat of the Caliphate of Cordoba was built during the 10th century but was almost destroyed in a civil war. The city was forgotten for hundreds of years. However, it was rediscovered in the early 20th century.

5. Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region (Japan)

Kyushu Island has ten villages that was home to Christian missionaries and settlers in Japan. The island also has the Hara Castle as well as a cathedral that was built between the 16th and 19th centuries. It is a reminder of the times when Christian faith was prohibited in Japan.

6. Aasivissuit – Nipisat (Denmark)

The Inuit hunting grounds is a gorgeous landscape that takes pride in its long history. The hunting ground offers a glimpse at a culture that has survived for over 42,000 years.

7. Naumburg Cathedral (Germany)

The stunning cathedral was built in 1028 and is a perfect example of how Romanesque structure began adopting Gothic architecture. The Naumburg Cathedral was one of the first new World Heritage Sites announced by UNESCO earlier this year.

8. Göbekli Tepe (Turkey)

The site is known for its magnificent structures built by ancient hunters during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic age between 9,600 and 8,200 BC.

9. Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains (South Africa)

The site is home to some of the world’s oldest geological structures dating back 3.6 to 3.25 billion years.

10. Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley (Mexico)

UNESCO chose the site because it featured evidence of how ancient humans used technological developments like canals and aqueducts as they began domesticating crops.

11. Chaîne des Puys (France)

The property known as the Limagne fault tectonic arena is a direct result of the formation of the Alps almost 35 million years ago.

12. Archaeological Border complex of Hedeby and the Danevirke (Germany)

Back in the day, Hedeby was a major trading post that welcomed merchants from continental Europe and Scandinavia. The site offers a glimpse to how Europe thrived during the Viking Age.

13. Al-Ahsa Oasis (Saudi Arabia)

The largest oasis in the world is also a testament to how man adapted to his surroundings and somehow conquered the desert.

14. Pimachiowin Aki (Canada)

The forest known as “The Land That Gives Life” is home to an indigenous people called the Anishinaabeg. The communities continue to live in the forest and take special care to remain in harmony with the land.

15. Ivrea (Italy)

The city of Ivrea is an obvious choice for UNESCO due to its interesting architecture. The city brings architecture and industrial advancement together with stunning results.

16. Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of Fars Region (Iran)

A collection of eight archaeological sites located in Firuzabad, Bishapur and Sarvestan of the Fars Region are now World Heritage Sites. The landscape includes palaces and fortified structures that may have been around since 658 CE.

17. Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai (India)

Mumbai’s ascent as a global trading center has resulted in an amazing collection of buildings in the Victorian Neo-Gothic style as well as the Art Deco idiom. Not surprisingly, UNESCO chose to protect these impressive ensembles for future generations.

18. Thimlich Ohinga Archaeological Site (Kenya)

The well-preserved wall settlement called Thimlich Ohinga was built in the 16th century CE. Additionally, it may have protected livestock and communities for several years.

19. Ancient City of Qalhat (Oman)

The site once served the Hormuz princes during the 11th and 15th centuries CE. Today, it is proof that merchants from East Africa, India, China, and Southeast Asia traded in the east coast of Arabia.