ISSN 1993-8616
2008 - number 6
World Heritage: great escapes
© UNESCO /Véronique Dauge
Al-Hijr (Saudi Arabia) is one of the latest sites inscribed on the World Heritage List.
For the third consecutive year, the UNESCO Courier devotes its July-August double issue to new sites listed as world heritage. This time, you will visit fossilized cliffs in Canada, considered the "Galapagos of the Carboniferous period", the island of Surtsey in Iceland, which emerged from the sea 45 years ago, the vestiges of prehistoric agriculture in Papua New Guinea, Armenian churches in Iran, the birthplace of famous poet Nicolás Guillén in Cuba and the former hideout of runaway slaves in Mauritius. More
Le Morne, spelled out
Morning, Oppression, Reverie… with these words Mauritian poet Édouard J. Maunick begins to write “Le Morne”, a name charged with emotion, a mountain laden with memory, a sacred place in the history of the maroon - runaway slaves - of Mauritius, and now a World Heritage site. More
Legendary Camagüey
The birthplace of Cuba’s national poet, Nicolás Guillén, has just been inscribed on the World Heritage List. With its red tiles, neoclassical façades with their louver-boards and pilasters, windows and carved screens, the city of Camagüey offers its visitors a haughty and legendary beauty More
Three Armenian jewels in Iran
The northwest provinces in Iran have sheltered a number of Armenian churches for several centuries. As time went by, cultural interpenetration left there an astonishing mixture of symbols within the typically Armenian architecture. Three monastic ensembles in this region were inscribed this year on the World Heritage List. More
A world cradle of agriculture
Against all odds, Kuk Swamp proves that agriculture started in Papua New Guinea 10,000 years ago. Kuk Swamp, a new World Heritage site, holds treasured remains of early agriculture and drainage. By cultivating the land, the Kawelka people preserve their heritage. More
Surtsey Island: a life-size laboratory
The island of Surtsey (Iceland), recently added to the World Heritage List, has been a unique opportunity for scientists to monitor evolution since the day it emerged from the sea in 1963. The once barren volcanic island preserved from human interference is now crowding with plants, insects and birds. More
Tropical Canada!
Two metre long “millipedes” and thirty metre high “scale trees” once inhabited the now ghostly Joggins forest, on the western coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. A geological wonder, the Joggins Fossil Cliffs have been added to the World Heritage List. More
