UNESCO World Heritage

Sacred sites that have shaped the development of humankind.

Wherever I travel, I always reserve time to visit the churches, synagogues, and other sacred sites of a country. The peace, the calm, the serenity, the history, the architecture, and (at times, when fortunate) the music – all transform me. I sit in awe. I walk around, I explore, I absorb it all, I wait for my senses to tingle with delight.

Below is a list of UNESCO World Heritage sites I have visited, as well as sacred spaces, museums, and libraries from around the world that I have spent time exploring. Twenty-six countries visited and counting.

UNESCO World Heritage List

(01) Australia
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (Ayers Rock – Mount Olga)
Sydney Opera House
Great Synagogue of Sydney (sacred space)

(02) Austria
Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg
Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn
Historic Centre of Vienna

(03) China
Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang
Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian
The Great Wall
Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing
Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing
Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas
The Grand Canal

(04) Cuba

(05) Denmark

(06) Dominican Republic
Colonial City of Santo Domingo

(07) Finland

(08) France
Palace and Park of Versailles
Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments
Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct)
Bourges Cathedral
Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge
Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Rémi and Palace of Tau, Reims
Paris, Banks of the Seine
Historic Site of Lyon

(09) Germany
Speyer Cathedral
Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Upper Middle Rhine Valley
Speyer Synagogue (archaeological sacred site)
Abbey of St. Hildegard, Eibingen, Germany (sacred site)

(10) Greece
Acropolis, Athens
Old Town of Corfu

(11) Haiti
National History Park – Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers

(12) Israel
Masada
Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of Jewish Renewal

(13) Italy
Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Historic Centre of Florence
Piazza del Duomo, Pisa
Venice and its Lagoon
Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata
Great Synagogue of Rome (sacred site)

(14) Japan

(15) Mexico

(16) Netherlands
Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht

(17) Norway
West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord and NærøyfjordSeventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht

(18) Russia

(19) Spain

(20) Sweden
Royal Domain of Drottningholm
Skogskyrkogården
Hanseatic Town of Visby
Naval Port of Karlskrona

(21) Switzerland
Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch

(22) Tanzania – United Republic of
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Serengeti National Park
Kilimanjaro National Par

(23) Thailand – Kingdom of

(24) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Durham Castle and Cathedral
Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites
Blenheim Palace
City of Bath
Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey including Saint Margaret’s Church
Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine’s Abbey, and St Martin’s Church
Tower of London
Rosslyn Chapel, Scotland (sacred site)
Salisbury Cathedral (sacred site)
King’s College Chapel, Cambridge (sacred space)
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (sacred space)
Glastonbury Abbey (in ruins) (sacred site)
Holy Island of Lindisfarne (sacred site)

Museums and Libraries – to see the manuscripts of the sacred texts of the world’s great religions
• British Library
• Bodleian Library, Oxford
• Cambridge University Library

(25) United States of America
Grand Canyon National Park
Independence Hall
Redwood National and State Parks
Statue of Liberty
Yosemite National Park
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright – Hollyhock House, and others

Wayfarers Chapel, Rancho Palos Verdes (sacred space)
Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York (sacred space)
Trinity Church, New York (sacred space)
St. Paul’s Chapel, New York (sacred space)
First Parish Church, Concord (sacred space)
Old South Meeting House, Boston (sacred space)
Memorial Church, Harvard, Boston (sacred space)
National Cathedral, Washington, DC (sacred space)
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC (sacred space)
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue, Charleston (sacred space)

Museums and Libraries – to see the manuscripts of the sacred texts of the world’s great religions
• Museum of the Bible, Washington, D.C.
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.

(26) Vatican City State – Holy See
Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Vatican City
Museums and Libraries – to see the manuscripts of the sacred texts of the world’s great religions
• Vatican Library