A gift from the people of France in honor of the 100th anniversary of American independence, the Statue … [+]
Many of our planet’s most iconic landmarks—the Egyptian pyramids, the Roman Colosseum, Stonehenge, and those giant heads on Easter Island—are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
There are about 1,200 of them around the world, places and things that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization considers to have cultural, natural or historical significance of extraordinary value to humanity.
The sites are spread across 168 countries and all continents. Italy leads the ranking with 59 designations, followed by China, France, Germany, Spain and India.
And even though many Americans don’t realize it, the United States is not far behind when it comes to world heritage sites.
By 2024, the U.S. boasts 25 sites in 21 different states and Puerto Rico. They fall into four main categories: nature, history, Native American, and a very special architecture category that includes the work of a single individual.
How many of these have you visited?
Bison and geysers — two of the features that helped earn UNESCO World Heritage status … [+]
Natural attractions
In Wrangell-St Elias in Alaska for the swamp in Florida, Hawaiian Volcanoes for the Great Smoky Mountains In North Carolina and Tennessee, 14 US national parks are World Heritage Sites.
Soon after the program began in the 1970s, Yellowstone and Mesa Verde were among the first sites in the world to receive the distinction.
UNESCO praised Yellowstone for “showcasing significant geological phenomena and processes” as well as a “unique manifestation of geothermal forces, natural beauty and wild ecosystems where rare and endangered species thrive.”
Although it is also a place of great natural beauty, Green Table was chosen for exceptional archaeological sites that “provide eloquent testimony to the ancient cultural traditions of Native American tribes. They represent a graphic link between the past and present ways of life of the Puebloan peoples of the American Southwest.”
Several national parks are on UNESCO’s tentative list for World Heritage status, including Big curve in Texas, White Sands in New Mexico and Petrified Forest in Arizona.
Thomas Jefferson designed the elegant Rotunda and pavilions that flank The Lawn at the University of … [+]
American History
Several of the country’s most iconic structures are World Heritage Sites, including Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were debated, drafted, and signed on both sides of the American Revolution.
France marked a century of American independence — and one of the inspirations for its own revolution — by gifting a colossal metal sculpture called Freedom to illuminate the world to New York City. More commonly called Statue of LibertyThe Green Goddess was named a World Heritage Site in 1984.
The elegant Thomas Jefferson Monticello house and the “Academic Village” that he designed for the neighboring University of Virginia are a combined heritage that UNESCO praises for “the originality of their plans and designs and the refinement of their proportions and decoration” and how the architecture invokes “freedom, nobility, self-determination and prosperity.”
Reflecting several centuries of Spanish colonial rule in the American Southwest, the five San Antonio Missions and an old ranch south of Texas City are combined into another history-focused location. Puerto Rico La Fortaleza and Old San Juan world heritage was also created by Spanish colonists.
The Cliff Palace is one of the largest and most dramatic of the more than 600 archaeological sites in … [+]
Native American Heritage
Native American relics make up a quarter of the country’s UNESCO cultural heritage sites.
The Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings may have been the first to receive World Heritage status, but others are equally impressive in terms of architecture and cultural significance.
By far the most famous is Taos Townwhich has been occupied continuously for over 500 years and is still home to around 150 full-time residents.
Further west, in New Mexico, are impressive ruins associated with the Chaco Culture which flourished in the region between 850 and 1250 AD
On the other hand, the Hopewell Hills in Ohio, the semicircular earthworks in Poverty Point in Louisiana, and the great pyramid of Cahokia near St. Louis were created by complex and highly sophisticated Native American cultures that flourished in the Mississippi watershed for centuries before the arrival of the first Europeans.
The famous Fallingwater House in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, is considered the pinnacle of architecture. … [+]
Frank Lloyd Wright
Rarely is a single individual responsible for the creation of an entire World Heritage Site. But when that person is legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the choice seems obvious.
Eight of his masterpieces in six states are enshrined in the 20º Frank Lloyd Wright’s Century Architecture site, which stretches across the country from California to New York.
Several are well known, including the whirlpool Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan, the incredible Waterfall house in Pennsylvania, and the monumental Taliesin West in Arizona, where Wright spent more than 20 winters.
Others are more obscure but equally surprising: the Mayan Revival style Hollyhock House in Los Angeles and the simple yet elegant brick and wood design of the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs’ first home in Wisconsin.
