UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 3rd Session [3] Quiz

Answer: Tikal

Guatemala had two sites listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites listing in 1979, the first being the inland city of Antigua Guatemala and the second the instantly recognizable ruins found in Tikal National Park. Found deep in the rainforest, these Mayan ruins date back more than two thousand years, being one of the most important cities in this Mesoamerican culture. Though the site was abandoned by the tenth century AD, Tikal also happens to be one of the best-preserved Mayan sites, partly due to UNESCO's support.

At one time, it's believe this city held more than ninety thousand inhabitants.

Answer: Independence Hall

One of three U.S. sites added in this UNESCO session, Independence Hall also happens to be the first cultural structure for the nation, and it's only fitting that this seminal spot be where the Declaration of Independence was signed by the American Founding Fathers. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the site also acted as the main building for what was, then, the government of the U.S. capital. Philly was only the capital for ten years though; it would switch to Washington DC in 1800.

Answer: Damascus

The Ancient City of Damascus, the capital of Syria, is one of the most important holy cities in Islam and one of the first Middle Eastern UNESCO World Heritage Sites (and the first in Syria). Unlike most UNESCO sites, however, this is one of a handful to have made its way on and off the list of at risk destinations; in this case, Damascus has been at risk due to the Syrian Civil War.

The importance of this site is marked by a span of thousands of years of history ranging from the Assyrians to the Greeks to the Romans and onward, and many of their influences have shaped the region as it became in the modern era.

Answer: Mount Everest

Perhaps this question overcomplicated things a bit - Sagarmatha National Park *is* Everest, with the word Sagarmatha being a Nepali word for the peak. Today a massive Nepalese tourist site, Sagarmatha was given National Park status a few years before UNESCO cited it a World Heritage Site amongst what would be several landmarks in the Sacred Himalayan Landscape.

In the same year it joined the Kathmandu Valley on the listing. Not bad for the planet's highest peak.

Answer: Thebes

Although now in the modern Egyptian city of Luxor, Waset/Thebes, was once a site of great importance in Ancient Egypt, situated much further along the Nile than Cairo and the Giza Plateau but still bearing massive significance in regards to the Kingdoms of pharaohs past. Amongst the sites found here are the Great Temple of Amun in Karnak, one of the world's largest religious buildings, Luxor Temple, and further into the desert, the Valley of the Kings. So important are these sites to history as a whole that the world's most reputable museums and art galleries are intrinsically linked to their preservation.

Answer: Ghana

A series of forts and castles built between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, this particular UNESCO World Heritage Site is an extensive one, stretching nearly five hundred kilometres along the Ghanan coastline through the nation's capital. Originally made as a string of trading posts for ships heading along the African coast, these Portuguese-built forts include a trio of castles amongst which you would find one of the oldest European-made buildings off the European continent (St. George's d'Elmina Castle).

Answer: Dinosaur Provincial Park

Although Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump would become a UNESCO site in 1981 and Wood Buffalo National Park would get its designation in 1983, Dinosaur Provincial Park predates those by nearly every metric, being the earliest of this set to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site and being formed on the basis of being a massive archaeological site for the unearthing of intact dinosaur fossils. Found in the badlands outside of Calgary, Alberta, this park has been the site of discovery for more than fifty different dinosaur species.

Answer: Tunis

In addition to seeing the Amphitheatre of El Jem and the Archaeological Site of Carthage added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1979, Tunisia had a third entry with the Medina of Tunis, the de facto center of Tunis' bustling marketplace which radiated outward from the middle of the Al-Zaytuna Mosque upon its completion in the late 7th century AD. Since then, this quarter of the city has become almost labyrinthine, comprised of markets, mosques, palaces, old fortifications, and narrow alleyways near the Lake of Tunis, the shallow lagoon that leads to the Mediterranean Sea.

Answer: Chartres

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres in Chartres, France is a massive High Gothic structure that took two dozen years to construct in the early thirteenth century. It became one of the best-preserved cathedrals in all of France, acting as one of the nation's most imposing and grandiose religious buildings amongst numerous.

Of particular note, the building was the site of the coronation of King Henry IV of France. While this would normally occur in the city of Reims (also UNESCO-protected as of 1991), continual sociopolitical shifts and evens in history led Chartres to be a one-off destination for an outlier occurrence.

Answer: Ethiopia

Ethiopia, a country that received two earlier UNESCO World Heritage Site designations in the program's inaugural year, received a third in 1979 with the Gondar Region's Fasil Ghebbi, the former fortress of the Ethiopian emperor in the 17th century. The fortress here was actually a small city containing not only a small royal palace, but a monastery and several small buildings which would have been used as marketplaces in their heyday. Restoration of the site commenced in the 1970s.