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Feb 21, 2018 · February 21, 2018. • 5 min read. The Taj Mahal is widely considered one of the most beautiful buildings ever created. The exquisite marble structure in Agra, India, is a mausoleum, an enduring ...
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Taj Mahal. An immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, the Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage. Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0.
- Syracuse and The Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica
- Agrigento and The Valley of The Temples
- Villa Romana Del Casale
- Arab-Norman Palermo and The Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale
- The Late Baroque Towns of The Val Di Noto
- Mount Etna
- The Aeolian Islands
Following its defeat of Athens in 413BC, Syracusebecame arguably the most influential city in Magna Graecia. Visitors today can wonder at the archaeological site, whose superb Greek theatre takes pride of place. There's the island heart of the town, Ortigia, whose labyrinthine streets weave around ancient ruins, mythological sites and markets. Then...
Founded in the 6th century BC by colonists from Rhodes and Crete, Akagras, as Agrigento was known, soon became a thriving Greek city. Its wealth is manifest in its magnificent religious constructions, including the eight temples built between 510 BC and 430 BC. According to UNESCO, the Valley of the Temples “is one of the most outstanding monuments...
Situated just outside the historic town of Piazza Armerina in Sicily’shinterland, the 4th century AD Villa Romana del Casale was only fully unearthed in the 20th century. What the archaeologists discovered was simply stunning. Around 3500m2 of beautifully preserved Roman mosaics depicting Homeric escapades, mythological scenes and portrayals of the...
Unique in the world, Palermo’s Arab-Norman architecture has delighted and fascinated art historians for centuries. The Norman domination of the ancient city of Sicily began in 1060 and lasted for over one hundred years. After vanquishing the Arabs, the Normans opted for a regime of religious and cultural tolerance. They embraced many aspects of Ara...
In 1693, a terrible earthquake devastated the southeast of Sicily, flattening towns and killing hundreds. The response to this disaster was Phoenixesque, arising from the rubble that sparked the beginning of an inspiring, utterly beautiful late Baroque renaissance. Some towns were rebuilt from scratch on new sites, others stayed where they had alwa...
Mount Etna, Europe’s highest active volcano at 3,350m, dominates Sicily’s east coast and has literally shaped the area’s destiny for around half a million years. It’s not only Etna’s height that is impressive, but also its surface area. At 1,190km2, it's home to a vast variety of landscapes, from crater-topped lava fields to forests, vast expanses ...
Emerging from the Tyrrhenian Sea about 30km to the north of Sicily, the Aeolian archipelago’s volcanic origins are clear to see. Several have that classic volcano shape a child might draw and two of them, Vulcano and Stromboli, are still active. Vulcano gave its name to all volcanoes, and features bubbling sulfurous mud baths. Stromboli fires off s...
- Via San Tommaso D'Aquino, 18, Italy, 09134
- Archaeological Area of Agrigento, listed in 1997. Founded in the 6th Century B.C., the ancient city of Agrigento was one of the greatest Mediterranean centres.
- Villa Romana del Casale, listed in 1997. Late Roman Villa located in “Contrada Casale” (Casale district), at the foot of Mont Mangone. Villa Romana has been built around III – IV century B.C.
- Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands), listed in 2000. The Aeolian Islands are located north of the coast of Sicily. The 7 islands which compose the archipelago (Panarea, Stromboli, Vulcano, Alicudi, Filicudi, Lipari and Salina, more 5 small islets) are all of volcanic origins and are separated from the land of Sicily by 200 m deep waters.
- Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (South-Eastern Sicily), listed in 2002. The Baroque towns listed by Unesco were rebuilt in 1693 after a terrible earthquake.
- Mount Etna. Most famous of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Sicily is Mount Etna. It’s the largest volcano in Europe, and is almost constantly erupting!
- Aeolian Islands – Sicily UNESCO Site. Sicily’s next UNESCO site is a group of seven volcanic islands, just off the northern coastline of Sicily. Two of the islands are still active volcanoes – Stromboli, and Vulcano.
- Historic City of Syracuse – Sicily UNESCO Site. Syracuse is another Sicily UNESCO site with a fascinating history. These days it’s among the largest cities on Sicily, but its origins stretch back to 500 BC.
- Archaeological Area of Agrigento – Sicily UNESCO Site. This was a very special World Heritage site visit for us. Agrigento was set up by Greek colonists around 600 BC, and was among the most important Greek Mediterranean colonies.
May 6, 2024 · Taj Mahal, Agra, India, designated a World Heritage site in 1983. Taj Mahal, mausoleum complex in Agra, western Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahān (reigned 1628–58) to immortalize his wife Mumtaz Mahal (“Chosen One of the Palace”), who died in childbirth in 1631, having been the ...
The Taj Mahal ( / ˌtɑːdʒ məˈhɑːl, ˌtɑːʒ -/; lit. 'Crown of the Palace') is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan ( r. 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the ...
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