Since there are a ton of World Heritage Sites throughout Europe, I thought I'd start off with those visited closest to home, in Spain. It's no surprise that Spain is high on the Eurocentric (four of the top five are in Europe) list of countries with the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites. As of 2019, Spain is ranked number 2 or 3, since first place is a tie between China and Italy. Again, this is only a collection of places I've personally visited. The full list of sites is available here. And because I'm not one to make a countdown list (one might say that I've picked up the Galician traits of diplomacy and indecisiveness in my years living here), they are in no particular order.
Get ready, this is gonna get long!
Get ready, this is gonna get long!
Tried to get in on a visit to Granada with a friend from home in 2014. Foolishly, though, we went during Semana Santa and hadn't made reservations. Waking up before dawn and climbing the hill to try to get any leftover tickets was not completely worthless though. Lesson learned for next time: if possible buy tickets to famous sites in advanced! Especially during high season.
So two years later on another girls' trip through Andalucía, with tickets booked ahead of time, I finally saw the Alhambra! It's considered a World Heritage site due to being the only remaining Moorish (Muslim) Medieval palace in Spain. Very detailed carved plaster interiors combine with beautifully-arranged outdoor gardens to make it one of Spain's most common tourist destinations for good reason!
While studying abroad in San Sebastián in 2012, Burgos was one of our group fieldtrips. This Gothic Cathedral was started in the 13th century and wasn't finished until the 16th. Because it took so long to construct, it shows the evolution of Gothic architecture, one of the reasons it made the list of World Heritage sites. Also El Cid--a major symbol of Spain during the Reconquista--is buried there.
Another former Moorish city in Andalucía, my friend and I visited this lovely, sunny city in 2014. And unlike the Alhambra, we were able to get into the main attractions: the Mezquita and the Alcázar de los Reyes. The Mezquita was Córdoba's mosque, converted into a church by King Ferdinand. The latter was a fortress/palace built during the Reconquista. A millennium ago, Córdoba was said to have 300 mosques!The historic city made the list because it still holds remnants of the multiple cultures that settled there: Roman, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and more.
It took multiple trips to the vibrant city of Barcelona to see some of Gaudí's works, and I still haven't seen them all. I only saw the outside of the famed (and still incomplete!) Sagrada Familia on my first trip in 2011. On my second visit there to see a penpal in 2012, I saw the whimsical Parc Güell. Most recently, on a solo trip in 2018 I actually went inside the Sagrada Familia and also toured Casa Milà. I'm just missing a few houses on the list of seven of his architectural works. The structures made the list of World Heritage Sites due to the impact Gaudi's creations had on turn-of-the-century modern architecture. An artist ahead of his time!
Segovia's Old Town and Aqueduct
Segovia was one of the first places I saw when I came to Spain. As it's close to Madrid, it was included as a day trip in our three-day welcoming tour when I studied abroad. The main reason to visit (and to consider it a World Heritage site) is the impressive Roman aqueduct which is still standing. Two layers, half a mile, almost 2000 years. After you pass under the monstrosity to enter the city, there are other noteworthy buildings such as a Gothic church and fortress.
Santiago de Compostela
One of Spain's several UNESCO World Heritage cities, I had the privilege of living here in 2016-2017. The only downside to living within a World Heritage site is having to share it with so many tourists. But being surrounded by centuries of history was unlike any previous American experience. I really appreciated the old stones and architecture. Obviously the main attraction of Compostela is the epic Cathedral which supposedly houses the remains of St. James the Greater. Because of this, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have been making the journey (usually on foot) to this holy city since the Middle Ages.
Like Segovia, this was included on my first exploration of Spain. Unlike Segovia, I actually wrote about my experience. And similarly to other cities on the list, Toledo is a World Heritage site because it wonderfully and peacefully combines the histories of multiple religions and cultures: namely Jewish, Muslim, and Christian.
On yet another girls' trip, friends living in different parts of Andalucía (plus two of us from Lugo) converged in Sevilla on a long weekend in 2016. I remember being surprised at how much I liked the city, since I usually don't like big cities (okay, so it doesn't even have 1 million residents, but it's big enough to have a metro, so...). Also there seemed to be excellent and diverse nightlife, something I wished we could have taken advantage of at the time.
Sevilla's historic sites are part of World Heritage because they demonstrate Spain's Golden Age, a time when Christianity had just decimated the Moors (although the stylistic influences remain) and Spain was off to invade the New World. On top of that, Sevilla's Cathedral is the biggest Gothic church in Europe.
This university city was our first stop when I chaperoned a school trip throughout western Spain and Portugal. The university is one of the oldest in Europe, which helped it earn its place on UNESCO's list. Not to mention other landmarks from throughout the centuries, such as Salamanca's enormous Plaza Mayor, in the Baroque style. That very plaza has been a meeting place for generations of college students who nowadays use it to hold their own premature New Year's Eve, before they go home to their families for the holidays.
The next stop on the aforementioned school fieldtrip was to Mérida in Extremadura. I was blown away by the Roman monuments all over the place! Since that visit, attending the summer theater festival that takes place on the actual Ancient Roman stage has been on my list of top vacation ideas. UNESCO also took note of these amazing, fantastically-preserved Roman remains. That's why the circus, amphitheater, theater, bridge, and water system are all considered World Heritage Sites.
On a weekend in 2015 spent with fellow English speakers seeing the sites close to Lugo, we discovered Las Médulas. Right outside of green, green Galicia, this former gold mine grabs your attention with its bright orange mountains. Because it is well-preserved and exemplifies Roman technologies used nearly 2000 years ago, it made UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.
While visiting Madrid again for a long weekend in 2014, we ventured out to this city (a short train ride from the capital), in part because our friend had studied abroad there a few years before and was eager to return and act as a tour guide. Alcalá de Henares was the first city in the world to be planned around a university, leading the way for other colleges in Europe and the ¨New World.¨ The city and university are also worthy of the title World Heritage Site because of their effects on the Spanish language, especially via its famous author, Cervantes. Today the main international institution of Castillian language and culture is named after him: Instituto Cervantes.
These thousand-year-old churches nestled between mountains were a required stop on our road trip to the Pyrenees in summer 2018. I was mostly surprised by the fact that there were so many churches in such close proximity. Also, they're wonderfully conserved, especially when you compare with some of Galicia's historical landmarks. UNESCO chose it because if its exemplary Romanesque architecture, practically untouched and in a rural setting.
Archaeological Site of Atapuerca
On the same study abroad fieldtrip to Burgos, we made a stop at this open archaeological dig. Unfortunately, I didn't include it in my musings about Burgos. In the caves of Atapuerca there is evidence of the earliest humans in Europe, certainly making it a World Heritage Site. The abundant fossils date back to a million years ago, but also include pieces from the Common Era. Excavation is still underway.
Another World Heritage Site found in Galicia, this partially restored Roman lighthouse is within the boundaries of the city of A Coruña. I've never gone inside, but have observed it from the walkway below on several occasions. The lighthouse made the cut because its mere existence demonstrates the Atlantic trade routes which have been used to connect Europe and beyond for centuries.
This gorgeous landscape was not to be missed on my first (and so far only) trip to a Mediterranean island. In this part of Mallorca, houses and farmland dot the mountainside. The Serra shows how humans have adapted to nature, in this case working the mountainside into terraces of farmable land. It also contains technology of the past, such as antique watering systems. For these reasons the ¨Cultural landscape¨ is considered a part of World Heritage.
Lugo's Roman Wall
And lastly, the site closest to home. While I don't live within the Wall, I do live just a quick walk from it and pass through its gates on a near-daily basis. Most of Lugo's action happens inside the confines of the Wall. It's also a popular place to take a walk, on top of a World Heritage Site. How many other cities can say they have a full Roman wall? ZERO. It's the only compete Roman wall in the world, perhaps because rather than taking away stones to build houses like in other areas, the people of Lugo just built their houses onto the wall, constructing only three sides and using it as the fourth. In many ways, living in Lugo first has spoiled me in terms of being impressed by ancient ruins. While other cities giddily boast about their fraction of a Roman/Medieval wall, I feel unimpressed because in Lugo we've still got the entire thing!
Thus concludes this tremendously long post. Going through so many travel photos has really made me want to get back to it! I miss travelling, but also miss being in awe of centuries-old landmarks. Most of the time I forget how great it is to be living in Europe among history. The feeling when I first arrived of ¨OMG I'm here!¨ Anyways, look out for future posts about UNESCO World Heritage Sites I've visited outside of the Spanish State as well as some pre-COVID-19 adventures that I never got around to writing about.
