Many travelers recognize the significance of the designation conferred by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO World Heritage sites are comprised of some 878 properties worldwide which form “part of the cultural and natural heritage that the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.” By meeting strict criteria pertaining to natural or cultural significance, some of Europe’s most obvious places are included on the list. It comes as no surprise, for example, that Cologne’s cathedral, southern Italy’s Pompeii, Athens’ Acropolis and the west Norwegian fjord landscape all make the cut.

Delve a little deeper into UNESCO’s list, however, and you will discover that it is by no means a static entity. Many new sites are inscribed onto the list each year. Conversely, when countries fail to protect the integrity of their properties, they can be removed from UNESCO World Heritage site status.

Curious about some of Europe’s most recent entries? Sites inscribed in 2008 are as follows:

Croatia: 

Stary Grad Plain

France:

Bordeaux, Port of the Moon

Fortifications of Vauban

Germany:

Berlin Modernism Housing Estates

Italy:

Mantua and Sabbioneta

Rhaetian Railway of Albula/Bernina (an area shared with Switzerland)

San Marino:

Historic center and Mount Titano

Slovakia:

Wooden churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area

Switzerland:

Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona

Is there a danger that the widening of the UNESCO “brand name” could have a detrimental effect? The International Herald Tribune’s article of Sept. 5, 2008 “In Japan, a ghost town becomes a boom town” is an interesting read as to the ramifications of the naming of a site in Japan to the UNESCO heritage list.