[Serenity]

Post your photos from World Heritage Areas, places and buildings!
Anyone up for that?

I'll go first, with a photo from a part of the World Heritage Area of Laponia in the Northern part of Sweden.

Attached Images

 

[stevebrot]

This is a pretty tough challenge! By various accidents of fate, I have several, though I might have to dig into the archives and do some scanning for some!


The Bone House (Hallstatt–Dachstein Salzkammergut, Austria)

K10D, Pentax-DA 18-55/3.5-5.6 AL


Vernal Falls (Yosemite National Park, USA)

Ricoh XR7, Pentax-M 50/1.7, Panatomic-X


Yosemite Falls (Yosemite National Park, USA)

Ricoh XR7, Tamron 28/2.5 (20A), Fujichrome (non-Pentax...Sorry!)


Snowy Cliffs Above Camp Curry (Yosemite National Park, USA)

Canon G2 (non-Pentax...Sorry!)


Half Dome in Early Spring (Yosemite National Park, USA)

Canon G2 (non-Pentax...Sorry!)


Tenaya Creek, Early Spring (Yosemite National Park, USA)

Canon G2 (non-Pentax...Sorry!)


Steve

[Arjay Bee]

Coral Atoll Great Barrier Reef East Coast of Australia

[jheu02]

These are great. If I get my slides of the Grand Canyon scanned, perhaps I'll have something too.

[Serenity]

This is a pretty tough challenge! By various accidents of fate, I have several, though I might have to dig into the archives and do some scanning for some!
Steve

The photo from the bone house is both beautiful and a little scary. What's the story behind? And all the photos from Yosemite National Park are stunning!

Arjay Bee, not every day one get to see a coral atoll from above! Nice!

jheu02, I hope you scann those slides! It would be very fun to see!

I'll continue with another photo from Laponia, from the same National Park as my first photo.

[stevebrot]

The photo from the bone house is both beautiful and a little scary. What's the story behind?

Click through on the image to its Flickr page for a full description.


Steve

[ramseybuckeye]

Yellowstone National Park

[jmschrei]

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

[rob1234]

Avebury Stone Circle, Wiltshire, England


K10D, FA*24

[SpecialK]

Grand Canyon.

[rob1234]

Central Bordeaux, UNESCO World Heritage site sinc June 2007:

[FrancisK7]

Chichen Itza, Mexico (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

#1 and #2 - El Castillo
El Castillo ("The Castle") is a pre-columbian structure found in the ancient Mayan city Chichen Itza, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Situated in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, Chichen Itza is the second most visited archeological site in the country.

El Castillo was a temple of religious importance to the Mayan nobility. It was built between the 9th and 12th century AD and served as a platform for religious rites and rituals. It is special because it intertwines three to four architectural styles (toltec, olmecs and aztec)

It became the 7th Wonder of the World after a controversial world vote was organized by the Swiss corporation New7Wonders Foundation.

Another smaller and nearly identical structure can be found inside El Castillo. Though tourists used to be able to climb it, Mexico closed all access in 2006 to help preserve the site.


#3 - The Ball Game Field
The Mayan nobility that lived within Chichen Itza (the regular people lived in huts outside the city's walls) would organize games between their own people and neighboring cities.

Each team was composed of 7 players. The game resembled field hockey, but the ball was closer than a volleyball in size, and weighted between 9lbs and 12 lbs. The objective: pass the ball through one of the two elevated hoops on either side of the field. The crowd would observe the games from the top of the side walls.

The victors gained honor and the nods of their Gods...


#4 - The Loser's Wall
...the losers' figures were immortalized in sculpture form and ended up on the wall of a nearby building... right after their heads were chopped off.


#5 - Chichen Itza Cenote
The cenote was used to sacrifice virgins as gifts to the Gods. The inhabitants considered the place sacred and were afraid of it. Though most of the bones found at the bottom were those of young boys and girls, several bones belonging to grown adults led anthropologists to believe the site was probably used to dispose of bodies to hide crimes, such as murders.


#6 - The Temple of Warriors
Close to a thousand columns circle the temple. It was a place of meeting, training and briefing for the military.


#7 - The Columns
There used to be a stone ceiling that ran over the columns. It was destroyed well before Chichen Itza was discovered.

[noelcmn]

What a stunning collection here. And decidely not fair, World Heritage sites in South Africa number 8, only one of which only 1 is within striking distance from where I live. This will be an expensive exercise, as the one mentioned is very expensive, and all the others will cost a trip or two. But I am keen-all donations will be greatly appreciated. And some shown here have been long on my wish list- Banff, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite. Not Fair!