So far, I haven’t been disappointed when I have visited a destination that Unesco has awarded the World Heritage title. They are wonderful travel destinations, although the purpose of the World Heritage program is conservation, not tourism. Since 1978, Unesco has awarded more than 1000 heritage titles to destinations across the world. About half of them are in Europe, and about one quarter in Asia. But which countries in Europe feature the most sites?
Unesco’s list of World Heritage sites includes both cultural (for instance, Nice on the French Riviera) and natural destinations (for instance, Lapland in the far north), and other places that have preserved something valuable from the past. Here is a list of top 10 countries in Europe that have the most World Heritage sites:
- Italy, 59 sites
- France 52
- Germany 52
- Spain 50
- UK 33
- Turkey 21
- Greece 19
- Czech Republic 17
- Poland 17
- Portugal 17
Why can’t you find a central ancient European country, like Austria in the top 10? First, countries have to apply to have a destination nominated as a World Heritage site. Second, the application process is detailed and takes a long time. Third, Unesco may remove the World Heritage title from a site if it hasn’t been maintained properly.
The criteria for selecting new sites proves that it is not easy to get a destination listed as World Heritage. The first criterion says a site must “represent a masterpiece of human creative genius”. Nothing more and nothing less. Overall, the selection criteria focuses on important or unique cultural values, traditions, architecture, technologies, natural values, and also on immaterial heritage.
