Thursday was a special day in Venice. It was not only the feast day of the city’s patron saint, St Mark. It was also the first day of its notorious Access Fee. This new measure, introduced by the Mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, requires all day-trippers to pay €5 simply for the privilege of being there – … Read more
Synopsis On World Heritage Day, images of a vintage wooden dressing table and desk were shared, showcasing places and edifices known and unknown. The person who inherited the furniture shared reminiscences about her late parents. While institutions and awareness campaigns focus on built heritage and Unesco provisions to preserve culture as intangible heritage, vast amounts … Read more
The Earth’s surface is a record of the past. Its valleys, mountains and landscapes tell a story that dates back 4.5billion years. So says Unesco director-general Audrey Azoulay in the introduction to new book The Unesco Global Geoparks, published by Gestalten. The captivating new tome is packed with photographs showcasing all of the world’s Unesco Global … Read more
The world’s best value-for-money destinations for Britons have been revealed, and Vietnam has topped the list for the first time. In second place in the Post Office Travel Holiday Money Report ranking comes another long-haul hot spot, South Africa, with Kenya third. The world’s most expensive destination is Tamarindo in Costa Rica, languishing in 40th place. … Read more
PARIS: More than 1,400 buildings belonging to scientific institutions in Ukraine have been damaged in Russia’s invasion and restoring public science infrastructure will cost $1.26 billion, a UN agency said on Monday.The UN’s educational, scientific and cultural organisation UNESCO and the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine released the findings as Russia’s invasion of the … Read more
Paris-based Unesco responded that it was “deeply concerned about the allegations” and ordered Cambodia to report on the state of conservation at the Angkor site about a year earlier than previously planned, while urging “them to ensure that any relocation is voluntary”. Squatters who have been coming in, and these squatters are the people who … Read more
My wooden villa stands on stilts, surrounded by towering trees that obscure the view to the ocean 200 yards away. At night, giant squirrels thud onto the shingle roof. By day, long-tailed macaques perch overhead, throwing jungle debris at each other. They are ever hopeful that I might leave my balcony door open. ‘Macaques appreciate creature … Read more
Visitors could be forgiven for thinking it’s a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. For the abandoned citadel of Guermassa in Tunisia sits in an otherworldly landscape redolent of the environs of Star Wars’ Tatooine. This is not a coincidence: nearby Tataouine city – the capital of the Tataouine Governate – provided the … Read more
Cable cars transport players and spectators to the pitch and nets are fitted to stop balls disappearing down the mountainside – although club officials reckon they’ve still managed to lose 1,000 footballs over the past 20 years. Heavy snowfall puts an end to the season in October and the village of Gspon transforms into a … Read more
The 300km journey from Francistown to Serowe, Botswana, is uneventful. The monotony of the terrain is broken once in a while. Livestock grazing at a distance is visible from here on the A1 national road. We encountered a roadblock before turning right at Palapye: a police officer waved the bus driver off soon after exchanging … Read more
