Triangular shaped village houses in a beautiful snow mountain - Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama 734; Washoku, traditional...

Town of Japanese silk industry - Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites 1449 Tomioka Silk Mill interior factory units What and Why Tomioka...

Never say 'kekkō' until you've seen Nikkō - Shrines and Temples of Nikko 913; Washoku, traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese,...

Ancient capital with a recent dark history - Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties 1004; Craftsmanship of Nanjing Yunjin brocade 00200 Xiaoling mausoleum What and Why One of the surprises in travels is really you do not know what to expect. I was travelling to Nanjing ( Chinese : 南京) for work without realising that I step into a UNESCO WHS. For a fetish like me, this is blasphemous that I did not do enough homework. I have to say before I stepped into Nanjing, I o

City under water, surrounded by canals - Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht 1349; Corso culture, flower and fruit parades in the Netherlands 01707 Amsterdam canal rings during evening What and Why Amsterdam has more than one hundred kilometres of canals ( Dutch : grachten ) connecting 90 islands through 1,500 bridges. The three main canals form concentric belts around the city, known as the canal belt ( grachtengordel ) , and Singelgra

Italy seaside city with a rich Greek culture - Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica 1200; Mediterranean diet 00884 Piazza Duomo What and Why Syracuse ( Italian : Siracusa ) was founded in the 8th century CE by Greek settlers, led by the coloniser Archias (Greek: Ἀρχίας) . The settlement of Syracuse was an exercise of urban planning, as a strong central leader, Archias laid out how properties and the streets of the settlement should be arranged with overall plannin

'Not-old' Baroque town with Arab-Norman churches - Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (South-Eastern Sicily) 1024 Noto What and Why Noto is a very tiny town but is unexpectedly gorgeous. One of the most photogenic places during this trip. Similar to other Sicilian cities, Noto was occupied by the Arabs in the 9th century CE and then in late 11th century CE, it became the last Islamic stronghold in Sicily ( Italian : Sicilia ) to fall to the Christians. Later it prosper

An ancient royal villa up in the mountain with the largest mosaic in the world - Villa Romana del Casale 832 Villa Romana del Casale What and Why We crossed from the west of Sicily ( Italian : Sicilia ) to the east and in the middle of the drive, we arrived at a ruined villa in the middle of nowhere. The complex used to be a very large villa both for public and private use. The site dates back to 4th century CE. The Villa Romana del Casale is renowned for the extraordina

City of Arab-Norman and Mafia influence - Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale 1487; Opera di Pupi, Sicilian puppet theatre 00011 Palermo Cathedral What and Why Welcome to the capital of the Sicilian mafia ! Palermo has since established itself as a fine heritage city, in spite of all the noises of the mafia. The exceptionally infused architecture that reflects the Norman , the Arab and the Roman rule shows a distinct flavour of culture

City of pizza, mobsters and history - Historic Centre of Naples 726; Art of Neapolitan ‘Pizzaiuolo’ 00722 New Castle What and Why Naples ( Italian : Napoli ) means the new city, but as a matter of fact, the city is one of the oldest in Europe and as part of Magna Graecia (Greek : Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς , Megálē Hellás ) , played a very important role in linking the Roman and Greek culture . The place has transformed from the colony of Parthenope (Greek: Παρθενόπη) , meaning pure eye

Greek temple complex along the Roman coast - Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological Sites of Paestum and Velia,...

One of the most scenic and cliff-hanging coastal landscapes in Europe - Costiera Amalfitana 830; Mediterranean diet 00884 Amalfi coastline What and Why The Amalfi Coast ( Italian : Costiera Amalfitana ) is the scenic 50-km stretch of coastline on the northern coast of the Gulf of Salerno ( Golfo di Salerno ) , which clearly possesses unrivalled sceneries and dramatic landscapes. The winding drive along the coast itself is both scenic and heart-throbbing as it is very narrow

World-largest palace of equal elegance and resemblance to the Versailles - 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the...

A formidable fortress exhibiting a mix of European and Islamic architectural designs - Castel del Monte 398; Falconry, a living human heritage 1708 Castel del Monte What and Why Our next stop took us to Castel del Monte , a formidable fortress standing isolated on a little mount in Andria . As the name suggests, the name means 'castle of the mountain' ( Italian : castel del monte ) in Italian. It was built during the mid-13th century CE by the Holy Roman Emperor (Latin: Imp

A city built on a huge cave - The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera 670 Sassi of Matera during the evening What and...

Trulli amazing little conical huts - The Trulli of Alberobello 787; Art of dry stone construction, knowledge and techniques 02106 Trulli...