A shot of dark, velvety coffee is more than just a quick caffeine hit: #Italy‘s #espresso is a prized social and cultural ritual the country considers a national heritage worthy of #UNESCO status.
Espresso is a coffee-brewing method of Italian origin, in which a small amount of nearly boiling water is forced under 9–10 bars of pressure through finely-ground coffee beans. Espresso coffee can be made with a wide variety of coffee beans and roast degrees.
As part of its response to the explosions of 4 August 2020 at the port of Beirut in Lebanon, UNESCO through its Heritage Emergency Fund has launched a large-scale technical documentation of the city’s historical areas in collaboration with the Directorate General of Antiquities of Lebanon and Iconem. This high-definition 3D scan of the city – obtained through drones and photogrammetry – captures essential architectural data of some of the city’s affected monuments, art galleries and cultural spaces which are required by engineers and architects to plan and monitor the rehabilitation phase.
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. As of 2014, Greater Beirut has a population of 2.2 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast.
Take a look at Germany’s new UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We take you to the spa towns of Baden-Baden, Bad Ems and Bad Kissingen, as well as the artist colony Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt. We will also show you the Jewish heritage cities of Speyer, Worms and Mainz, and follow the footsteps of the Romans along the limes.
UNESCO has added Madrid’s historic Paseo del Prado boulevard and Retiro Park to its list of world heritage sites.
The Buen Retiro Park, Retiro Park or simply El Retiro is one of the largest parks of the city of Madrid, Spain. The park belonged to the Spanish Monarchy until the late 19th century, when it became a public park. In 2021, Buen Retiro Park became part of a combined UNESCO World Heritage Site with Paseo del Prado.
The Paseo del Prado is one of the main boulevards in Madrid, Spain. It runs north–south between the Plaza de Cibeles and the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V (also known as Plaza de Atocha), with the Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo (the location of the Fuente de Neptuno, and of the Ritz and Palace five-star hotels) lying approximately in the middle. The Paseo del Prado forms the southern end of the city’s central axis (which continues to the north of Cibeles as the Paseo de Recoletos, and further north as the Paseo de la Castellana). It enjoys the status of Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC), and as part of a combined UNESCO World Heritage Site with Buen Retiro Park.
The tradition of horseback fishing for fish and shrimp goes back to the 16th century. Large Belgian Draft horses trawl across the beach with fishing nets attached to their saddles. In Oostduinkerke, at the Belgian coast, this 500-year-old shrimping tradition has remained unchanged, except in 2015, when a small but significant change occurred: for the first time ever, 2 women joined the ranks of what was long considered a “man’s job”. We met up with the women who brave the waves on Belgians weighing up to 1 ton every day.
Located in central #France, the Regional Natural Park of the #Auvergne, with its 400,000 hectares, is the largest volcanic ensemble in Europe. In July 2018, #UNESCO listed the Chaîne des Puys mountains range as a world heritage site. Since then, a whole population has been striving to preserve this priceless heritage. We meet the park wardens studying the minute creatures of these open spaces and the craftsmen producing enamelled lava from the dormant volcanoes.
Auvergne is a historical region in central France, and is now part of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The mostly rural, mountainous area is popular for hiking and skiing, with vast forests and dormant volcanoes such as Puy de Dôme. An abundance of natural hot springs has spawned spa towns such as Vichy, known for its mineral water. Clermont-Ferrand is a busy university city with a stately Romanesque church, Notre-Dame du Port.
To outsiders, Turkmenistan is one of the world’s least known countries. For the first time in ten years, a film crew has been free to visit spectacular excavation sites and follow international researchers into areas that have long been off-limits. Once considered the poorest part of the Soviet Union, oil and natural gas have brought new wealth to Turkmenistan today.
A little known fact in the West is that 4,000 years ago, the country was home to one of the ancient world’s centers of power. Although it flourished around the same time as the advanced civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt, the Margiana empire was later largely forgotten. But recently, archaeologists have discovered palace buildings and magnificent burial treasures at the site of the capital, Gonur Depe, in the Karakum Desert. Incredible aerial photography shows the dimensions of the lost metropolis. An international team of researchers also unearthed monumental fortifications in neighboring Ulug Depe.
The ruined cities of Merv and Kunya-Urgench have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Suddenly, historians and the media are paying much more attention to Central Asia. Why has Turkmenistan seen powerful empires rise and fall since the Bronze Age? DNA analysis shows a highly mobile population, whose contacts reached as far as India, the Urals and the Mediterranean Sea. The Silk Road between China and Europe was the world’s most important trade route for thousands of years, lending Turkmenistan great historical significance. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the country has been slowly opening up to international researchers, and its astounding cultural heritage is coming to light.
Rooftop workers who upkeep Paris’ zinc-covered roofs and give the city an aerial view of a distinct color palette, are seeking UNESCO’s recognition for their craft.
The baguette – a mix of wheat flour, water, yeast, salt and a pinch of savoir-faire and as much a symbol of France as the Eiffel Tower – may soon join UNESCO’s listing of cultural treasures.
South Koreas Lantern Festival has won the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage status. It’s an annual festival that dates back centuries and it marks the birthday of Buddha. All across the country you’ll find colourful lanterns decorating temples, houses and streets and there also are large parades with elaborate floats. Unesco said the spring festival was “a time of joy” which “in times of difficulties, plays an important role in…helping people overcome the troubles of the day.” Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage status aims to protect traditions, knowledge and skills which are often inherited through generations, so they are not lost or forgotten as time moves on.
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