It should be noted that Great Britain is made up of England, Wales and Scotland. The “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) – It is still Northern Ireland.
And then there are the areas belonging to the UK outside of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, such as Gibraltar. The Commonwealth, on the other hand, includes independent countries such as Australia, New Zealand or Canada
Unesco World Heritage Sites in Wales
Wales: Unesco World Heritage Site
– Castles and fortified cities of King Edward I (1986)
After the conquest of Wales by the English King Edward I (1239-1307), he built a number of castles in the north-west of Wales in the Gwynedd region to secure his rule. The most famous castle, immortalized by many artists, is that of Conwy. It was built in 1283 and was the first he had built. This was followed by Caernarfon and Harlech. The last and largest was Beaumaris on Menai Strait on the Isle of Anglesey. The castles and fortifications of King Edward I have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986.
– Blaenavon industrial landscape (2000)
In Blaenavon, a relatively unknown place in Wales, the industrial revolution began in the 19th century and the place then became a major industrial center. The untouched landscape was opened up and numerous traffic routes were built in an extremely short time to be able to transport the goods. Coal and iron ore were mined and houses built for the workers – the region became prosperous. However, there have been no coal mines in the city since 1980, and the place is now downright old. Worth seeing in the city are the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway Museum Railway. The first shaft was the “Big Pit”. Today visitors are brought 90 m down in an elevator cage to open the baths for the buddies, visit a forge and the colliery’s engine room or the underground horse stables. The Blaenavon industrial landscape has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.
– Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal (2009)
Building a canal in the difficult landscape required ingenuity, and construction required technical expertise. Construction was completed in 1805 without locks. The Pontcysyllte aqueduct spans the Dee Valley at a height of 37 m. Metal structures were made for its construction, which were durable and beautiful at the same time, and the aqueduct and canal were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2009
Unesco World Heritage Sites in Northern Ireland
– Giants Causeway (Giant’s Causeway)
Giants Causeway (dam of the giant)
west of Ballycastle around 40,000 evenly shaped, up to 12 m high and mostly hexagonal basalt columns form a kind of dam that runs about 3 km long from the cliffs into the sea. They emerged from cooled magma about 2 million years ago and form an impressive natural monument. The name of the coast is derived from the legend of the giant Finn McCool. There are also a large number of beautiful bays nearby, which can be reached via coastal paths. The Giants Causeway was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986, the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland to date
Unesco world heritage sites in other regions
– Henderson Island (South Seas) (1988)
The coral reef island is located in the South Pacific, belongs to the Pitcairn Islands and is approx. 5000 km from the nearest mainland. It is completely uninhabited. That is precisely what makes them so valuable, because nature was unaffected by humans. There are 10 endemic (only growing/living here) plants and four endemic bird species on the island. The South Sea island of Henderson was added to the list of UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites in 1988 (South Sea)
– Gough Island Game Reserve and Inaccessible Islands (St Helena Overseas Territory) (1995, 2004)
Gough Island is located in the middle of the southern Atlantic Ocean and has a rocky, hard-to-reach coast. This led to the fact that no foreign animals and plants were introduced. 50 different bird species live there. The rockhopper penguin finds its protected home there, as well as the “great shearwater” and the endangered wandering albatross. Endemic (only growing/living here) plants and animals grow and live on the island. The island may only be visited for research purposes. The game reserve and the islands were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995 and expanded in 2004.
– Historic city of St. George with fortifications (Bermuda) (2000)
The city of St. George is from the 17th Fortified colonial city from the 19th century. In 1780 the first barracks were built on a hill. Soon a chapel and a hospital were built. The houses built at the time had a maximum of two floors and were all whitewashed. This cityscape has remained almost unchanged to this day. Only a few stately homes date from the 19th century, such as B. the Bridge House. It has ornate balconies and verandas. The h istorical town of St. George with fortifications was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000
– Gorham Cave (Neanderthal Cave) (2016)
The Gorham Cave is a 40 m long cave, in the rear area of which there is a narrow passage that ends in a kind of tomb.
The cave is on the coast of Gibraltar, a British overseas territory. Since it was first discovered in 1907, it is an example of an entire cave complex, which also includes the following caves:
Vanguard Cave, Hyaena Cave and Bennett Cave. The four caves together are called Gorham’s cave complex.
The cave is considered an extremely important archaeological site, as it was inhabited by the Neanderthals for thousands of years during the Middle Paleolithic. The Middle Paleolithic is about 300,000 years ago to about 40,000 years ago.
A number of objects were found in the cave, such as remains of bones, knife blades, scrapers for working on fur, clam shells, but also remains of turtles, seals, dolphins and also pine nuts.
Several remains of charcoal fires are around 28,000 years old, but could already come from Homo sapiens.
The researchers estimate that a group of around 15 people each had inhabited the cave.
The cave has been the subject of archaeological research since the early 1950s. It was named in honor of the British Captain A. Gorham of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers, who discovered it in 1907.
The Gorham’s cave complex in Gibraltar was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites on July 17, 2016 at the conference in Istanbul.
