20 Little Known UNESCO World Heritage Sites

More than 1000 places are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites because of their exceptional historic, cultural, natural or scientific importance. Many of these sites are well-known tourist attractions, such as the Grand Canyon, Machu Picchu, the Taj Mahal and the Vatican.

Others, including the 20 on our list, are not very well known at all but this doesn’t make them any less fascinating. Call it an alternate bucket list.

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1. Ennedi Massif Natural and Cultural Landscape, Chad

Tilman Lenssen-Erz/UNESCO

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1. Ennedi Massif Natural and Cultural Landscape, Chad

The Ennedi Massif in northeastern Chad boasts spectacular sandstone formations and one of the largest collections of rock art in Africa. It’s also home to desert crocodiles that have developed dwarfism because they are so isolated.

2. Rani-Ki-Vav (the Queen’s Stepwell) at Patan, Gujarat, India

Azaz.sayyad/Wikimedia Commons

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2. Rani-Ki-Vav (the Queen’s Stepwell) at Patan, Gujarat, India

There are several stepwells remaining in India and Pakistan, and the Rani-Ki-Vav on the banks of the Saraswati River is one of the more intricate examples.

There are over 500 principal sculptures and countless minor ones, mostly dedicated to the Hindu deity Vishnu.

3. Historic Area of Willemstad, Inner City and Harbour, Curacao

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3. Historic Area of Willemstad, Inner City and Harbour, Curacao

Willemstad, especially the harbour, looks like what would happen if you gave Amsterdam a few coats of paint and added a tropical climate. The architecture is Dutch colonial with Caribbean, Portuguese, Spanish and African influences.

4. Mistaken Point, Newfoundland and Labrador

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4. Mistaken Point, Newfoundland and Labrador

Fossils found at Mistaken Point date back to more than 550 million years ago during the Ediacaran Period. This makes them the oldest known collection of large fossils, giving us a clue to when life began to be more biologically complex.

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5. Struve Geodetic Arc, Northern Europe

Starting in Hammerfest, Norway and stretching through ten countries to the Black Sea, the Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations established in the first half of the 19th century by German astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve.

Struve’s research helped scientists to work out the exact size and shape of our planet.

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6. Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley), Egypt

More than 50 million years ago, some land animals decided that life would be more fun in the water and evolved into whales. Wadi Al-Hitan in Egypt’s Western Desert is a fossil site richer in the remains of these early whales than anywhere else on Earth.

7. Stone Spheres of the Diquis, Costa Rica

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7. Stone Spheres of the Diquis, Costa Rica

The Diquis lived in the southern part of Costa Rica from about 700 to 1530 CE. They left behind stone spheres in various sizes, some weighing as much as 15 tons.

It’s still a complete mystery why and how they made these spheres but Bribri legend has it that the stones were actually cannonballs shot by the God of Thunder to drive away the Gods of Wind and Hurricanes.

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8. Shahr-i-Sokhta, Iran

Shahr-i-Sokhta in eastern Iran was the site of a large Bronze Age settlement founded around 3200 BCE. Also known as the Burnt City, the settlement was burnt down three times and eventually abandoned in about 1800 BCE.

Among the artifacts found here are the oldest known dice, backgammon, artificial eyeball and animation in the form of a drawing on an earthen goblet, which moves as you spin the goblet around.

9. Joya de Ceren Archaeological Site, El Salvador

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9. Joya de Ceren Archaeological Site, El Salvador

The Pompeii of the Americas, Joya de Ceren was a farming community founded around 1200 BCE. Late in the 6th century, a volcanic eruption buried the village in 14 layers of ash, preserving furniture, utensils and ceramics, half-eaten food and newly planted manioc.

Since no bodies have been uncovered yet, it seems that the villagers had managed to flee in time.

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10. Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles

The Aldabra Atoll is the second largest atoll in the world and also the largest raised coral reef. It’s known for its mushroom-shaped limestone formations and because it’s so inaccessible, it is also home to the world’s largest population of giant tortoises.

11. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico

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11. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico

UNAM’s main campus in Mexico City was built in the late 1940s and early 1950s, with input from around 60 architects, engineers, and artists.

Among these were David Alfaro Siqueiros whose mural “El pueblo a la universidad, la universidad al pueblo” graces the Rectorate Tower, and Juan O’Gorman who used millions of stones from all over Mexico to create the four huge mosaics in the Central Library.

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12. Surtsey, Iceland

In 1963, fishermen noticed a volcanic eruption in the sea off Iceland’s southern coast. More eruptions followed more or less continually until 1967 and the island of Surtsey was born.

Right from the start it was protected, with only a handful of scientists allowed to set foot here, so through the years researchers have been able to watch how life arrives and develops on a new island.

13. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Illinois

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13. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Illinois

The Cahokia Mounds near St. Louis are the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico. People from the Mississippian culture lived here between about 600 and 1400 CE and at its peak, Cahokia’s population was an estimated 40,000.

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14. Nemrut Dag, Turkey

The Armenian King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene ruled from 70 to 38 BCE and decided to create his own cult, so he built himself a tomb on Mount Nemrut in southeastern Turkey. He added huge statues of himself, lions, eagles and several Armenian, Greek and Iranian deities. Somewhere along the line these statues were vandalized and beheaded.

15. Archaeological Site of Atapuerca, Spain

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15. Archaeological Site of Atapuerca, Spain

In a series of caves in the Atapuerca Mountains in northern Spain, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of Western Europe’s earliest known hominids and the oldest evidence of cannibalism. The site also produced bones of ancient animals as well as Bronze Age and early Roman artifacts.

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16. Lamu Old Town, Kenya

Kenya’s oldest continuously inhabited settlement is also one of the earliest Swahili settlements along the East African coast. Lamu was probably founded around 1370 CE and the coral stone and timber architecture of its Old Town is characterized by verandas, inner courtyards, and stunning carved doors.

17. Nan Madol, Federated States of Micronesia

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17. Nan Madol, Federated States of Micronesia

Legend has it that when H.P. Lovecraft wrote his short story “The Call of Cthulhu”, he found inspiration for the lost city of R’lyeh in the newly excavated city of Nan Madol.

In its day Nan Madol was the Venice of the Pacific, constructed on a series of artificial islets during the reign of the Saudeleur Dynasty, which ruled on the island of Pohnpei between about 1100 and 1623 CE.

18. Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas, Argentina

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18. Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas, Argentina

In the southern part of Argentina, there is a cave with rock paintings made between 9,000 and 13,000 years ago. These include paintings of people and animals, hunting scenes and geometric patterns but the cave gets its name from the many stencilled paintings of hands.

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19. Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland

At the eastern end of the Ilulissat Icefjord is the Jakobshavn Glacier, known in Greenlandic as Sermeq Kujalleq. Moving at 19 m per day, it’s one of the world’s fastest and most active glaciers and produces about a tenth of Greenland’s icebergs.

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20. Kizhi Pogost, Russia

Kizhi Island on Lake Onega in northwestern Russia is home to an area with two churches and a bell tower. The elaborate churches, one of which has 22 domes, were built in the 18th century while the tower dates from the 19th century. What makes these structures so special is that they were built out of nothing but wood.