In 1972 UNESCO created the World Heritage Foundation, a program to identify and protect "world heritage sites" -irreplaceable environments ranging from natural areas to whole urban centers. To date over 600 such sites have been designated for protection on four continents, including places of worship, monuments, living settlements, and historic complexes, which taken together constitute an ideal tour of the history, cultures and creative expressions of humanity.
That tour begins here, in the first of the three-volume UNESCO World Heritage series: 46 living and archeological built environments from continuously-occupied cities such as Crakow and old Havana to archeological treasures such as Macchu Picchu (Peru) and Angkor Wat (Cambodia); Petra (Jordan); the Imperial Forums (Italy); the Casbah of Algiers; Teotihuacan (Mexico)-and discoveries that make a full spectrum of world cultures.
Each site is presented up close with color reproductions and a rich explanatory text. The volume is completed by the charter map of the World Heritage Foundation and includes UNESCO's standards for designation. With this particularly rich selection of images, places distant in time and space can be seen as connected in a singular and fascinating way: the true heritage of every nation and every individual.