UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 4th Session [2] Quiz

Answer: Milan

Found down a handful of unassuming streets only a short walk from Castello Sforzesco and the Duomo di Milano at the centre of the city, Santa Maria delle Grazie seems like it could be any old-style church in Northern Italy. The catch is that this building actually contains "The Last Supper", considered by many to be one of Da Vinci's most famous works, in its refectory.

While the painting was completed in the late 15th century, the building was still quite new, having been finished less than a decade earlier.

It survived bombings in WWII and, in the modern era, is a highly-preserved masterpiece as far as Renaissance art goes.

Answer: Omo River

Both the Omo and the Awash River Basins received protection in 1980, both of them being key sites not for their natural importance to Ethiopia (which would not be in dispute) but because both of them were critical paleontological points of interest. While the Lower Valley of the Omo has been host to landmark fossil discoveries dating Homo gracilis records back millions of years, the Awash Valley is where the famous Lucy skeleton was found in the mid-1970s. Both sites, found to the south and west of Addis Ababa, thus help give a better window into understanding human evolution.

Answer: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Formerly Zaire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo received distinct regard in 1980 when UNESCO selected two separate nature reserves for protection, the first being Garamba National Park, a key site for the Northern White Rhino (which has since gone extinct in the wild), and the second being Kahuzi-Biega National Park, in the east.

This latter location focuses on a diverse array of animal protections (and it is the largest reserve in the country) and more so with the sanctuary of the Eastern lowland gorilla population.

Naturally, due to long-term unrest in the D.R.C., both sites have had histories fraught with danger.

Answer: Bosra

The Ancient City of Bosra was established in what is now the south of Syria, close to the nation's border with Jordan, and came to perhaps its greatest period when the Romans considered it the capital of Arabia Petraea, constructing numerous lavish structures that still stand to this day. Over time it would become a critical spot for travellers on their Meccan pilgrimages, coming in from the far north, allowing it to grow until the Ottomans overtook the region and downplayed the city.

In addition to the well-preserved amphitheatre, the city is also home to fortified walls, Roman baths, and several sites of worship, some of which are the oldest remaining in the Islamic world.

Answer: Copán

Found in the far west of Honduras, Copán is actually at the far east of what was formerly Mesoamerica, marking an important location for the Mayan civilization that was occupied for two millennia before it was abandoned in the 10th century AD. Found in a mountain valley, Copán is extremely well-preserved due in part to its protected spot in the rainforest. Further to this point, it's quite far away from significant modern cities. You'd need to take a ride quite a distance west from the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, to reach Copán Ruinas.

It's worth it though; it provides one of the most though histories of Mayan life and culture anywhere in Central America.

Answer: Warsaw

Less than four decades before Old Town Warsaw's inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage Site listing, the majority of it was levelled by Nazi forces in World War II. Since then, Warsaw has seen massive revitalization and restoration due in part to UNESCO's recognition, allowing visitors and locals to enjoy a rich and critical history spanning Polish royal reigns, art and cultural milestones (especially in regards to famous musicians like Wladyslaw Szpilman and Frédéric Chopin), and religious landmarks like the Archcathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, rebuilt after it was nearly completely razed during the Warsaw Uprising.

Answer: The Caribbean Sea

Although Panama sits between both, these particular protected forts are along the northern coastline, having been built by the Spanish to protect sea trade routes from - you guessed it - piracy. These forts, speckled along eighty kilometres of Caribbean coastline, were constructed to protect both the Panamanian harbour at Colón as well as the mouth of the Chagres River as it headed inland, a vital passageway for transporting goods before the Panama Canal was constructed. Both Sir Francis Drake and Sir Henry Morgan failed to overcome these forts during their time at sea.

Answer: Malta

Prehistoric in nature, these temples were built more than six thousand years ago in some cases, and they can be found scattered throughout the islands of Malta at several key spots. Although there are more than a dozen such temples there, only six were originally protected by UNESCO.

The number of these broadened upon re-evaluation in 1992 though there were more left on the table at the time. The temples were built over the course of four thousand years spanning a time period beginning with the Neolithic Era and ending with the Bronze Age. Ggantija, depicted, is older than the Great Pyramids on the Giza Plateau.

Answer: Brazil

Brazil's first UNESCO Heritage Site, the historic city of Ouro Preto was the site at which the Brazilian Gold Rush took root. The names along are a hint towards its heritage-- Vila Rica means 'rich valley' in Portuguese while Ouro Preto is 'black gold'.

As gold mining waned in the mid-18th century, Ouro Preto's importance started to decline. This being said, its spot as the capital of the state of Minas Gerais was a lock until the location outgrew its needs. While the Brazilian government built the now-massive Belo Horizonte, the Baroque Ouro Preto became a quaint tourist attraction nestled in the picturesque Espinhaço Mountains.

Answer: Mohenjo-daro

The great Mohenjo-daro was, at one point, the largest city in the Indus Valley having prospered through the earliest days of civilization in the region, but nearly four thousand years ago, the site was abandoned. Rediscovered in the 1920s, Mohenjo-daro has since become a key to unlocking the history of the region. Found in desert-laden Larkana District in the northwest of Pakistan, it's an elaborate ruin right on the riverbank and one of the world's most fascinating archaeological sites.