UNESCO World Heritage Sites CULTURE VULTURE ON THE HERITAGE TRAIL
Usually associated with white sand beaches and turquoise sea, it’s a revelation to many visitors that the Caribbean is home to no fewer than 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
THE majority are in Cuba which has eight cultural and historical sites including the colonial cities of Havana and Trinidad, as well as the Vinales Valley, an outstanding landscape of karst eroded limestone mountains called mogotes. Here traditional methods of agriculture, notably tobacco growing, have survived unchanged for centuries. Old Havana is a legacy of history, culture
In the Dominican Republic, the colonial city of Santo Domingo was founded by Christopher Columbus in 1498. This was the first permanent settlement of the new world with the first church, hospital, stone home, tavern, university, paved street and monastery.
and traditions and amongst the oldest and best-preserved urban space in the Americas. In Trinidad de Cuba two sites have been declared UNESCO World Heritage sites, its historic cobbled street centre and Monaca Iznaga in the Valle de los Ingenios, the site of the most prosperous sugar refineries of the 19th century. Santiago de Cuba is another site renowned for the ruins of San Pedro de la Roca Castle and what’s left of the first French coffee plantations at La Gran Piedra. Others are Desembarco del Granma National
Park, Alejandro de Humboldt National Park in Baracoa, which forms the Heart of the Cuchillas Del Toa Biosphere Reserve, the historic centre of Camaguey and the urban historic centre of Cienfuegos.
In the Dominican Republic, the colonial city
of Santo Domingo was founded by Christopher Columbus in 1498. This was the first permanent settlement of the new world with the first church, hospital, stone home, tavern, university, paved street and monastery. The Jaragua- Bahoruco- Enriquillo
Main picture: Kathedraalto-
ren in the Dutch Caribbean with, from left, the Cayman Islands, Cuba and the Dominican Republic
Biosphere Reserve is located in the southwest of the Dominican Republic and was declared a Biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 2002. Over on Saint Lucia, The Pitons make up one of the most dramatic UNESCO World Heritage sites in the world. Petit Piton and Gros Piton are two volcanic plugs in the south of the island. Other incredible UNESCO sites across the Caribbean include Belize’s Barrier Reef (the longest in the Americas, the Morne Trois Pitons National Park in Dominica, St Kitts Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, Curaçao’s historic area of Willemstad, inner city and harbour and
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Bermuda’s historic town of St George. Haiti has its National History Park with the
ruins of The Citadel, Sans-Souci and Ramiers, all monuments to independence, in 1803 while Suriname has the Central Suriname Nature Reserve and Historic Inner City of Paramaribo. And finally for those with a special affinity for the ocean, The Bonaire Marine Park is nominated as a candidate for the World Heritage List of UNESCO. All waters surrounding Bonaire to a depth of 57 metres are protected, one of the reasons Bonaire has the largest fish population in the Caribbean.
CUBA TOURIST BOARD
THE MINISTRY OF TOURISM OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
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