10 Breathtaking New World Heritage Sites (2012 Edition)
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Carioca Landscapes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Decorated Farmhouses, Halsingland, Sweden
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Neolithic Site of Catalhoyuk, Turkey
Soaring rock pillars, iconic landscapes, and ornate water temples are just a few of the 26 new sites inscribed on the
UNESCO World Heritage List
this year. Five natural, 20 cultural, and one "mixed" (part natural, part cultural) sites were recognized in 2012. Listings run the gamut from vast mountain ranges to small farmhouse interiors. We'd love to visit them all, but here are 10 that really took our breath away.
Rio's new UNESCO site includes some of the city's most famous treasures, including the mountaintop statue of Christ, Tijuca National Park, the hills around Guanabara Bay, and the Botanical Garden.
Most of the new sites we've chosen to feature in this list are on a grand scale, but we couldn't resist the beauty of these seven nineteenth-century Swedish farmhouse interiors. To demonstrate their prosperity, farmers commissioned artists to paint these rooms in a fusion style of folk and high art.
Eighteen levels of Neolithic occupation, starting from about 7400 BCE, have been uncovered at the site of Catalhoyuk on Turkey's Southern Anatolian Plateau. Wall paintings, reliefs, sculptures, and more adorn the ruins of this settlement that was maintained for over 2,000 years.