UNESCO Heritage Portugal

Historic Centre of  Angra do Heroísmo

The Centro Histórico de Angra do Heroísmo is an historic centre located in the city of Angra do Heroísmo, the island of Terceira in the Azores Islands. It is a port with large importance between the 15th and the 19th centuries. The fortifications of São Sebastião and São João Baptista of the 16th century are the only examples of military architecture. It was destroyed by an earthquake that took place on the January 1, 1980, the city was later rebuilt. It was listed in 1984.

Jerónimos Monastery

The Hieronymites Monastery is located near the shore of the parish of Belém, in the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal. The monastery is one of the most prominent monuments of the Manueline-style architecture (Portuguese late-Gothic) in Lisbon, classified in 1983 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the nearby Tower of Belém.

Belém Tower

Belém Tower or the Tower of St Vincent is a fortified tower located in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém in the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal. It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site (along with the nearby Jerónimos Monastery) because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese maritime discoveries of the era of the Age of Discoveries. The tower was commissioned by King John II to be part of a defense system at the mouth of the Tagus River and a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon.

The tower was built in the early 16th century and is a prominent example of the Portuguese Manueline style, but it also incorporates hints of other architectural styles. The structure was built from lioz limestone and is composed of a bastion and the 30 meter (100 foot), four story tower. It has incorrectly been stated that the tower was built in the middle of the Tagus and now sits near the shore because the river was redirected after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. In fact, the tower was built on a small island in the Tagus River near the Lisbon shore.

Batalha Monastery

Mosteiro Santa Maria da Vitória, more commonly known as the Batalha Monastery, is a Dominican convent in Batalha, in the District of Leiria, Portugal. It is one of the best and original examples of Late Gothic architecture in Portugal, intermingled with the Manueline style.

Convent of Christ (Tomar)

The Convent of the Order of Christ is a religious building and Roman Catholic building in Tomar, Portugal, originally a Templar stronghold built in the 12th century. After the Order of the Knights Templar was dissolved in the 14th century, the Portuguese branch of the order was turned into the Knights of the Order of Christ, which supported Portugal's maritime discoveries of the 15th century.

Historic Centre of Évora

Alcobaça Monastery

The Alcobaça Monastery  is a Mediaeval Roman Catholic Monastery located in the town of Alcobaça, in central Portugal. It was founded by the first Portuguese King, Afonso Henriques, in 1153, and maintained a close association with the Kings of Portugal throughout its history. The church and monastery were the first Gothic buildings in Portugal, and, together with the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, it was one of the most important of the mediaeval monasteries in Portugal. Due to its artistic and historical importance, it was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1989.

Cultural Landscape of Sintra

Historic Centre of Oporto

The historic center of Porto is the oldest area of Porto, Portugal, classified as World Cultural Heritage since 1996. Corresponds to the urban fabric marked by the medieval origins of the city and includes territories in the parishes of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, Victory and Miragaia. Despite all the trends and changes over time that occurred in the historic center of Porto, still observing the urban ensemble which is based in the old medieval part provides an image of consistency and homogeneity. Suggests immutability and permanence in time, thus providing a unique example of an urban landscape endowed with identity, strong character and aesthetic quality.

Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of the Côa Valley

The Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites of the Côa Valley are open-air Paleolithic archaeological sites located in a region of northeastern Portugal, along the Portuguese-Spanish border. In the late 1980s, the engravings were discovered in Vila Nova de Foz Côa. The site in situated in the valley of the Côa River, and comprises thousands of engraved drawings of horses, bovines and other animal, human and abstract figures, dated from 22,000 to 10,000 years BCE. Since 1995 a team of archaeologists have been studying and cataloging this pre-historical complex and a park was created to receive visitors.

Laurisilva

Laurisilva or laurissilva is a subtropical forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterised by evergreen, glossy-leaved tree species that look alike with leaves of lauroid type. The members of the Laurel family (Lauraceae) could be prominent, or in association. In Spanish, the word "laurisilva" is used for every laurel forest: Laurisilva misionera, laurisilva valdiviana, Macaronesian Laurisilva etc, even in African an Asian countries of Iberian background.

Many botanical species have similar foliage to the Lauraceae due to convergent evolution. Plants of the laurel forests must adapt to high rainfall and humidity. The trees adapted by developing leaves that repel water. Laurophyll or lauroide leaves are characterized by a generous layer of wax, making them glossy in appearance, and narrow, pointed oval in shape with an apical mucro, or 'drip tip', which permit the leaves to shed water despite the humidity, allowing perspiration and respiration from plant.

Historic Centre of Guimarães

The historic city of Guimarães is associated with the emergence of the Portuguese national identity in the twelfth century. It is an exceptionally well preserved example of the evolution of a medieval town to a modern city with a rich typology edificativa to show the development of Portuguese architecture from the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries with continued use of techniques and traditional building materials.

 Alto Douro wine region

The wine region of Alto Douro and Alto Douro Wine Region is an area of northeastern Portugal with more than 26,000 hectares, classified by UNESCO on December 14, 2001, as World Heritage in the category of cultural landscape and surrounded by mountains give individuals and climatic characteristics mesological. This region, which is bathed by the Douro River and forms part of a Douro wine region, producing wine for over 2000 years, including the world famous Port wine.

Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture

The Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture is a Unesco World Heritage Site. The vineyard is divided into plots (currais) protected by walls (paredes, murinhos). The walls are built with basalt blocks that have been weathered and broken up and stacked without mortar. Viticulture dates back to the 15th century.

UNESCO Heritage Croatia

Diocletian Palace and Medieval Split

The Emperor’s Palace is one of the most significant works of late-ancient architecture, not just for the preservation of original parts and the whole, but also for a series of original architectural forms announcing the new early-Christian, Byzantine and early-medieval art. The cathedral was built in the Middle Ages by using materials from an ancient mausoleum. Roman churches from the 12th and 13th centuries, medieval forts and gothic, renaissance and baroque palaces are contained within the Roman walls, thus creating a harmonious whole.

Dubrovnik Old Town

The Pearl of the Adriatic became a major Mediterranean power after the 13th century. This late-medieval planned city in the south part of the east Adriatic Croatian coast with its historical core situated at the foot of Mount Srđ has preserved the character of a unique urban whole throughout the centuries, defined by the city walls. It has a significant place in the history of city planning. Although severely devastated by the 1667 earthquake, Dubrovnik has managed to preserve its gothic, renaissance and baroque churches, monasteries and fountains.

Early-Christian Euphrasius Basilica Complex in Poreč

The cathedral complex in Poreč was named Euphrasius Basilica after Bishop Euphrasius who thoroughly renovated the cathedral in mid-6th century and decorated it with famous mosaics. Before Euphrasius’ renovation, there were at least two phases of early-Christian buildings in the same place. In Poreč, Christianity was established as early as the 4th century – the basilica, the atrium, the baptistery and the Episcopal palace are remarkable examples of religious architecture, while the basilica itself combines elements of classicism and Byzantine Empire in an exceptional way. The apse is luxuriously decorated with figurative mosaics that are among the most significant examples of its kind in Europe.

Historical Core of Trogir

Trogir is an excellent example of urban continuity. The orthogonal street plan of this island settlement originates from the Hellenic era – consecutive rulers continued to decorate it with exceptional public and residential buildings and forts. Its beautiful roman churches are supplemented with exceptional renaissance and baroque buildings. The most significant building is the Trogir Cathedral with its west portal, a masterpiece of Radovan and the most significant example of roman and gothic art in Croatia.

National Park Plitvice Lakes

The beauty of Plitvice and its unsurpassable attractiveness are a result of gypsum and gypsum-depositing plants. Creation of gypsum and rearrangement of the river bed created a string of 16 Plitvice Lakes representing a magnificent natural architectural phenomenon, surrounded by thick forests inhabited by bears, wolves and many other rare animal and plant species.

St. Jacob’s Cathedral in Šibenik

Built between 1431 and 1535, St. Jacob’s Cathedral witnessed important exchanges in the area of monumental art between North Italy, Dalmatia and Tuscany in the 15th and 16th centuries. Three architects - Francesco di Giacomo, George of Dalmatia and Nicholas of Florence – developed a structure fully made of stone, by using a unique technique for the cathedral’s dome. The result is a harmonious stone whole, arrangement methods and absolute harmony within the cathedral.

Starigrad Plain

In July of 2008, Starigrad Plain was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The explanation provided by the World Organization states that the vineyards and olive groves in the Plain have remained practically intact since it was first colonized by the ancient Greeks and that they are a unique example of the geometric land division used in the ancient times. Today, Starigrad Plain represents the best preserved ancient Greek landscape in the Mediterranean.

Porto

Oporto is the capital of the North of Portugal. With a wonderful geographical location next to the Douro river mouth, and an exceptional architectural value, the city centre of Oporto is classified as World Heritage by UNESCO since 1996. Through this District coast several tourist and holiday resorts are located, such as the cosmopolitan beach of Espinho, busy ports such as Matosinhos one, or the traditional fishing ports like Póvoa do Varzim. 
On the country side of Oporto’s district life is way more peaceful. The choice is wide and pleasant: Amarante and the beautiful River Tâmega, surrounded by lovely mountain ranges and picturesque houses in between majestic manor houses; Vila Nova de Gaia, the main centre for the production of the famous Port wine, where wine is produced and matured, and one can taste the several varieties, or even to go abroad an astonishing tour in one of the Douro’s cruises.

Split

Do you know that the unique centre of Split,which is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage, has risen on the foundation of the summer villa of the Emperor Diocletian in 305? Although 17 centuries of undisturbed life within the walls has resulted in many primal works such as the Emperor’s mausoleum which was later incorporated into the cathedral of Sv. Duje [St. Duje], Diocletian’s palace is today the true symbol of Split. If you go a little further on, you will discover one more jewel on the UNESCO cultural heritage list: the town of Trogir often called the town of museums.There are also the islands of the Split archipelago here: the island of Brac with its beautiful white stone and tradition of sculpture workshops, as well as sunny Hvar with the largest square on both sides of the Adriatic, the first communal theatre in Europe that was built in 1612, an arsenal and the celebrated Tvrdalj palace that belonged to the humanist, poet and philosopher Petar Hektorović.