Travel Blog Carnival - UNESCO World Heritage Sites

I'm a big believer in the UNESCO World Heritage Site program. Years ago, when I lived in southern Italy, I visited Matera, known for its sassi, or cave dwellings, and its rupestrian (cave) churches. Matera was a sleepy town, still struggling to extricate itself from grinding poverty.

In 1993, Matera was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The funding the city received from the World Heritage program allowed Matera to develop and market itself as a unique destination. Mel Gibson heard about Matera and chose the city's ravine and cliffs as the setting for his film, The Passion of the Christ. The rest is history. Today, tourists flock to Matera to tour the sassi and see the film sites.

Matera is just one example of a unique, culturally-significant site that has benefitted from its World Heritage Site designation. If you don't know too much about World Heritage Sites, I have just the resource for you. Martha Bakerjian, About.com's Guide to Italy Travel, has put together what has to be our biggest travel blog carnival yet, all about UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

In fact, Martha's blog carnival includes 58 (!) articles and photo tours written by About.com's travel experts, including yours truly. I encourage you to take a look and discover some of the world's most unique places for yourself.

Photo © Martti Vire