1. WORLD HERITAGE ENDANGERED
SITES
Source: CNN
Music: Il Divo& Katherine Jenkins (live(
Author: Beatrice V

2. Global Heritage Fund's first annual list of endangered sites in the developing world features an
eclectic collection of sites around the world. The amazing diversity of China's ethnic minority population is
highlighted in the first site: The Minority Villages of Guizhou, China. The population of Guizhou is about one-
third ethnic minorities, including the Dong and Miao peoples, and many still stick to the old ways of building
their wooden stilt homes.
The Dong people live in Dali Village, one of the Minority Villages of Guizhou, China. Although thousand-year-old
architecture, landscapes and traditions still exist in the villages, modernization is slowly driving out the ancient
ways.
These old stone stairs are part of the Ciudad Perdida (the Lost City) in Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Santa
Marta, a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve. The Tayrona Indians built some 200 structures throughout the
Lost City between about the third and 17th centuries. The structures were discovered in the 1970s.
Colombia's Ciudad Perdido appears to be the largest of the Tayrona sites in the Sierra Nevada, and the center of
the people's political power. The 200 structures of Ciudad Perdido include stone paths, plazas, canals,
storehouses and the central terraces (shown here).
Maya Biosphere Reserve in northern Guatemala, recognized by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve, is home to the
largest and earliest pre-classic Maya archaeological sites in Mesoamerica. That includes El Mirador, where La
Danta, one of the largest pyramids in the world, is located. La Danta is shown here in an aerial view.
The Popol Vuh stucco sculpture at El Mirador in Guatemala, shown here, is one of the earliest depictions of the
Maya creation story, called the Popol Vuh.
Authentic medieval architecture dating back to the 13th century can be found in Romania's Carpathian Villages
of Transylvania in the Transylvanian Alps. The town of Hosman is shown here.
Uncontrolled modern development is the greatest threat to the nearly 200 communities that live in the villages
of the Transylvanian Alps in Romania.
Built at least 10,000 years ago, Gobekli Tepe in Turkey is thought to have been a ceremonial center where
communities gathered for rituals. That's because the site, which is only 5% excavated, has no residential
structures.
The T-shaped pillars at Gîbekli Tepe, Turkey, each weigh several tons. They were placed in circles, and a pair of
pillars towered over all of them in the center.

3. Minority Villages of Guizhou, China

4. Minority Villages of Guizhou, China

5. Ciudad Perdido, Colombia

6. Ciudad Perdido, Colombia

7. El Mirador, Guatemala

8. El Mirador, Guatemala

9. Carpathian Villages, Romania

10. Carpathian Villages, Romania

11. Gobekli Tepe, Turkey

12. Gobekli Tepe, Turkey