João Aender Profile

I have been interested in WHS for some time now and my focus is to visit those in South America, though I usually travel overseas at least once a year.
I have visited all 22 Brazilian WHS and my next goal is to do the same in Argentina. 
Whenever I can, I will review South American WHS in this excellent website and I also review them in my own website (www.aender.com.br), in Portuguese language.

Visited Sites João Aender

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Legend

  • Cultural
  • Natural
  • Mixed

Recent Reviews João Aender


Pampulha

João Aender Brazil - 26-Aug-14

Pampulha Architectural Ensemble is Brazil probably Brazil's next nomination for inscription in WHS list. Pampulha is the name of a upper-class suburb of Belo Horizonte city and was designed by Oscar Niemeyer, a famous architect (who died in 2012 at 104), also responsible for the construction of Brasilia (another WHS). The most famous elemento of Pampulha ensemble is Sao Francisco Church, a tiny temple by the lake shore, which is considered one of Niemeyer's early masterpieces and inspiration for many other buildings in the same style worldwide. I was there last weekend, in a sunny and relaxing Sunday afternoon.

Read On

Discovery Coast

João Aender Brazil - 16-Aug-14

It was surprising to me to see this WHS hasn't been yet reviewed. Discovery Coast is by no means a difficult place to reach or uninteresting area to be looked down, all the way around. It is made up of several Atlantic Rainforest reserves, most of them close to Porto Seguro, a vibrant city (and with a famous carnival) that is also situated in the area where the first Portuguese colonizers arrived in Brazil (year 1500).

I have visited this reserves many times when I was a kid and also recently with my father. I could not see (and I doubt there is, at least for the casual tourist) any significant distinction between Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest (in States of Bahia and Espírito Santo) and the Atlantic Forest South-East situated more southerly (in São Paulo and Paraná States).

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Central Amazon Conservation Complex

João Aender Brazil - 25-Feb-13

During carnival this year, unlike most Brazilians, I opted not to party, but, instead, to reach Central Amazon Conservation Complex, the WHS Brazil dedicated to its largest bioma.

First stop is Manaus, a large 2-million people city situated in the heart of Amazon forest. After that, with a rental car one must drive 200 km (paved roads in good condition) to a town called Novo Airão, from where you can easily visit the Anavilhanas National Park (it is no longer an Ecological Station since 2008). Anavilhanas comprises an average of 400 river islands and islets, depending on the dry or wet season. All of them are located within the Rio Negro (Black River), the largest blackwater river in the world and one of the most important tributary rivers of Amazon River.

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Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis

João Aender Brazil - 04-Feb-13

Last weekend I visited the Brazilian part of this WHS, that is São Miguel das Missões. I had previously visited the Argentinian ruins of San Ignacio Miní, and these two sites are probably the best preserved of all inscribed Jesuit Missions of the Guarani ruins (the Paraguayan ones are a separate WHS).

The former São Miguel das Missões church has a remarkable façade and also a very interesting museum of guarani christian art, including a bell used when the mission was active.

There are some other ruins nearby, worth visiting, but only the São Miguel ruins were declared WHS in Brazil.

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São Luis

João Aender Brazil - 25-Nov-12

I was in São Luís, capital of the State of Maranhão, for a weekend last August. Most tourists don't spend much time in São Luís, rather go as soon as possible to the nearby Lençóis Maranhenses, a paradisiac complex of fresh water lagoons formed on the dunes.

Anyway, São Luís was the only city in Brazil founded by the French (hence named after the French King St.Louis IX), but very little of French heritage is left.

The main attractions are the Government Palace, some historic museums and the "tiled buildings", designed with the purpose of isolating their interior from the intense heat (the city is close to the Equator).

Read On

Profile Data

Name
João Aender
Country
Brazil
Most Impressive
Machu Picchu, Petra, Jerusalem, Rome, Uluru, Los Glaciares,Great Barrier Reef, Igua�u/Iguaz�, Pen�nsula Vald�s
Proposal
Paraty, Chapada Diamantina and Jalap�o (Brazil)

Recently Visited WHS

Update 12.03.23
Rating Stats
Assisi 5
Cuzco 5
Matera 5
Petra 5
Prague 5
Rome 5
Uluru 5
Angkor 4.5
Baalbek 4.5
Bethlehem 4.5
Copán 4.5
Kraków 4.5
Masada 4.5
Quito 4.5
Vienna 4.5
Genoa 4
Iguacu 4
Nikko 4
Pompei 4
Puebla 4
Rabat 4
Toledo 4
Trier 4
Brasilia 3.5
Butrint 3.5
Cordoba 3.5
Dubrovnik 3.5
Evora 3.5
Granada 3.5
Mostar 3.5
Olinda 3.5
Oporto 3.5
Potsdam 3.5
Riga 3.5
Siena 3.5
Split 3.5
Sukhothai 3.5
Tiwanaku 3.5
Volubilis 3.5
Belem 3
Brugge 3
Lima 3
Meknes 3
Naples 3
Sintra 3
Anjar 2.5
Avila 2.5
Ayutthaya 2.5
Belfries 2.5
Byblos 2.5
Edinburgh 2.5
Gyeongju 2.5
Nancy 2.5
Panamá 2.5
Tallinn 2.5
Tyre 2.5
Goias 2
Kotor 2
Trogir 2
Aranjuez 1.5
Corfu 1
Qalhat 0.5
Saltaire 0.5
  1. Abraj Al-Kuwait (T)
  2. Amazonia Theaters (T)
  3. Anavilhanas Ecological Station (T)
  4. Archaeological Site and Historic Centre of Panamá City (T)
  5. Architecture Moderne du XX siècle de la Ville de Montevideo (T)
  6. Auckland Volcanic Fields (T)
  7. Bet She'an (T)
  8. Brazilian Fortresses Ensemble (T)
  9. Brooklyn Bridge (T)
  10. Buenos Aires – La Plata: Two capitals of the Culture of Modernity, Eclecticism and Immigration (T)
  11. Camp de concentration de Tarrafal (T)
  12. Capital Fortifications of Hanyang : Hangyangdoseong Capital City Wall, Bukhansanseong Mountain Fortress and Tangchundaeseong Defense Wall (T)
  13. Casablanca, Ville du XXème siécle, carrefour d'influences (T)
  14. Central Park (T)
  15. Centre historique de Praia (T)
  16. Centre historique de São Filipe (T)
  17. Chalchuapa (T)
  18. Chapultepec Woods, Hill and Castle (T)
  19. Chobe Linyanti System (T)
  20. Cittadella (Victoria - Gozo) (T)
  21. City of Granada and its natural environment (T)
  22. City of Tigre and its rowing clubs (T)
  23. Classical Karst (in Slovene language: Klasicni kras) (T)
  24. Coastal Cliffs (T)
  25. Cultural Itinerary of Ecuador's Trans-Andean Train (T)
  26. Cultural Landscape of Paranapiacaba: Village and railway systems in the Serra do Mar Mountain Range, São Paulo (T)
  27. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo's Home-Study Museum (T)
  28. Diocletian's Palace and the Historical Nucleus of Split (extension) (T)
  29. Early Synagogues in the Galilee (T)
  30. Eglise et Monastère de Sao Bento, Rio de Janeiro (T)
  31. Ein Karem, a village and its cultural landscape (T)
  32. Ellis Island (T)
  33. Extension of the World Heritage Site "Historic Centre of Prague" with the important Monuments in its Vicinity (T)
  34. Fagaloa Bay - Uafato Tiavea Conservation Zone (T)
  35. Fortress of S.Miguel (T)
  36. Grenadines Island Group (T)
  37. Grenadines Island Group (Grenada) (T)
  38. Head Office and Garden of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (T)
  39. Historic zone of Basseterre (T)
  40. Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
  41. Insular area and bay of Colonia del Sacramento (T)
  42. Jerusalem (T)
  43. Kermadec Islands and Marine reserve (T)
  44. Knights Fortifications around the Harbours of Malta (T)
  45. La Moneda Palace (T)
  46. La Rambla (promenade maritime) de la Cité de Montevideo (T)
  47. Le noyau historique ou la 'Cuve' de Gand, et les deux abbayes qui sont à son origine (T)
  48. Les Alpes de la Méditerranée (Monaco) (T)
  49. Les passages de Bruxelles / Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (T)
  50. Les témoignages matériels de la construction de l’État des Pyrénées : la Co-principauté d’Andorre (A) (T)
  51. Leuven/Louvain, batiments universitaires, l'héritage de six siècles au sein du centre historique (T)
  52. Maltese Catacomb Complexes (T)
  53. Manono, Apolima and Nuulopa Cultural Landscape (T)
  54. Mdina (Citta Vecchia) (T)
  55. Mission Ruins of Venn's Town (T)
  56. Monuments, Sites and Cultural Landscape of Chiang Mai, Capital of Lanna (T)
  57. Moulay Idriss Zerhoun (T)
  58. Ngwenya Mines (T)
  59. Noyau historique d'Antwerpen -Anvers- de l'Escaut aux anciens remparts de vers 1250 (T)
  60. Orheiul Vechi Archaeological Landscape (T)
  61. Palais de la Culture, ancien siège du Ministere de l'Education et de la Santé, Rio de Janeiro (T)
  62. Parc National de la Serra da Bocaina (Sao Paulo - Rio de Janeiro) (T)
  63. Parc Naturel de Fogo – Chã das Caldeiras (T)
  64. Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses – Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (T)
  65. Pharaonic temples in Upper Egypt from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods (T)
  66. Plantations in West Curacao (T)
  67. Pombaline Lisbon (T)
  68. Qawra/Dwejra (T)
  69. QUMRAN: Caves and Monastery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (T)
  70. Region Lacan-Tún - Usumacinta (T)
  71. Route of the Franciscan Evangelisation (T)
  72. Route of the to Dominique Evangelisation (T)
  73. Routes of Santiago de Compostela in Portugal (T)
  74. Sacred Titicaca Lake (T)
  75. Salento and the Barocco Leccese (T)
  76. Salines de Pedra de Lume (T)
  77. San Francisco Church and Convent (T)
  78. Sanmartinian Routes (T)
  79. Sarajevo - unique symbol of universal multiculture - continual open city (T)
  80. Sea of Galilee & its Ancient Sites (T)
  81. Seaflower Marine Protected Area (T)
  82. Serra da Capivara National Park and Permanent Preservation Areas (T)
  83. Sheikh Abdullah Al-Jabir Palace (T)
  84. Sierra de las Quijadas National Park (T)
  85. Sistema Ferrocarril Pte. Carlos Antonio Lopez (T)
  86. St. George Fortified System (T)
  87. St. George Historic District (T)
  88. System of Fortifications at the Confluence of the Rivers Danube and Váh in Komárno - Komárom (Slova) (T)
  89. Temple of Hator built by Ramses III (T)
  90. Temples, Shrines and other structures of Ancient Kamakura (T)
  91. Thaba-Bosiu National Monument (T)
  92. The Crusader Fortresses (T)
  93. The Galilee Journeys of Jesus & the Apostles (T)
  94. The historic urban site of Počitelj (T)
  95. The Industrial Heritage of Barbados: The Story of Sugar and Rum (T)
  96. The La Soufrière National Park (T)
  97. The natural and architectural ensemble of Blagaj (T)
  98. The Route of The Rivers (T)
  99. The Royal Sites of Ireland: Cashel, Dún Ailinne, Hill of Uisneach, Rathcroghan Complex, and Tara Complex (T)
  100. The Transhumance: The Royal Shepherd's Track (T)
  101. Town of Chichicastenango (T)
  102. Trakai Historical National Park (T)
  103. Turks and Caicos Islands (T)
  104. Valle Calchaquí (T)
  105. Ver-o-Peso (T)
  106. Via Appia 'Regina Viarum' (T)
  107. Victoria Lines Fortifications (T)
  108. Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan, Nakhon Si Thammarat (T)

Reviewed TWHS

Top 50 Missing Sites

  1. Atacama Desert
  2. Devils Island (on French Guiana)
  3. Ephesus
  4. Historic University Towns of Oxford and Cambridge
  5. Huaca de la Luna and Huaca del Sol
  6. Jericho
  7. Kaieteur National Park, Iwokrama Forest and the Kanuku Mountains
  8. La Brea Pitch Lake
  9. Lake Titicaca
  10. Panama Canal
  11. Pharaonic Temples of Kom Ombo and Edfu
  12. Scrovegni's Chapel
  13. Sistema Vial Andino/Qhapaq Ñan
  14. Varanasi