The landscape of Rio de Janeiro is considered the 3rd most captivating “world heritage site”

Posted On: October 4, 2023

Rio de Janeiro, Rio. | Photo: Rafa Pereira – Diario do Rio

I must say, before I begin, that I do not agree, but I understand, after all, the list of 52 Most Captivating World Heritage Sites of UNESCO was produced by the British travel site Explore. And there is nothing more expected than to give priority to the heritage of your nation, more particularly to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal, of the Principality of Wales, which is the highest and longest navigable aqueduct in the world. Cool, yes? Beautiful to the point of captivating? Of course.

Photo: Gorgo

Second place, I won’t complain too much. Oh Canadian Rockies Park, with its peaks, its glaciers, its limestone caves and its fossils, ok! It really captivates visitors! There are four national parks: Banff, Jasper, Kootnay It is Yoho. Look at the photo above, it calms you down just looking at it.

But when you see the third, how can you not fall in love? The urban landscape of Rio de Janeiro, the only one in the world to deserve the title of Wonderful city! The travel website itself says: “Especially Rio’s landscape between mountains and sea. This spectacular blend of urban and natural environments, with its iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer overlooking the city. From rainforests to granite peaks to the iconic beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema, an aerial view proves to birders that this UNESCO heritage site is visually stunning.“. It’s true, and they always put in my mind an aqueduct which loses a lot to that of Lapa first. Is it possible ? See the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct below:

Photo: Akke Monasso/Wikipedia

Did this dazzle you? No? And this one below?

Rio de Janeiro, seen from Sumaré | Photo: Rafa Pereira – Diario do Rio

Gentlemen, as English-speaking lawyers would say: “I leave my case“. But let me explain to you how they arrived at such an aberration, after all, they had a methodology. Translated directly from the website:

“We selected 52 of the world’s more than 1,000 UNESCO sites based on their recognizability, making sure to include landmarks for each continent. We then conducted a study in which participants saw images pre-selected marks. Using eye-tracking technology, we measured the average gaze duration at each landmark to reveal which ones caught attention quickest and longest, providing our list of the most popular UNESCO sites. captivating.“

See the Top 20:

Rank	UNESCO Heritage	Country	Continent	Number of fasteners	Average patch duration.
1	Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal	UNITED KINGDOM	Europe	180	0.31 sec
two	Canadian Rocky Mountain Park	Canada	North America	159	0.31 sec
3	Rio de Janeiro: Landscape between mountains and sea	Brazil	South America	179	0.31 sec
4 =	Plitvice Lakes National Park	Croatia	Europe	126	0.3s
4 =	Maloti-Drakensberg Park	South Africa	Africa	126	0.3s
5	Mozambique Island	Mozambique	Africa	114	0.3s
6	Ancient city of Sigiriya	Sri Lanka	Asia	97	0.3s
7 =	Angkor Wat	Cambodia	Asia	85	0.3s
7 =	Oaxaca Historic Center and Monte Albán Archaeological Site	Mexico	North America	85	0.3s
8	Sceilg Mhichil	Ireland	Europe	70	0.3s
9	Petra	Jordan	Asia	66	0.3s
ten	Historical monuments Monuments of ancient Kyoto (cities of Kyoto, Uji and Otsu)	Japan	Asia	125	0.29 sec
11	Yellowstone National Park	WE	North America	110	0.29 sec
12	Taj Mahal	India	Asia	96	0.29 sec
13	the Galapagos Islands	Ecuador	South America	94	0.29 sec
14	Rapa Nui National Park (Easter Island)	Chile	Oceania	89	0.29 sec
15	Piazza del Duomo, Pisa	Italy	Europe	88	0.29 sec
16	Fujisan, place of artistic inspiration (Mount Fuji)	Japan	Asia	85	0.29 sec
17	Historic Center of Lima	Peru	South America	82	0.29 sec
18	Potala Palace, Lhasa	China	Asia	79	0.29 sec
19	Palace and Park of Versailles	France	Europe	68	0.29 sec
20	Statue of Liberty	WE	North America	67	0.29 sec