Take a virtual walk around some of the world’s most remarkable natural and cultural landmarks using Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View. Google is partnered with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to put imagery of World Heritage sites into Street View. And’ve released new imagery for 19 UNESCO sites around Europe, including places in Czech Republic, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom. You can explore sites directly in Google Maps, or visit this site to learn more.
Here is a quick video:
19 of UNESCO’s 890 world heritage sites can now be seen via Google’s Street View interface, which provides nearly spherical panoramic (360° horizontal and 290° vertical) views taken by cameras mounted on vehicles. All the other sites on the List will be shown on the Google Earth and Google Maps interfaces.
“The alliance with Google makes it possible to offer virtual visits of the sites to everyone, to increase awareness and to encourage participation in the preservation of these treasures,”.
“Cultural and natural heritage sites are an irreplaceable source of inspiration and fascination. This is an exciting project and we’re thrilled to be working with UNESCO to make more World Heritage sites universally accessible and useful to all,” said Carlo d’Asaro, Google’s Vice-President for Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa.
In future, Google and UNESCO will also work together to provide online access, via Google Maps, YouTube and Google Earth, to maps, texts and videos pertaining to UNESCO’s Biosphere Reserves, to documentary heritage inscribed on the Memory of the World Register and to endangered languages.
