Petra (1985)

Inhabited since prehistoric times, this Nabatean caravan-city, situated between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, was an important crossroads between Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia. Semi-built and semi-carved in the rock within a ring of mountains pierced corridors and catwalks, Petra is one of the most famous archaeological sites, a place where the influences of ancient oriental traditions and Hellenistic architecture.

Qusair Amra (1985)

Built in the early eighth century, this desert castle, well preserved, was both a fortress with a garrison and a residence of the Umayyad caliphs. Features of a courtroom and hamman with rich figurative murals; this small pleasure palace reflects the art of the time.

Um Er-Rasas (Kastrom Mefa'a) (2004)

Most of the archaeological sites of Um Er-Rasas have not been excavated yet. The site, which contains remains from the Roman, Byzantine and early Islamic eras (in the late third to the ninth century AD) was initially a Roman military camp and grew into a city from fifth century. The fortified military camp, a square of approximately 150 m apart, was just searched. The site also has 16 churches, some with mosaic floors of well preserved, especially the church of Saint Stephen with its representation of towns in the region. Two square towers are probably the only evidence of the practice, well known in this part of the world, solitary monks (i.e. ascetic monks who spent time in isolation atop a column or tower). The remains of ancient agricultural activities point the site of Um er-Raas and its surroundings. It is here that the Prophet Mohamed, travelling as a tradesman, met a monk who convinced him of the virtue of monotheism.

Anjar (1984)

The ruins of Anjar, a city founded by Caliph Walid I at the beginning of the eighth century, reveal a very methodical in space similar to the palace-cities of antiquity. They are a unique testimony on urban Umayyad.

Baalbek (1984)

This Phoenician city, where we celebrated the worship of a triad of deities, was known as Heliopolis during the Hellenistic period. It retained its religious function in Roman times when the sanctuary of Jupiter Heliopolitan attracted crowds of pilgrims. With its colossal, Baalbek is one of the most impressive examples of Imperial Roman architecture at its apogee.

Byblos (1984)

We found in Byblos ruins successive one of the oldest cities of Lebanon, inhabited since Neolithic times and closely linked to the legends and history of the Mediterranean for several millennia. Byblos is directly associated with the history and diffusion of the Phoenician alphabet.

Tyr (1984)

Tyr, where according to legend, was discovered the purple, was the great Phoenician city ruled the seas and founded prosperous colonies such as Cadiz and Carthage. Its historical role declined at the end of the Crusades. There are important archaeological remains, mainly from Roman times.

Ouadi Qadisha Holy Valley and the Forest of the Cedars of God (Horsh Arz el-Rab) (1998)

The Qadisha valley is one of the most important institution of the Christian world, and monasteries, often very old, are an extraordinary rugged. On Nearby are the remains of the great forest of cedars of Lebanon, highly prized in antiquity for the construction of great religious buildings.

Medina of Fez (1981)

Founded in the ninth century and houses the oldest university in the world, Fez had its good times to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the dynasty Merinid when it supplanted Marrakech as the capital of the kingdom. The urban fabric and the key monuments of the medina date from this period: Medersa, fondouks, palaces and houses, mosques, fountains, etc.. Despite the transfer of the headquarters of the capital Rabat, in 1912, it retains its status as a cultural and spiritual capital of the country.

Medina of Marrakech (1985)

Founded in 1070-1072 by the Almoravids (1056-1147), Marrakech has long been a political, economic and cultural development of the major Muslim West, ruling over North Africa and Andalusia. Grandiose monuments date from this period: the Koutoubiya the mosque, the Kasbah, the walls, monumental doors, gardens, etc... Later, the city will host other wonders, like the palace Bandiera, the Ben Youssef madrasah, Saadian tombs, great houses, etc... The Place Jamaa El Fna, a veritable open-air theater, still amazes visitors.

Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou (1987)

Complex of buildings surrounded by earth walls, the ksar is a type of traditional pre-Saharan housing. The houses are grouped within its defensive walls reinforced by corner towers. Ait Ben Haddou, in Ouarzazate province, is a striking example of the architecture of southern Morocco.

Historic City of Meekness (1996)

Founded in the eleventh century by the Almoravids as a military, Meekness became a capital under the reign of Moulay Ismail (l672-1727), founder of the Alawite dynasty. It was an impressive Spanish-style city? Moorish surrounded by high walls pierced by monumental gateways showing today harmonious alliance of Islamic and European styles in the seventeenth century Maghreb.

Medina of Tetouan (formerly Titawin) (1997)

Tetouan was of particular importance in the Islamic period, from the eighth century, as the primary point of contact between Morocco and Andalusia. After the Reconquest, the town was rebuilt by refugees returned to the region after being expelled by the Spanish. This is visible in the architecture and art that reflect Andalusian influence. This is one of the smallest medinas in Moroccan, but undoubtedly the most complete, in which, subsequently, the majority of buildings are left out of external influences

Archaeological Site of Volubilis (1997)

The Mauritanian capital, founded in the third century BC, was an important outpost of the Roman Empire and was graced with many fine buildings. There are still substantial remains in the archaeological site located in a fertile agricultural area. The city later became, for a short period, the capital of Idris I, founder of the Idrissid dynasty, buried not far away, in Moulay Idriss.

Medina of Essaouira (formerly Mogador) (2001)

Essaouira is an outstanding example of a fortified city from the late eighteenth century, built in North Africa according to the principles of European military architecture of the time. Since its founding, it has remained a port of international trade leading linking Morocco and its Saharan hinterland with Europe and the rest of the world.

Portuguese City of Mazagan (El Jadida) (2004)

The Portuguese fortification of Mazagan, now part of the city of El Jadida, 90 km southwest of Casablanca, was built as a fortified colony on the Atlantic coast in the early sixteenth century. It was taken over by the Moroccans in 1769. The fortification with its bastions and ramparts is an early example of military architecture of the Renaissance. The surviving Portuguese buildings include the cistern and the Church of the Assumption, built in the Manueline style (late Gothic). The Portuguese City of Mazagan, one of the first settlements in West Africa of the Portuguese explorers on the route to India, is an outstanding example of influences between European and Moroccan cultures, well reflected in architecture, technology and urban planning.

National Parc of Arguin Banc (1989)

Located along the Atlantic coast, this park is made up of sand dunes, coastal swamps, small islands and coastal waters. The austerity of the desert and the biodiversity of the marine zone in a land and seascape are of outstanding natural significance. A wide variety of migrating birds spend the winter. There are also several species of sea turtle and dolphin, used by the fishermen to attract shoals of fish.

Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata (1996)

Founded in the eleventh and twelfth centuries to serve the caravans crossing the Sahara, these trading and religious centres became focal points of Islamic culture. They have managed to preserve an urban fabric developed between the twelfth and sixteenth century, houses with patios crowd along narrow streets around a mosque with a square minaret. They illustrate a traditional way of life cantered on the nomadic culture of the people of Western Sahara.

Bahla Fort (1987)

The oasis of Bahla owes its prosperity to the Banu Nabhan, who has been imposed in the area from the twelfth century and the end of the fifteenth. Their power is attested by the ruins of the immense fort, with walls and towers of unbaked brick and stone foundation, outstanding example of this type of fortification.

Archaeological Sites of Bat, Al-Khutm and Al-Ayn (1988)

The protohistoric site of Bat, near a palm grove in the interior of the Sultanate of Oman, constitutes together with neighbouring sites, the most complete collection of settlements and cemeteries of the third millennium BC.

Arabian Oryx Sanctuary (1994)

The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary is located in the bio-geographical regions of central desert and coastal hills of Oman. Seasonal fogs and dews support a unique desert ecosystem and its flora includes several endemic plants. Its rare fauna includes the first herd of Arabian Oryx in freedom since the global extinction of the species in the wild in 1972 and its reintroduction here in 1982. There are also the only breeding sites in liberty of the Houbara Bustard, a species of wader, and ibex, Arabian wolves, the rattles, caracals and the largest population of gazelles of Arabia in liberty.

Land of Frankincense (2000)

The trees of Wadi Dawkah, the remains of the caravan oasis of Shisr / Wubar and ports of Khor Rori and Al-Balid vividly illustrate the trade in frankincense that flourished in this region over many centuries and was one of the most important trading activities of the ancient and medieval world.

Aflaj irrigation systems of Oman (2006)

Built in an oasis, Ghadames, the pearl of the desert ", is one of the oldest cities and an outstanding example of traditional habitat. Its domestic architecture is characterized by the different functions assigned to each level: ground floor serving as a reserve provisions, floor overlooking family covered blind passages that allow almost underground movement in the city and terraces open to women

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