COLONIAL CITIES: UNESCO World Heritage Cities

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baroque, Capital, City tour, Must see 2013, NatGeo, Quito, top ten cities, UNESCO

The UN and its specialized agency, UNESCO in a pursuit to preserve natural and historical places, declared Quito Colonial Center in 1978 as World Cultural Heritage Site, and it became along with Krakow in Poland, the first cities to bear this category. UNESCO has recognized three additional locations in Ecuador as World Heritage: Cuenca, the country´s third largest city located in the Southern Andes, the unique Galapagos Islands and a true wildlife sanctuary which extends from the perpetual snowcapped volcanoes in the Andes to the Amazon basin, the Sangay National Park. Quito is the largest and best-preserved colonial city in the Americas. It covers most than 300 blocks with colonial houses, buildings, churches, clusters, monasteries, parks and monuments. This colonial city is incredible built over hills, mountains and creeks, and it becomes a masterpiece of colonial architecture and engineering.