UNESCO, Google put heritage sites online
05.12.2009 12:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Sites of outstanding universal value inscribed on
the World Heritage List – the Palace of Versailles in France, the
historic centre of Prague in the Czech Republic and the old town of
Cáceres in Spain, for example – can now be explored online by internet
users around the world, thanks to an alliance signed by UNESCO and the
international corporation Google. The agreement makes it possible for
internet users to visit 19 of the 890 World Heritage properties via
Google’s Street View interface. All the other sites on the List will
be shown on the Google Earth and Google Maps interfaces, UNESCO said
on its website.

The 19 sites are located in Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the
Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. Street View provides nearly
spherical panoramic (360° horizontal and 290° vertical) views taken by
cameras mounted on vehicles. Once obtained, these images are overlaid
on Google Maps’ satellite views – the process can take several months.
When the specially-equipped cars cannot reach sites to be
photographed, tricycles are used.

"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," said UNESCO’s
Director-General Irina Bokova.

"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.

At UNESCO’s suggestion, Google will soon be visiting and photographing
other sites on the List. The focus is on harder-to-access sites, which
will be photographed with the permission of site managers. They can
then be appreciated by millions of people who might never have the
opportunity to visit them otherwise. The sites are located notably in
South Africa, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the Netherlands.

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.