Commenting on my entry about walking the streets of Pompeii using Google Maps Street View, Stuart of Free History Books asked if I knew of any other sites of archaeological note which could be browsed in Street View.
I said I’d look into and so I have. Not only are there other historical wonderlands available for virtual tourism, but Google and UNESCO have an ongoing collaboration to upload as many World Heritage Sites to Google Maps Street View as possible. So far they have 18 sites ready to roll, including Stonehenge, Santiago de Compostela, and the historic center of San Gimignano, a walled medieval wonderland of towers in Tuscany.
Just click the “Select location” dropdown menu and pick your destination. Then drag the little yellow guy from the zoom controls onto the map to talk a stroll.
Going forward, Google plans to add Street View data from many more countries.
In the coming months Google will work with UNESCO to select additional World Heritage landmarks, in countries where Street View imagery is being collected, which will be photographed for the project. The aim is to collect imagery from diverse regions throughout the world including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, US and many countries throughout Europe. With permission from the site manager/owner such places look set to one day be available to millions of people around the world who may never have the chance to visit them in person.
May that day come sooner rather than later. :boogie:
There are hundreds more World Heritage sites already on Google Maps (click the “Discover more World Heritage sites” button under the “Select location” dropdown to see them all), but they’re just in satellite view, which of course can be very cool in and of itself, but doesn’t give you that same being in the middle of things vibe.
Speaking of which, I feel like walking in the footsteps of the Druids right about now.