3 UNESCO Sites Listed in 1984, Two Continents Apart
Barcelona's Gaudí works, Yosemite National Park, and the Statue of Liberty were all first inscribed by UNESCO in 1984. Barcelona's listing was later extended in 2005 to add three more Gaudí buildings; Yosemite and the Statue of Liberty have both stayed unchanged since, one reached by road, the other only by ferry.
Three 1984 listings, none of them a historic city center: one architect's body of work, one glacially carved wilderness, and one harbor monument reachable only by ferry.
The Three, Side by Side
| Site | Location | What Got Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Barcelona (Gaudí works) | Spain | Seven of Antoni Gaudí's buildings, inscribed as a single property, extended in 2005 |
| Yosemite | California, USA | Superlative natural beauty and a glacially carved granite landscape, criterion (vii) |
| Statue of Liberty | New York, USA | The monument and Ellis Island, reachable only by NPS-authorized ferry |
The One Listing That Grew
Barcelona's is the only one of these three that changed after 1984: seven Gaudí buildings are inscribed together as a single property, but the listing was formally extended in 2005 to add three more works, Casa Vicens, the Crypt of the Colònia Güell, and the Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Sagrada Família, that weren't part of the original inscription. Most visitors only ever see three or four of the seven; the rest sit slightly outside the main tourist path.
Two US Sites, Same Year, Opposite Access
Yosemite and the Statue of Liberty were both listed in 1984, and both sit in the United States, but getting to each works completely differently. Yosemite is reached by road, with a standard $35 vehicle pass. The Statue of Liberty has no equivalent option at all, the National Park Service charges no separate entrance fee to either island, but a ferry ticket from Statue City Cruises, the only NPS-authorized provider, is the only way to reach it.
What This Means for Planning a Trip
1984 grouped an architect's still-growing body of work with two very different American landmarks, one road-accessible wilderness, one ferry-only monument. The shared year doesn't predict a shared visiting experience at all.
Related Reading
- Directory -- every comparison page in this collection.
- Spain's Four UNESCO Cities Compared -- Barcelona alongside Seville, Madrid, and Ibiza.
- 9 UNESCO Sites Recognized for Just One Reason -- Yosemite's single-criterion listing compared against eight others.
Every city in this comparison, from Travelog's own destination guides
- Barcelona -- inscribed 1984
- New York City -- inscribed 1984
- Yosemite -- inscribed 1984