Have you ever wondered what the Colosseum sounds like? Or Machu Picchu?Or the Sistine Chapel? Well now you can find out, as 270 sounds from Unesco World Heritage Sites, along with items of intangible heritage, from 50 countries, have today been posted online.
Ears will surely prick up on hearing the collection, dubbed The Sonic Heritage project, which was created to mark World Heritage Day. Cities and Memory, the organisation behind the initiative, describes it as an exploration of the role of sound in how we experience some of the world’s most famous places.
Stuart Fowkes, the founder of Cities and Memory, says: “There are no ‘blue plaque’ schemes for sound, and yet how we record and preserve significant sounds really matters. These precious soundscapes are perhaps even more at risk from overtourism than any other part of our experience.”
According to Fowkes, there are some real surprises in the soundscapes, including the “incredible reverberation of the Taj Mahal, or the unexpected cacophony of the Sistine Chapel”. Plus, there's sound versions of various cultural practices, such as textile weaving, agave cutting and even tortilla making.
- Listen to the sounds of Sonic Heritage here