Despite being one of the younger countries in the world, the U.S. has 23 designated UNESCO World Heritage sites, with one in our neighborhood, writes Andrea Sachs for The Washington Post.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has been preserving, protecting, and promoting the world’s most valuable heritage places for more than four decades. So far, the organization has chosen 1,073 sites in over 170 countries, 832 for their culture, 206 for nature, and 35 that are a mix.

The sites vary in nature immensely, from The Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino in Mexico to Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania.

“It’s a beautiful thing, the shared heritage of the world,” said Mechtild Rössler, the director of the Division for Heritage and the UNESCO World Heritage Center.

Philadelphia is home to the UNESCO-protected Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated, adopted, and signed.

It was added to the UNESCO list in 1979. The best times to visit are in January and February, when tickets are not required. Other UNESCO World Heritage sites in the U.S. include the Grand Canyon National Park and Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.

Read more about world-class heritage sites across the country in The Washington Post by clicking here.