World Heritage sites added to Google Maps

Images of 19 heritage sites from around the world are to be made available on Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Earth.

The United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) sites are places of cultural and historical heritage and importance, and include the Palace of Versailles in France, the archaelogical areas of Pompei in Italy and Stonehenge in the UK.

All the 360-degree images will have customised icons and information bubbles on them too so that users can find and zoom in to take a closer look.

Google is also working with UNESCO to choose more World Heritage landmarks to add to the site. Plans to include images from sites in Australia, Brazil, Canada and Japan are also in place.

Carlo D'Asaro Biondo of Google said: "Cultural and natural heritage sites are a source of inspiration and fascination for all of us, teaching us about our global history.

"This is an exciting project and we're thrilled to be working together with UNESCO, to make more World Heritage sites universally accessible and useful to all."

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