UNESCO sites in Italy: a journey into beauty

Amalfi Coast
Amalfi Coast

What do Venice and its Lagoon, the Valley of the Temples, Pompeii and the Dolomites, the Langhe-Roero-Monferrato and the Val d’Orcia have in common? These are some of the 55 precious Italian places that UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) has recognised as World Heritage Sites since the 1970s, the latest being the “Prosecco Hills of Conegliano Veneto and Valdobbiadene” in 2019. Treasures between nature and culture that Italy, which together with China has become the country with the largest number of UNESCO sites in the world (out of a total of 1,121), preserves for their “exceptional universal value”. Being on the World Heritage List is certainly a privilege and below you will find the list in chronological order of awards:

  1. Rock Art of Val Camonica (1979)
  2. The Dominican Church and Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie and Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper (1980)
  3. The historical centre of Florence (1982)
  4. The historic centre of Rome (1980 – 1990)
  5. Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa (1987)
  6. Venice and its Lagoon (1987)
  7. Historic Centre of San Gimignano (1990)
  8. The Sassi and the Park of the Rock Churches of Matera (1993)
  9. The city of Vicenza and the villas of Palladio in Veneto (1994)
  10. Ferrara, city of the Renaissance, and the Po Delta (1995)
  11. The historical centre of Siena (1995)
  12. The historical centre of Naples (1995)
  13. Crespi d’Adda (1995)
  14. Trulli of Alberobello (1996)
  15. Castel del Monte (1996)
  16. The historical centre of Pienza (1996)
  17. Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna (1996)
  18. Archaeological areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata (1997)
  19. Amalfi Coast (1997)
  20. Archaeological Area of Agrigento (1997)
  21. The Royal Palace of Caserta (1997)
  22. Portovenere, Cinque Terre and Islands: Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto (1997)
  23. Modena: Cathedral, Civic Tower and Piazza Grande (1997)
  24. Nuragic Village of Barumini (1997)
  25. Botanical Garden of Padua (1997)
  26. Savoy residences (1997)
  27. Piazza Armerina, Villa Romana del Casale (1997)
  28. Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park (1998)
  29. Archaeological Area and Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia (1998)
  30. Historic Centre of Urbino (1998)
  31. Archaeological Area and Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia (1998)
  32. Villa Adriana, Tivoli (1999)
  33. Assisi, the Basilica of St. Francis and other Franciscan sites (2000)
  34. Aeolian Islands (2000)
  35. City of Verona (2000)
  36. Villa d’Este, Tivoli (2001)
  37. Val di Noto (2002)
  38. Sacred Mounts of Piedmont and Lombardy (2003)
  39. Etruscan necropolis of Cerveteri and Tarquinia (2004)
  40. Val d’Orcia (2004)
  41. Syracuse and the rocky necropolis of Pantalica (2005)
  42. Genoa, the New Roads and the Rolli Palace System (2006)
  43. The Rhaetian Railway in the Albula and Bernina landscape (2008)
  44. Mantua and Sabbioneta (2008)
  45. Dolomites (2009)
  46. Prehistoric pile-dwelling sites in the Alps (2011)
  47. The Lombards in Italy. Places of power (2011)
  48. Mount Etna (2013)
  49. Medici Villas in Tuscany (2013)
  50. Wine Landscapes of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato (2014)
  51. Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale (2014)
  52. Venetian defence works between the 16th and 17th centuries: Land-State from the West Sea (2017)
  53. Primordial beech forests of the Carpathians and other regions of Europe (2018)
  54. Ivrea industrial city of the 20th century (2018)
  55. The Prosecco Hills of Conegliano Veneto and Valdobbiadene (2019)