The Unesco Italy sites protected as World Heritage Sites are 55 as of 2019. Italy, together with China, has the largest number of sites included in this list, which currently includes 1121 sites in the world, divided into 869 cultural, 213 naturalistic and 39 mixed sites. In Italy of the 55 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 50 are cultural and 5 are naturalistic and landscape sites (Aeolian Islands, Mount San Giorgio, Dolomites, Mount Etna, ancient beech forests of the Carpathians and other European regions).
The convention protecting the World Heritage was established by UNESCO in 1972 and the first protected site in Italy dates back to 1979 (Val Camonica rock art) which preceded the historic centre of Rome and Leonardo’s Last Supper in Milan (1980) by a year.
Italian UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Below is a list of all the Italian UNESCO World Heritage Sites protected and included as World Heritage Sites, divided by region and year of inclusion. Those with active links are places described by travellers of Dovevado.net
UNESCO sites Abruzzo
- Beech forests in the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise. Year 2017
Basilicata UNESCO sites
- The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera. Year 1993
The stones of Matera are a magical place worth visiting. They have risked complete abandonment, but in recent decades they have had an unprecedented revival, making Matera the European Capital of Culture 2020.
UNESCO sites Campania
Campania is one of the Regions with more places included as world heritage, among which the archaeological area of Pompeii stands out, but also the historical centre of Naples itself, awarded in 1995.
- Historic Centre of Naples. Year 1995
- Amalfi Coast. Year 1997
- The Royal Palace of Caserta with the Park, the Vanvitellian Aqueduct and the Complex of San Leucio. Year 1997
- Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, with the archaeological sites of Paestum, Velia and the Charterhouse of Padula. Year 1998
- Archaeological areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Oplontis. Year 1997
- The Lombards in Italy. Places of power. Year 2011
Unesco Sites Emilia Romagna
- Ferrara, city of the Renaissance, and the Po Delta. Year 1995
- Modena: Cathedral, Civic Tower and Piazza Grande. Year 1997
- Early Christian monuments of Ravenna: Mausoleum of Theodoric – Sant’Apollinare in Classe. Year 1996
UNESCO sites Friuli Venezia Giulia
- Archaeological Area and Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia. Year 1998
- Prehistoric pile-dwelling sites in the Alps. Year 2011
- The Lombards in Italy. Places of power. Year 2011
- Venetian defence works of the 16th and 17th century Land-State of the Western Sea (transnational asset, for Italy Peschiera, Bergamo, Palmanova). Year 2017
Unesco sites Lazio
- Historic centre of Rome, the extraterritorial properties of the Holy See in the city and St Paul Outside the Walls. Year 1980 (and 1990)
- Etruscan necropolis of Cerveteri and Tarquinia. Year 2004
- Villa Adriana (Tivoli). Year 1999
- Villa d’Este (Tivoli). Year 2001
Unesco sites Liguria
- Genoa, the New Streets and the Rolli Palace System. Year 2006
- Portovenere, Cinque Terre and Palmaria and Tino Islands. Year 1997
Visiting the Cinque Terre was truly a unique experience. Five small villages overlooking the sea that can be easily reached by the tourist train that stops in each of them. Incredible are also the hiking trails that connect them.
Unesco Lombardy sites
Among the UNESCO Italy sites, Lombardy is the region that counts the most, 8, and also holds the record for the longest listed World Heritage Sites. In fact, the Pitture Rupestri della Valle Camonica is the first Italian unesco site, inserted in 1979.
- Rock Art of the Camonica Valley. Year 1979
- The Church and the Dominican convent of S. Maria delle Grazie and the ‘Cenacolo’ by Leonardo da Vinci. Year 1980
- Crespi d’Adda. Year 1995
- Sacred Mounts of Piedmont and Lombardy. Year 2003
- The Rhaetian Railway in the Albula and Bernina landscape. Year 2008
- Mantua and Sabbioneta. Year 2008
- Monte San Giorgio. Year 2010
- The Lombards in Italy. Places of power. Year 2011
Unesco sites Marche
- Historic centre of Urbino. Year 1998
Unesco Sites Piedmont
- Savoy residences. Year 1997
- Sacred Mounts of Piedmont and Lombardy. Year 2003
- Wine Landscapes of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato. Year 2014
- Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century. Year 2018
UNESCO sites Apulia
- Castel del Monte. Year 1996
- Trulli of Alberobello. Year 1996
- The Lombards in Italy. Places of power. Year 2011
Unesco Sites Sardinia
- About Nuraxi by Barumini. Year 1997
Unesco Sites Sicily
- Piazza Armerina, Roman villa of the Casale. Year 1997
- Archaeological Area of Agrigento. Year 1997
- Aeolian Islands. Year 2000
- The late baroque towns of Val di Noto (south-eastern Sicily). Year 2002
- Syracuse and the rocky necropolis of Pantalica. Year 2005
- Mount Etna. Year 2013
- Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale. Year 2015
Unesco Sites Tuscany
- Historical centre of Florence. Year 1982
- Piazza del Duomo in Pisa (Piazza dei Miracoli). Year 1987
- Historical centre of San Gimignano. Year 1990
- Historic centre of Siena. Year 1995
- Historic centre of Pienza. Year 1996
- Val d’Orcia. Year 2004
- Medici villas and gardens in Tuscany. Year 2013
UNESCO sites Trentino Alto Adige
- Dolomites. Year 2009
Unesco Sites Umbria
- Assisi, The Basilica of St. Francis and other Franciscan sites. Year 2000
- The Lombards in Italy. Places of power. Year 2011
Unesco sites Veneto
- Venice and its lagoon. Year 1987
- The city of Vicenza and the villas of Palladio in Veneto. Year 1994
- The Botanical Garden of Padua. Year 1997
- City of Verona. Year 2000
- Dolomites. Year 2009
- Prosecco hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. Year 2019
For more information read the official Unesco website or the Wikipedia PagePagina Wikipedia