Italy: Home To Countless UNESCO World Heritage Sites!

Italy has the highest number of UNESCO world Heritage sites in the world!  Yes that's right, the world! At an astonishing number of 49, Italy reigns supreme in the area of cultural heritage. Spain is not far behind with 43 UNESCO sites, and China rests in 3rd place with 41.

The first official UNESCO site in Italy was "The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica" in 1979.

These are the largest collection of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world, with over 140,000 figures formally recognized by UNESCO and an increasing number discovered that would bring the total up to about 300,000 figures.

They are spread all over the surfaces of the valley but concentrated mainly in the areas of Darfo Boario Terme, Capo di Ponte, Nadro, Cimbergo and Paspardo.

This may be the first UNESCO site to be officially recognized, but the most famous are the historic centers of Rome, Florence, Venice, Siena, Assisi and Naples; the Matera stones; Pompei; The Amalfi Coast; Cinque Terre; The Dolomites and more.

Here below you can see the full list of the UNESCO world Heritage sites in Italy ordered by date of officialization:

1970s

• Rock Drawings in Valcamonica — Rock drawings; 1979

1980s

• Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci — A convent in Milan with the Renaissance Last Supper 1980


• Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City enjoying extraterritorial rights, and Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls; transboundary property, shared with the Holy See — 1980, 1990


• Historic Centre of Florence — 1982


• Piazza del Duomo, Pisa — The Medieval Piazza plus the leaning Tower of Pisa; 1987, 2007


• Venice and its lagoon — the city and the lagoon; 1987

1990s

• Historic Centre of San Gimignano — 1990


• The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera — 1993


• City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto — Most of the Renaissance Venetian villas constructed by Andrea Palladio; 1994, 1996


• Crespi d'Adda — 1995


• Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta — 1995, 1999


• Historic Centre of Naples — 1995


• Historic Centre of Siena — 1995


• Castel del Monte, Andria (Bari) — The Medieval castle in Apulia; 1994


• Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna — The many Paleochristian and Romanesque basilicas and buildings in the Emilian city; 1996


• Historic Centre of the City of Pienza — 1996


• The Trulli of Alberobello — The eccentric traditional houses of parts of Apulia; 1996


• 18th century Royal Palace of Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli and the San Leucio Complex — 1997


• Archaeological Area of Agrigento, Sicily — 1997


• Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata — 1997


• Botanical Garden (Orto botanico di Padova), Padua — The oldest botanical garden in the world; 1997


• Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena — 1997


• Amalfi Coast — the scenic Campanian coast with its several villages; s1997


• Porto Venere, Cinque Terre, and their Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto) — 1997


• Residences of the Royal House of Savoy (Turin and its province) — The Savoyard palaces in Piedmont; 1997


• Su Nuraxi di Barumini, Sardinia — 1997


• Villa Romana del Casale, Piazza Armerina, Sicily — 1997


• Archaeological Area and the Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia — 1998


• Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archæological sites of Pæstum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula — 1998


• Historic Centre of Urbino — 1998


• Villa Adriana (Tivoli) — The impressive Roman villa with its gardens; 1999

2000s

• Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi and other Franciscan Sites — 2000


• City of Verona — 2000


• Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands), Sicily — 2000


• Villa d'Este, Tivoli — The classic Renaissance villa, with magnificent water gardens; 2001


• Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto; eight towns in South-Eastern Sicily: Caltagirone, Militello in Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo Acreide, Ragusa and Scicli — 2002


• Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy — The several churches and religious centres in Lombardy; 2003


• Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia — 2004


• Val d'Orcia — 2004


• Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica, Sicily — 2005


• Genoa, Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli — 2006


• Rhaetian Railway, shared with Switzerland — 2008


• Mantua and Sabbioneta — 2008


• The Dolomites — The majestic mountains in Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol — 2009

2010s

• Monte San Giorgio - Extension of the Italian border of Monte San Giorgio in Switzerland — 2010


• Longobards in Italy, Places of Power (568-774 A.D.) — 2011


• Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps, shared with Austria, Germany, France, Slovenia, Switzerland — 2011


• Mount Etna — The tallest active volcano in Europe - 2013


• Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany - 2013

This is more then enough proof of the beauty and cultural richness of Italy! For more information we have a range of topics for you to look through that have more detail on each of these fantastic UNESCO sites in Italy.

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