UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Italy

Italy holds the record for the most UNESCO heritage sites in the world.

There are currently 55 UNESCO sites in Italy — 50 cultural and 5 natural — and many others are under consideration (INCLUDING BOLOGNA “PORTICOES”: https://www.ilrestodelcarlino.it/bologna/cronaca/portici-patrimonio-unesco-1.5395617)

UNESCO’s heritage lists provide context to a country’s history and traditions. Many travelers, including myself, use UNESCO’s lists as a guide to deciding where to go, what to see, or what to read (or write) about.

Following is a list of Italy’s UNESCO sites. Links to coverage of these sites on Italofile are provided where applicable and will be continuously updated.

• A to Z List of UNESCO Heritage Sites in Italy
• UNESCO Heritage Sites in Italy By Region
• UNESCO Natural Heritage Sites in Italy
• UNESCO Intangible Heritage Sites in Italy

UNESCO Cultural Heritage Sites in Italy (A to Z)

• 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex (Campania)
• Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale (Sicily)
• Archaeological Area and the Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
• Archaeological Area of Agrigento (Sicily)
• Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata (Campania)
• Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites (Umbria et al)
• Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico), Padua (Veneto)
• Castel del Monte (Puglia)
• Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena (Emilia-Romagna)
• Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci (Lombardy)
• Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological Sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula (Campania)
• City of Verona (Veneto)
• City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto
• Costiera Amalfitana (Campania)
• Crespi d’Adda (Lombardy)
• Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna)
• Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia (Lazio)
• Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta (Emilia-Romagna)
• Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli (Liguria)
• Historic Centre of Florence (Tuscany)
• Historic Centre of Naples (Campania)
• Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura (Lazio)
• Historic Centre of San Gimignano (Tuscany)
• Historic Centre of Siena (Tuscany)
• Historic Centre of the City of Pienza (Tuscany)
• Historic Centre of Urbino (Le Marche)
• Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century (Piemonte)
• Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (Sicily)
• Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power (568-774 A.D.) (Includes sites in Campania, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Puglia, and Umbria — noted in regional lists below)
• Mantua and Sabbioneta (Emilia-Romagna)
• Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany
• Piazza del Duomo, Pisa (Tuscany)
• Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto) (Liguria)
• Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps (Lombardy, Piemonte, Trentino-Alto Adige)
• Prosecco Hills of Conegliano e Valdobbiadene (Veneto)
• Residences of the Royal House of Savoy (Piemonte)
• Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes (Lombardy)
• Rock Drawings in Valcamonica (Lombardy)
• Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy
• Su Nuraxi di Barumini (Sardinia)
• Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica (Sicily)
• The Trulli of Alberobello (Puglia)
• The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera (Basilicata)
• Val d’Orcia (Tuscany)
• Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th Centuries: Stato da Terra – Western Stato da Mar (Veneto)
• Venice and its Lagoon (Veneto)
• Villa Adriana (Tivoli) (Lazio)
• Villa d’Este, Tivoli (Lazio)
• Villa Romana del Casale (Sicily)
• Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato

UNESCO Cultural Heritage Sites in Italy (By Region)

Basilicata

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

Campania

• 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex
• Amalfi Coast (Costiera Amalfitana)
• Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata
• Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological Sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula
• Historic Centre of Naples
• Santa Sofia Complex, Benevento (Longobard Site)

Emilia-Romagna

• Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena
• Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna
• Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta
• Mantua (Mantova) and Sabbioneta

Friuli-Venezia Giulia

• Archaeological Area and the Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia
• Cividale del Friuli (Longobard Site)
• The Dolomites (Shared with Veneto, Trentino Alto-Adige)

Lazio

• Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia
• Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
• Villa Adriana, Tivoli
• Villa d’Este, Tivoli

Liguria

• Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli
• Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto)

Lombardy

• Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci, Milan
• Crespi d’Adda
• Monte San Giorgio
• Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps (Shared with Piemonte, Trentino-Alto Adige)
• Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes
• Rock Drawings in Valcamonica
• Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy
• San Salvatore-Santa Giulia in Brescia (Longobard Site)
• Santa Maria Foris Portas, which includes the castrum with the Torba Tower and the church outside the walls, Castelseprio (Longobard Site)

Marche

• Historic Centre of Urbino

Piemonte

• Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century
• Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps (Shared with Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige)
• Residences of the Royal House of Savoy
• Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato

Puglia

• Castel del Monte
• Sanctuary of San Michele (Longobard Site)
• The Trulli of Alberobello

Sardinia

• Su Nuraxi di Barumini

Sicily

• Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale
• Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands)
• Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto
• Mount Etna
• Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica
• Villa Romana del Casale

Trentino-Alto Adige

• The Dolomites (Shared with Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
• Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps (Shared with Lombardy, Piemonte)

Tuscany

• Historic Centre of Florence
• Historic Centre of San Gimignano
• Historic Centre of Siena
• Historic Centre of the City of Pienza
• Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany
• Piazza del Duomo, Pisa
• Val d’Orcia

Umbria

• Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites
• Basilica San Salvatore, Spoleto (Longobard Site)
• Clitunno Tempietto, Campello sul Clitunno (Longobard Site)

Veneto

• Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico), Padua (Veneto)
• City of Verona (Veneto)
• City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto
• The Dolomites (Shared with Trentino Alto-Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
• Prosecco Hills of Conegliano e Valdobbiadene (Veneto)
• Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th Centuries: Stato da Terra – Western Stato da Mar
• Venice and its Lagoon

UNESCO Natural Heritage Sites

• Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe
• Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands) (Sicily)
• Monte San Giorgio (Lombardy, shared with Switzerland)
• Mount Etna (Sicily)
• The Dolomites (Veneto, Trentino Alto-Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia)

Italy’s Intangible Cultural Heritage

In addition to sites one can visit, Italy is also recognized by its intangible cultural heritage. These include the following:

• Opera dei Pupi, Sicilian puppet theatre
• Canto a tenore, Sardinian pastoral songs
• Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona (Lombardy)
• Mediterranean diet (shared with other countries)
• Celebrations of big shoulder-borne processional structures (Example from Molise)
• Traditional agricultural practice of cultivating the “vite ad alberello” (head-trained bush vines) of the community of Pantelleria (Sicily)
• Falconry, a living human heritage (shared with other countries)
• Art of Neapolitan “Pizzaiuolo”
• Art of dry stone walling, knowledge and techniques (shared with other countries)

Source: Italy’s UNESCO sites