There are more UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Italy than any other nation in the world. The World Heritage Site designation means these landmarks are treasures preserved for all people the world over. This means their Italian location doesn’t make these monuments necessarily Italian – they are owned by the world’s population. And this designation doesn’t come easily.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This desire is outlined in a worldwide treaty adopted by UNESCO in 1972. The missions of the organization are vast and include encouraging countries to sign the World Heritage Convention, encouraging countries to nominate sites, develop management plans and safeguarding the sites for generations to come.
On your next trip to Italy, considering stopping by some or all of the Heritage Sites available. There are so many, you can make an entire vacation out of visiting every one. In Apulia – Puglia
- Castel del Monte
- The Trulli of Alberobello
In Basilicata
- The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera
In Campania
- 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex
- 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
Amalfi Coast
- Historic Centre of Naples
In Emilia Romagna
- Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena
- Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna
- Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta
In Friuli-Venezia Giulia
- Archaeological Area and the Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia
In Latium – 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
In Liguria
- Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli
- Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto)
In Lombardy – Lombardia
- Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy
- Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci
- Crespi d’Adda
- Rock Drawings in Valcamonica
In The Marches – Le Marche
- Historic Centre of Urbino
In Piedmont – Piemonte
- Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy
- Residences of the Royal House of Savoy
In Sardinia – Sardegna
- Su Nuraxi di Barumini
In Sicily – Sicilia
- Archaeological Area of Agrigento
- Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands)
- Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (South-Eastern Sicily)
- Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica
- Villa Romana del Casale
In Tuscany – Toscana
- Historic Centre of Florence
- Historic Centre of San Gimignano
- Historic Centre of Siena
- Historic Centre of the City of Pienza
- Piazza del Duomo, Pisa
- Val d’Orcia
In Umbria
- Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites
In Veneto
- Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico), Padua
- City of Verona
- City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto
- Venice and its Lagoon
