UNESCO Italy – 55 UNESCO Sites in Italy with photos and map

UNESCO Italy – 55 UNESCO Sites in Italy with photos and map! Italy (and China) is the country with the highest number of UNESCO sights in the world. There are 55 cultural and natural heritage sites and 40 others that have sought to be listed, making up 5% of the UNESCO World Heritage List.

You just need to decide if you are more attracted by mountains, summer holiday by the sea, winter sports, active holidays, lakes, mainland, islands, city tourism, monuments, gastro tourism, agritourism or even nature parks. Italy has it all! One day you can climb the highest mountain in Europe, the next day enjoy delicious seafood on the beach and the third day with a glass of wine to admire the beautiful architecture. It is no coincidence that Italy has the highest number of UNESCO sights in the world! Here is a list with its 55 properties!

UNESCO Italy – list of sites

1. Rock Drawings in Valcamonica

The valley with one of the largest deposits of rock drawings.
Date of Inscription: 1979
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/94

2. Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with „The Last Supper“ by Leonardo da Vinci

The church and Dominican convent with the painting of “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci.
Date of Inscription: 1980
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/93

3. Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura

Historical centre with ancient monuments and buildings belonging to the Holy See.
Date of Inscription: 1980, 1990
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/91

City center of Rome, UNESCO Italy 6

City center of Rome, UNESCO Italy 4

City center of Rome, UNESCO Italy 3

City center of Rome, UNESCO Italy 2

4. Historic Centre of Florence

The historic city center as a symbol of the Renaissance.
Date of Inscription: 1982
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/174

5. Piazza del Duomo, Pisa

Medieval buildings – cathedral, baptistry and belfry (known as the Leaning Tower)
Date of Inscription: 1987
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/395

6. Venice and its Lagoon

Venice is a symbol of the entire Venetian lagoon.
Date of Inscription: 1987
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/394

7. Historic Centre of San Gimignano

City centre typical of its towers.
Date of Inscription: 1990
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/550

8. The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera

The historical centre of the city, in the vicinity of which are the most important places of residence of the cave man in the Mediterranean region.
Date of Inscription: 1993
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/670

9. The City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto

Date of Inscription: 1994, 1996
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/712

10. Crespi d’Adda

Typical working-class town of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Date of Inscription: 1995
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/730

11. Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta

The historical city center with Renaissance monuments.
Date of Inscription: 1995, 1999
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/733

12. Historic Centre of Naples

See Naples and die, it is said!
Date of Inscription: 1995
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/726

13. Historic Centre of Siena

A perfect example of a medieval Tuscan town.
Date of Inscription: 1995
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/717

14. Castel del Monte

Castle from the 13th century.
Date of Inscription: 1996
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/398

15. Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna

Early Christian relics from the 5th and 6th centuries.
Date of Inscription: 1996
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/788

16. Historic Centre of the City of Pienza

A Tuscan town where Renaissance ideas were first used in city construction.
Date of Inscription: 1996
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/789

17. The Trulli of Alberobello

A town with typical houses built from stones without the use of mortar – the so-called trulli.
Date of Inscription: 1996
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/787

18. 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta, with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex

Date of Inscription: 1997
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/549

19. Archaeological Area of Agrigento

Remains of a Doric temple and Hellenistic and Roman city.
Date of Inscription: 1997
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/831

20. Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata

Towns and villas destroyed by the Vesuvius explosion in 79.
Date of Inscription: 1997
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/829

21. Botanical Garden Orto Botanico, Padua

The first botanical garden in the world from 1545.
Date of Inscription: 1997
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/824

22. Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena

Romanesque monuments.
Date of Inscription: 1997
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/827

23. Costiera Amalfitana

Wonderful and unique coastal landscape.
Date of Inscription: 1997
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/830

24. Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto

The coastal area of the Ligurian Sea between Cinque Terre and Portovenere.
Date of Inscription: 1997
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/826

25. Residences of the Royal House of Savoy

A complex of buildings of Duke Emmanuel Philibert Savoy in Turin.
Date of Inscription: 1997
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/823

26. Su Nuraxi di Barumini

The complex of circular defensive towers from the 2nd century BC in Sardinia.
Date of Inscription: 1997
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/833

27. Villa Romana del Casale

Villa from the 4th century with extraordinary mosaics in Sicily.
Date of Inscription: 1997
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/832

28. Archaeological Area and the Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia

Early city of Rome, of which the majority is still uncovered.
Date of Inscription: 1998
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/825

29. Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula

Shrines and settlements along three mountain ridges
Date of Inscription: 1998
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/842

30. Historic Centre of Urbino

A small town from the 15th century standing on the hill.
Date of Inscription: 1998
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/828

31. Villa Adriana Tivoli

A complex of classical buildings from the 2nd century AD.
Date of Inscription: 1999
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/907

32. Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites

Date of Inscription: 2000
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/990

33. City of Verona

Monuments from antiquity through the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Date of Inscription: 2000
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/797

34. Isole Eolie – Aeolian Islands

An archipelago of volcanic origin with the famous Stromboli volcano.
Date of Inscription: 2000
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/908

35. Villa d’Este, Tivoli

Renaissance palace with beautiful gardens.
Date of Inscription: 2001
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1025

36. Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto South-eastern Sicily

8 cities in southeastern Sicily re-built after the 1693 earthquake – Caltagirone, Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo, Ragusa and Scicli.
Date of Inscription: 2002
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1024

37. Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy

9 architectural units of chapels and other buildings from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Date of Inscription: 2003
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1068

38. Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia

2 large Etruscan cemeteries from the 9th to the 1st century BC.
Date of Inscription: 2004
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1158

39. Val d’Orcia

Valleys in Tuscany near Siena.
Date of Inscription: 2004
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1026

40. Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica

Ortygia settlement founded by the Greeks in the 8th century BC and a necropolis comprising over 5,000 tombs carved in the rock from the 13th-15th centuries BC.
Date of Inscription: 2005
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1200

41. Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli

The historical city center as an example of urban planning in Europe.
Date of Inscription: 2006
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1211

42. Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes

Two historic railways cross the Alps through two passes.
Date of Inscription: 2008
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1276

43. Mantua and Sabbioneta

The towns of Mantua and Sabbioneta present two views of Renaissance urbanism.
Date of Inscription: 2008
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1287

44. The Dolomites

The steep rocks of the Dolomites have been astonishing visitors for a long time. The Swiss architect Le Corbusier described them as the most beautiful architecture in the world, for the climbers Reinhold Messner they are the most beautiful mountains in the world.
Date of Inscription: 2009
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1237

45. Monte San Giorgio

A forested mountain south of Lake Lugano, which is considered the richest marine fossil site.
Date of Inscription: 2003, extended in 2010
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1090

46. Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps

Stony dwellings from 5000-500 BC near lakes, rivers, and wetlands.
Date of Inscription: 2011
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1318

47. Longobards in Italy. Places of the power (568-774 A.D.)

7 locations in northern and central Italy including fortresses, monasteries and churches – Brescia, Cividale del Friulli, Castelseprio, Spoleto, Campello sul Clitunno, Benevento and Monte Sant’Angelo.
Date of Inscription: 2011
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1318

48. Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany

12 villas and gardens in Tuscany.
Date of Inscription: 2013
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/175

49. Mount Etna

A massive Sicilian volcano.
Date of Inscription: 2013
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1427

50. Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato

Wine landscape between the Ligurian Alps and the Po river.
Date of Inscription: 2014
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1390/

51. Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale

9 monuments (palaces, churches, cathedrals, and bridge) linking influences of the Muslim world, Byzantium and Western Europe from the Norman kings (1130–1194).
Date of Inscription: 2015
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1487

52. Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe

Ancient beech forests in 12 countries across Europe.
Date of Inscription: 2007, 2011, 2017
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1133

53. Venetian Works of Defence between 15th and 17th centuries: Stato da Terra – western Stato da Mar

Date of Inscription: 2017
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1533

54. Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century

Date of Inscription: 2018
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1538

55. Le Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene

Date of Inscription: 2019
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1571