Rome Historic Center, Properties of the Holy See, and San Paolo Fuori le Mura: 1980
Founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, according to legend, Rome was first the center of the Roman Republic, then the center of the Roman Empire, and became the capital of Christendom in the 4th century. The World Heritage Site, extended to the walls of Urban VIII in 1990, includes some of the major monuments of antiquity such as the Forum, Tomb of Augustus, Tomb of Hadrian, Pantheon, Column of Trajan, and Column of Marcus Aurelius, as well as religious and public buildings of Papal Rome.
Agrigento Archaeological Area: 1997
Have you ever dreamed of walking back in time among towering columns, perfectly preserved temples, flowering almond trees, and ancient olive trees? It seems like a dream, but it is real: we are talking about the archaeological and landscape park of the Valley of the Temples. The park preserves the monuments of Akragas, one of the most important Greek colonies in the Mediterranean, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997; in 2015, it received DEUV (Declaration of Extraordinary Universal Value).
Aquileia Patriarchal Basilica and Archaeological Area: 1998
Aquileia, formerly a city of the Roman Empire and patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church, is now a village in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy, on the banks of the Natisone River near the Adriatic coast northwest of Trieste.
Founded in 181 BC as a Roman colony to ward off barbarian incursions, Aquileia’s location at the junction of the Via Postumia with roads to the north and east of the Roman provinces of Illyria, Pannonia, and Noricum encouraged its rapid growth as a commercial and military center. By the fourth century, it had become the capital of the administrative regions of Venetia and Istria. Although the city was unsuccessfully besieged by the Marcomanni and Quadi (a Germanic tribe) in 167, it fell to the Huns and was sacked in 452. In 568, the Lombards invaded Italy and their Venetian mainland. The victory marked the final eclipse of Aquileia’s political and economic importance; it became part of the Lombard Duchy of Friuli.
Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco, and Other Franciscan Sites: 2000
Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco, and other Franciscan sites comprise a hill town and sanctuary, from which the Franciscan movement spread throughout the world from the 13th century.
Assisi was the birthplace of St. Francis, the founder of the Franciscan Order. The medieval city has many Franciscan religious buildings, including the Basilica of San Francesco, famous for its art—notably paintings by Cimabue and Giotto.
Caserta 18th-Century Royal Palace, Park, Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and San Leucio Complex: 1997; Cultural
The monumental complex of Caserta was built in the second half of the 18th century by the architect Luigi Vanvitelli under the orders of Carlo di Bourbon. The UNESCO site includes the magnificent Royal Palace with parks, gardens, a wooded area, the Carolino reservoir, and the industrial complex of San Leucio.
The heart is the regia, with its four courtyards and spectacular vestibule: it was also the royal residence and an administrative center for the entire court. The English Garden is one of the most important, ancient, and picturesque examples of landscape gardens in Europe.
The San Leucio complex was born from King Ferdinand’s dream to create an autonomous community of workers: the most important building is the ancient Casino del Belvedere, converted to house a silk factory. An exceptional connection between the Royal Palace and the Royal Colony of San Leucio is the Carolino reservoir.
Castel del Monte: 1996
Castel del Monte is one of astonishments of Italy. This enigmatic castle was built in the 13th century by the Roman Emperor Frederick II and is a perfect example of architecture in Puglia, surrounded by a magnificent landscape. It is recorded as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The castle has a unique geometric design, a perfect octagonal prism with octagonal towers at each corner, making it universally regarded as the most striking castle built by Frederick II. Over the centuries, this uniqueness has spawned many theories and legends. We are going to tell you only the most accepted theories.
Cefalù’s and Monreale’s Cathedral Churches and Arab-Norman Palermo: 2015
With a unique artistic and architectural heritage, a sign of the many souls that have passed through it over the centuries, Palermo is a city of a thousand faces. One of these is the legacy left by the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (1130–1194), leading to the Arab-Norman Palermo Inscriptions, now among the undisputed wonders of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Three churches, three cathedrals, two buildings, a bridge: these are the nine wonders of Arab-Norman Palermo listed as World Heritage by UNESCO in 2015. Built during the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (1130–1194), these buildings are the result of a fusion of different architectural and artistic traditions: Byzantine, Islamic, and Western. Their combination gave life to a unique style, which is proof of the fruitful coexistence between people of different origins.
Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, Archaeological Sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula: 1998
Cilento is a cultural landscape of outstanding value with evidence of human occupation dating back 250,000 years. It has been occupied successively by farmers in the Neolithic Age, Bronze and Iron Age societies, Etruscans, Greek colonists, Lucanians, and was finally incorporated into Roman territory in the 3rd century BC. Roman road networks replaced earlier tracks, but after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, these roads fell into disrepair, and the ancient network was revived in the Middle Ages, as evidenced by feudal castles and religious structures built along the route. The site consists of a dramatic group of sanctuaries and settlements spread over three different east-west mountain ridges in the province of Salerno, covering a fairly large area, 159,110 ha, including part of the National Park Cilento e Vallo di Diano, two archaeological sites: Paestum and Velia, and the monument Certosa di Padula.
Crespi d’Adda: 1995
Crespi d’Adda stands on the southernmost tip of the island of Bergamo, a low plateau between the Adda and Brembo rivers and the Pre-Alps. Now part of the Lombardy municipality of Capriate San Gervasio, the industrial village of Crespi d’Adda is the greatest expression of the philosophy of the late 19th-early 20th century. Enlightenment industrialists, who realized the importance of factories with residential complexes for domestic workers and their families. The village of Crespi d’Adda was built next to the textile factory of the Crespi family and for decades was the perfect example of a society where the owner looked after all the needs of the employees and their families, providing all the services necessary for the life of their community, such as a hospital, church, school, theater, food, and clothes shop.
Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia: 2004
Doors to the afterlife, Etruscan tombs were lavishly decorated. But that began to change as the war progressed. These two large Etruscan cemeteries showcase a variety of burial practices from the 9th to the 1st century BC and bear witness to the achievements of Etruscan culture, which developed the earliest urban civilization in the northern Mediterranean for more than nine centuries. Some tombs are monumental, rock-cut, and topped by impressive tumuli (burial mounds). Many have carvings on the walls, while others have pictures of outstanding quality. The nearby necropolis of Cerveteri, known as Banditaccia, contains thousands of tombs organized in a city-like plan with streets, small squares, and neighborhoods. The site contains a variety of burials: rock-cut trenches, tumuli, and some carved in stone, rich in structural details in the form of huts or houses. They offer the only surviving evidence of Etruscan residential architecture. The Necropolis of Tarquinia, which is known as Monterozzi, contains 6,000 rock-cut graves. It is renowned for its 200 painted tombs, the first of which dates back to the 7th century BC.
Ferrara Renaissance City and its Po Delta: 1995
The historic center of Ferrara was awarded this honor in 1995, designated as a “Renaissance City,” “considering the place’s outstanding universal value, being a Renaissance city, remarkably planned, which has kept its urban fabric virtually intact.” The developments in town planning published in Ferrara would have a profound influence on the development of urban design in the following centuries. In 1999, the Po Delta was included according to the following two criteria: The list was extended to include the residences of the area and the “Delegy” court: – the Este ducal residences of the Po Delta illustrate the influence of Renaissance culture on the natural landscape in an exceptional manner.
Florence Historic Center: 1982
In 1982, the historic center of Florence was added to Italy’s list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This medieval city is surrounded by a wall that helps preserve many of the city’s unique architectural, historical, and cultural features. Florence is one of the most renowned Italian cities for tourists. The historic center is part of the quarter that makes up Florence, the part recognized by UNESCO for its artistic and architectural value. Constructed on the site of an Etruscan settlement, Florence, a symbol of the Renaissance, rose to economic and cultural importance under the Medici in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its 600 years of remarkable artistic activity can be seen above all in the 13th-century cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore), the Church of Santa Croce, the Uffizi, and the Pitti Palace, with works by renowned masters such as Giotto, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, and Michelangelo.
Longobards of Italy Places of Power (568-774 A.D.): 2011 The Lombards of Italy: The Places of Power (568–774 AD) is a UNESCO itinerary that travels along the Italian peninsula through seven “sites” that bear witness to Lombard culture and power. The Lombards, a people of Germanic descent who converted to Christianity, were able to create an original blend of classical culture, Byzantine influence, and fundamental values of the Germanic world. Two centuries of dominance left important historical and artistic evidence that deserves UNESCO protection. The Lombards “built a cultural bridge” with the Carolingian era, creating an artistic language universally recognized as “their own” and helping to strengthen the network of “monastic fortresses” essential to the great pilgrimage sites of the Middle Ages. All the merits which, together with the integrity and state of conservation of the monuments, led UNESCO to accept the Lombard Heritage and create the Serial Route.
Matera’s Sassi and Park of the Rupestrian Churches: 1993 Matera is an ancient city that was excavated and built from Murgia rock. Its origins date back 10,000 years and are counted among the oldest cities in the world. Matera, the city of Sassi, has grown since prehistoric times as rock-dwellings, shelters, and unusual types of houses: caves, where people and nature have lived continuously for centuries in perfect harmony. The old town is on the heights, with the so-called Civita, Sasso Barisano, and Sasso Caveoso. Matera took its special appearance as a rock-dwelling in the Middle Ages. There are many rock churches with Byzantine-influenced sacred art brought there by monks in the Middle Ages. The Sassi of Matera have been included in the World Heritage List for their historical, archaeological, artistic, natural, and anthropological heritage.
Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany: 2013 The serial site “Medici Villas and Gardens of Tuscany,” now part of the Cultural and Natural Heritage section of the UNESCO World Heritage List, consists of 14 villas and gardens of the Medici family located in Tuscany, a region that was the family’s birthplace and the seat of the Signoria that bears their name.
The Medici were one of the most important families of the Humanist and Renaissance eras, leading players in the history of Italy and Europe from the 15th to 18th centuries. The family’s economic, political, and regional power and influence, endowed with an exceptional network of commercial and financial activities, transcended territorial boundaries from their original home in the Apennine region of Mugello, spreading to Tuscany, Italy, and the rest of Europe.