"Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration." (from UNESCO site)
I do enjoy visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites all over the globe. All are different and unique in their own way!
Although I list them here on my website, I do not treat them as a 'list' in real life and trying to tick of each and every one of them. Quite a few of them I actually visited, not being fully aware that they are UNESCO sites. But knowing it afterwards, they are deservingly so.
It has been an interesting journey however to list the ones that I have visited, and read about the many remaining ones, that maybe one day I might visit as well.
Visited UNESCO sites Italy
Italy has a huge amount of UNESCO sites, 58 in total, and most of these fall into the category of Cultural Heritage Sites.
I have been to Italy quite a few times, and during all these travels I have been in luck to visit 21 Italian UNESCO sites. They varied from Churches, to mosaics, to Archaeological Areas like Pompeii and Herculaneum. But also towns and villages, and landscapes. And all of them well worth the visit! I still have a few places on my wishlist, so hopefully I will be able to visit Italy a few more times in future.
Below are the sites that I have visited, and you can find a map with all the Italian UNESCO sites at the bottom of the page.
Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale (visited 2013)
Archaeological Area of Agrigento
Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata
Assisi
Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological Sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula
Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna
Historic Centre of Florence
Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Historic Centre of San Gimignano
Historic Centre of Siena
Piazza del Duomo, Pisa
Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto)
Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica
The Trulli of Alberobello
Val d'Orcia
Venice and its Lagoon
Villa Adriana, Tivoli
Villa Romana del Casale
Mount Etna
Map of UNESCO sites in Italy
| Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy | Link to UNESCO |
| 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta | Link to UNESCO |
| Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale (visited 2013) | Link to UNESCO |
| Archaeological Area and the Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia | Link to UNESCO |
| Archaeological Area of Agrigento (visited 2013) | Link to UNESCO |
| Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata (visited) | Link to UNESCO |
| Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites (visited 2010, 2022) | Link to UNESCO |
| Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico), Padua | Link to UNESCO |
| Castel del Monte | Link to UNESCO |
| Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena | Link to UNESCO |
| Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci | Link to UNESCO |
| Diano National Park with the Archeological Sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula (visited) | Link to UNESCO |
| City of Verona | Link to UNESCO |
| City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto | Link to UNESCO |
| Costiera Amalfitana | Link to UNESCO |
| Crespi d'Adda | Link to UNESCO |
| Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna (visited 2015) | Link to UNESCO |
| Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia (visited 2022) | Link to UNESCO |
| Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta | Link to UNESCO |
| Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli | Link to UNESCO |
| Historic Centre of Florence (visited 2010) | Link to UNESCO |
| Historic Centre of Naples | Link to UNESCO |
| Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See and San Paolo Fuori le Mura (visited) | Link to UNESCO |
| Historic Centre of San Gimignano (visited) | Link to UNESCO |
| Historic Centre of Siena (visited 2010) | Link to UNESCO |
| Historic Centre of the City of Pienza (visited 2010, 2022) | Link to UNESCO |
| Historic Centre of Urbino | Link to UNESCO |
| Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century | Link to UNESCO |
| Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (South-Eastern Sicily) | Link to UNESCO |
| Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power (568-774 A.D.) | Link to UNESCO |
| Mantua and Sabbioneta | Link to UNESCO |
| Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany | Link to UNESCO |
| Piazza del Duomo, Pisa (visited) | Link to UNESCO |
| Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto (visited 2003) | Link to UNESCO |
| Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps | Link to UNESCO |
| Residences of the Royal House of Savoy | Link to UNESCO |
| Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes | Link to UNESCO |
| Rock Drawings in Valcamonica | Link to UNESCO |
| Su Nuraxi di Barumini | Link to UNESCO |
| Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica (visited 2013) | Link to UNESCO |
| The Trulli of Alberobello (visited) | Link to UNESCO |
| The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera | Link to UNESCO |
| Val d'Orcia (visited 2010, 2022) | Link to UNESCO |
| Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th Centuries: Stato da Terra – Western Stato da Mar | Link to UNESCO |
| Venice and its Lagoon (visited 2008) | Link to UNESCO |
| Villa Adriana, Tivoli (visited 2022) | Link to UNESCO |
| Villa d'Este, Tivoli | Link to UNESCO |
| Villa Romana del Casale (visited 2013) | Link to UNESCO |
| Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato | Link to UNESCO |
| Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe | Link to UNESCO |
| Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands) | Link to UNESCO |
| Monte San Giorgio | Link to UNESCO |
| Mount Etna (visited 2013) | Link to UNESCO |
| The Dolomites | Link to UNESCO |
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:-) Simone
