Italy: gold medal
On the top step of the podium. Actually, Italy is the country where the most of Unesco’s sites listed as World Heritage of Humankind are located. They are fyfty and they include historical centers, archeological sites, art and natural wonders, mountains, valleys, costs and sea depths, all of them graduated with praise.
A journey where history is the protagonist, starting from the historical centre of Rome, together with the extraterritorial area of the Holy See and San Paolo Fuori le Mura -, Florence, Siena, Pienza, San Gimignano, Naples and the charm of Venice and its lagoon, Verona and Vicenza enriched with the villas designed by Andrea Palladio.
Milano, on the other hand, holds the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie with the “Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci. The Renaissance has one of its best landmarks in Ferrara and its Po delta, while Ravenna shines thanks to its Byzantine mosaics and early Christian monuments and Pisa which welcomes the Cathedral and the very famous leaning tower in its magic square. A journey through a number of archeological icons that include Pompei, Ercolano and Torre Annunziata in Campania followed by the archeological area of Agrigento and Siracusa and its rocky necropolis of Pantalica in Siclily. And the Roman Villa of Casale in Piazza Armerina and the Baroque towns of the Noto Valley must not be missed. Sardinia shows off its “nuraghi": they are around seven thousand and they date back to four thousand years ago and the one in Barumini, Su Nuraxi, belongs to Unesco.
And other amazing architecture masterpieces with “trulli” from Alberobello in Puglia and the Etruscasn Necropolis of Cerveteri and Tarquinia in Lazio made of rocks and very big mouds on top of them. Assisi in Umbria with its Cathedral dedicated to San Francesco and other Franciscan sites such as the ones located in Modena in Emilia Romagna are among Unesco’s top stars and also the Tower in Piazza Grande and the Chartreuse of Padua in Campania.
Finally, Unesco and the nature with the mountains, the sea and the coastlines. Any examples? The very famous Dolomiti, followed by the mountains of Piedmont and Lombardy, the Sicilian archipelago of Eolie islands without forgetting Portovenere, the Cinque Terre, Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto islands in Liguria and the Amalfi coastline in Campania too. This and much more is Unesco’s Italy and for a more comprehensive view you can read the list of sites starting from the oldest one up the youngest.
Did you know that…
The first site that was listed in the World Heritage of Humankind goes back to 1979. The following ones have been chosen by Unesco.
• Cave Art of Valcamonica (1979)
• Historical Centre of Rome, extraterritorial area of the Holy See and the city of San Paolo Fuori le Mura (1980 and 1990)
• The Church and the Dominican Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie with the “Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci in Milan (1980)
• Historical Centre of Florence (1982)
• Venice and its lagoon(1987)
• The Cathedral Square in Pisa (1987)
• The historical centre of San Gimignano (1990)
• The Stones of Matera (1993)
• The town of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas in Veneto (1994 e 1996)
• The historical Centre of Siena (1995)
• The Historical Centre of Naples (1995)
• Crespi d’Adda (1995)
• Ferrara, the town of Renaissance and its Po delta (1995 e 1999)
• Castel del Monte (1996)
• The “Trulli” from Alberobello (1996)
• The Early Christian monuments of Ravenna (1996)
• The historical centre of Pienza town (1996)
• The archaeological areas of Pompei, Ercolano and Torre Annunziata (1997)
• The XVIIth century Royal Palace of Caserta with its park, the aqueduct designed by Vanvitelli and the compound of S. Leucio (1997)
• Amalfi coastline (1997)
• Modena: the Cathedral, the Civic Tower and Piazza Grande (1997)
• Portovenere, Cinque Terre and Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto islands(1997)
• Sabaudian Residences (1997)
• Su Nuraxi of Barumini (1997)
• The archaeological Area of Agrigento (1997)
• The Roman Villa of Casale in Piazza Armerina (1997)
• The botanic garden of Padua (1997)
• The archaeological Area of Aquileia and Patriarchal Cathedral (1998)
• The historical Centre of Urbino (1998)
• The Cilento National Park and the Daino Wall with Paestum and Velia Archaeological Sites and the Cathedral of Padula (1998)
• The Adriana Villa in Tivoli (Rome) (1999)
• Assisi, the Cathedral of San Francesco and other Franciscan sites (2000)
• Eolie Islands (2000)
• The town of Verona (2000)
• Villa d’Este in Tivoli (Rome) (2001)
• the Baroque towns of Noto valley (2002)
• the Sacred Mountains of Piedmont and Lombardy (2003 e 2010)
• San Giorgio Mountain (2003)
• The Orcia Valley(2004)
• The Etruscan Necropolis of Cerveteri and Tarquinia (2004)
• Siracusa and the rocky necropolis of Pantalica (2005)
• Genoa: the New Streets and the system of of Rolli Palaces (2006)
• Mantova and Sabbioneta (2008)
• The Railway in the area of Albula/Bernina (Italy/Switzerland) (2008)
• Dolomiti (2009)
• The Longobards in Italy. Places of power (2011)
• The piling construction sites of Alps (2011)
• The villas belonging to the Medici Family in Tuscany (2013)
• Etna Mountain (2013)
• Langhe-Roero e Monferrato, Piemonte (2014)
• Arab-norman Palermo and the cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale (2015)
Luciana Francesca Rebonato
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