Italy counts 51 UNESCO World Heritage Sites within its borders
the most of any country on the World Heritage List.
The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by the UNESCO General Conference on November 16, 1972, states that the organization is the official designator of these sites.
The goal of the Convention is to identify, according to precise criteria, areas, zones and places containing unique characteristics, of particular importance in regards to culture, archaeology, environment or landscape.
Italy’s World Heritage Sites are well-known. The Dolomites; The City of Verona; Ferrara and the Po River Delta; the Historic Centers of San Gimignano, Florence and Rome; Hadrian’s Villa and the Villa D’Este at Tivoli; the archaeological area of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata; the Sassi (rupestrian architecture and churches) of Matera; the Amalfi Coast and the Aeolian Islands are just some among many others.
All 51 sites have been, at one time or another, travel destinations for those seeking out history, art and culture in the Bel Paese.
Renewed efforts by the Institutes to preserve these sites include the call to everyone to get to know them better. Here, you can begin a virtual journey into some of the most fascinating among them, those that evoke an experience rich in life, passions, and dreams.