Italy has more sites with UNESCO World Heritage status than any other country in the world. As of 2015, there are 51 Italian world heritage sites. Visiting a few of these sites on your travels or planning an itinerary around these places can be a rewarding experience. Many of them are in top cities and towns but others are in places of natural beauty or off the beaten track locations. Scroll down to find out where to see world heritage sites in the each part of Italy.
19 of Italy's world heritage sites are found in northern Italy including the first site to be inscribed in 1979, Rock Drawings of the Valcamonica (pictures). Top northern Italy sites are found in Venice and the Veneto, Verona, Milan, Ravena, and Cinque Terre but there are others you've probably never heard of. Check the full list and get information about each of them by clicking on the link above.
Sites in central Italy are found in many well-known places such as Rome, Florence, Siena, Assisi, and Pisa. Interesting smaller sites include Etruscan tombs, an ancient church, a Roman villa, and Renaissance gardens with nearly 500 fountains.
Southern Italy has a big diversity of interesting things to see. World Heritage sites include Roman and Greek ruins, castles, a Royal Palace, an unusual city of cave dwellings, and the unique trulli of Puglia.
Italy's two largest islands, Sicily and Sardinia, are fascinating places to visit. There are seven world heritage sites including well-preserved Greek temples, a Roman villa, volcanic islands, picturesque Baroque towns, and stone towers unique to Sardinia called nuraghe.
Longobards in Italy: Places of the Power (568 to 774 AD)
Italy's newest World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2011, includes seven important Longobard buildings from the 6th through 8th centuries in several parts of Italy. Fortresses, churches, and monasteries in this group show the importance of the Longobards in the early middle ages of Italy.