Off the beaten path world heritage sites in Italy

Italy has so much natural, cultural and historical beauty that the choice of things to do and see can be overwhelming. We put together our list of undiscovered places in Italy on UNESCO’s World Heritage List:

• Val d’Orcia, Tuscany

The breathtaking landscape in the hinterland south of Siena and stretching out to Monte Amiata has inspired artists in the Renaissance and modern photographers. The Val d’Orcia with its flat chalk plains and almost cone-shaped hills contains beautiful old fortifications such as Pienza and Montalcino, incidentally home to the prestigious Italian Brunello di Montalcino wine.

• Rock Drawings in Valcamonica, Lombardy

The Valcamonica is situated in the Lombardy plain on the Oglio river upstream from Lake Iseo.The Valcamonica is home to one of the world’s greatest collections of prehistoric rock art: more than 140,000 petroglyphs carved in the rock over an 8,000 year period from the Epipaleolithic until the Roman and Medieval periods.

• Castel del Monte, Apulia

This magnificent fortress was built in the 13th century by Emperor Frederick II some 55 km (34 miles) west of Bari and the Apulia Coast in the Valle d’Itria. Castel del Monte is a blend of elements from classical antiquity, the Islamic Orient and north European Cistercian Gothic. It is an octagon-shaped prism with a bastion at each corner.

• Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily

The Villa Romana del Casale is situated on the South Coast of Sicily just outside the town of Piazza Armerina. The Villa contains the finest on site mosaics anywhere in the Roman world, which makes the Villa Romana del Casale the ultimate example of a luxury Roman villa.

• Archaeological Area and Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia, Friuli Venezia Giulia

This magnificent archaeological treasure lies in the province of Udine on the Venetian Coast. The town of Aquileia was one of the wealthiest and biggest in the early Roman Empire. The city was destroyed by Attila in the 5th century and most of the city remains intact and buried. The patriarchal basilica with its beautiful mosaic floor played an important role in spreading Christianity in the Middle Ages.

• The Trulli of Alberobello, Apulia

The Trullo is a typical building in the Itria Valley of Apulia, and the Trulli of Alberobello were added to UNESCO’s list in 1996. The trulli are limestone dwellings and are a remarkable example of prehistoric construction techniques. Most of them survived intact and are in use today.

Pictures of Trulli, Alberobello originally posted by fede_gen88, Val d’Orcia by the bbp, Lake Iseo, Lombardy by Franco Follini, Castel del Monte, Apulia by Andrea Rinaldi, Villa del Casale, Sicily by Neil Weightman, Basilica of Aquileia by orsorama

Topic:  Tips and Ideas | 2 Comments
Tags:  apulia, culture, Italy, sicily, Tuscany