Italian Art

Italy has a long recorded history that the biggest problem facing the traveler is to choose among the nation's endless cultural attractions. All main centres, most of the provincial cities and many quite small towns have museums. Of all the countries in the worls, there is none more magical than Italy, a traveler's dream destination. Ancien monuments and archeological sites are perfectly preserved; the museums are bursting with the genious of Italy's finest sons: Raffaello, Michelangelo, Tiziano, Canova; contemporary architects are still inspired by ancient buildings and squares (piazze). Italiancities are veritable living museums.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites - Italy

According to UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural branch, two thirds of the world's historical artistic heritage are in Italy. Tuscany, which is only one region of Italy, by itself possesses more artistic treasures than the whole of Spain, which is the second country in the world for cultural heritage. Practically all major styles of Western architecture can be found in Italy.

The following Italian sites have been placed by UNESCO on its World Heritage List:

1979	Rock Drawings in Valcamonica (Lombardy)
1980, 1990	Historic Centre of Rome, the properties of the Holy See in that city enjoying extraterritorial rights, and San Paolo fuori le Mura (Latium)
1980	Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci - Milano (Lombardy)
1982	Historic Centre of Florence (Tuscany)
1987	Venice and its Lagoon (Veneto)
1987	Piazza del Duomo - Pisa (Tuscany)
1990	Historic Centre of San Gimignano (Siena, Tuscany)
1993	I Sassi di Matera (Basilicata)
1994	The City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas (Veneto)
1995	Historic Centre of Siena (Tuscany)
1995	Historic Centre of Naples (Campania)
1995	Crespi d'Adda - Capriate (Lombardy)
1995	Ferrara, City of the Renaissance and its Po Delta (Emilia-Romagna)
1996	Castel del Monte - Bari (Apulia)
1996	The Trulli of Alberobello - Bari (Apulia)
1996	The Early Christian Monuments and Mosaics of Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna)
1996	The Historic Centre of the City of Pienza (Siena, Tuscany)
1997	The 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex (Campania)
1997	The Residences of the Royal House of Savoia (Piedmont)
1997	The Botanical Garden, Orto Botanico - Padua (Veneto)
1997	The Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande - Modena (Emilia-Romagna)
1997	The Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Ercolano, and Torre Annunziata (Naples, Campania)
1997	Villa Romana del Casale - Piazza Armerina (Enna, Sicily)
1997	Su Nuraxi di Barumini, Cagliari (Sardinia)
1997	Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto) (Liguria)
1997	The Amalfi Coast, Costiera Amalfitana - Salerno (Campania)
1997	The Archaeological Area of Agrigento (Sicily)
1998	Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula (Salerno, Campania)
1998	Archaeological Area and the Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia (Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
1998	Historic Centre of Urbino (Marches)
1999	Villa Adriana (Tivoli - Latium)
2000	City of Verona (Veneto)
2000	Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands, Sicily)
2000	Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites (Umbria)
2001	Villa d'Este, Tivoli (Latium)
2002	Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (South-eastern Sicily)
2003	Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy
2004	Val d'Orcia (Tuscany)
2004	Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia (Latium)
2005	Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica (Sicily)
2006	Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli (Liguria)
2008	Mantua and Sabbioneta (Lombardy)
2008	Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Cultural Landscape (Switzerland and Italy)
2009	The Dolomites