Will Italy Fall Behind In The UNESCO World Heritage Ranking?

Italy, with its wealth of art, culture and natural beauty, has long been the leader of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world. Out of 1052 properties worldwide, Italy is at the top of the list with 51 sites ranging from the historic centers of cities such as Florence and Verona to the vineyards of Piemonte and Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. This year, China narrowed its gap in the running with the addition of two new sites, raising its number to 50 properties in total and priming it to overtake Italy’s lead in the near future. Why is Italy falling behind?
Preserving and promoting cultural heritage to foster international peace and understanding is one of the best-known mandates of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The initiative came to fruition in 1972 when UNESCO adopted the ‘Convention Concerning the Protection of the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage,’ and the first sites were inscribed in 1978. Sites are assessed through a rigorous selection process that increasingly favors diverse bids and parity among countries.

In fact, it has become difficult for Italy to propose new sites to be evaluated by the UNESCO committee in the past several year. The country, which has 47 cultural sites and four natural sites, has enjoyed a long reign as the UNESCO World Heritage Site leader, but was not able to propose any new sites at this year’s 40th Session of the World Heritage Committee that took place in Istanbul. Franco Bernabè, the recently elected President of the Italian Commission to UNESCO, says this is due to an Italian decision to equalize the playing field for other countries, though it also reflects the philosophy of UNESCO’s Global Strategy, adopted in 1994, which aims to balance the Eurocentric and Christian over-representation of sites to ‘better reflect the full spectrum of our world’s cultural and natural treasures.’

Number Of UNESCO World Heritage Properties By Region

China, for instance, was able to propose sites this year and narrowed its gap in the ranking with two new additions: the Hubei Shennongjia ancient forests and Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape dating back to 5BC. India and Iran also added two sites each to their lists.

Bernabè, however, insists that the UNESCO World Heritage ranking is not a competition and that the emphasis should remain on promoting and protecting Italy’s cultural sites instead of focusing on numbers. ‘Many countries are deserving of their titles and other perhaps less so. The concept that we want to get across is the importance of the protection of our own heritage,’ he said.

Italy intends to submit two new sites over the next couple of years: the star-shaped Fortress Town of Palmanova in Friuli-Venezia Giulia in 2017 and the 20th century industrial city Ivrea in Piemonte in 2018.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.