MILAN – Italy is a country full of culture and the country with the largest number of Unesco sites in the world, 54 to be precise. Tourists from all over spend hours admiring the Tower of Pisa or strolling through the streets of Rome, forgetting that there are also lesser known places of extraordinary beauty, which deserve to be discovered. Inspired by Culture Trip, here is a list of Unesco sites to visit before they become too popular. 1. The Royal Palace of Caserta
The Royal Palace of Casertaand a royal palace, with an adjoining park, located in Caserta. It is the largest royal residence in the world by volume [and the historical owners were the Bourbons of Naples, as well as a short period in which it was inhabited by the Murat. It has 1200 rooms spread over 5 floors and is full of frescoes, gold-colored decorations and large marble floors. In 1997 it was declared by UNESCO, together with the Vanvitelli aqueduct and the San Leucio complex, a World Heritage Site. 2. The Valley of the Temples
The Valley of the Templesand an archaeological area of Sicily, located in the city of Agrigento, characterized by the exceptional state of conservation of a series of important Doric temples from the Hellenic period. It corresponds to the ancient Akragas, a monumental original nucleus of the city of Agrigento. Today it is a regional archaeological park. Since 1997 the whole area has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The archaeological and landscape park of the Valley of the Temples, with its 1300 hectares, is the largest archaeological site in the world. 3. Castel del Monte Castel del Monteand a 13th century fortress built by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the western Murge plateau in Puglia, in the current homonymous hamlet of the municipality of Andria, 18 km from the city, on the top of a hill. It was included in the list of Italian National Monuments in 1936 and in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996. 4. Modena Cathedral
The Cathedral of Modena is one of the major monuments of Romanesque culture in Europe, recognized in 1997 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, together with its Ghirlandina tower and the adjacent Piazza Grande. The Cathedral was founded on 9 June 1099 on the initiative of the various social classes of the city, as an affirmation of the civic, cultural and religious values of the nascent Community. Dedicated to S. Maria Assunta, it houses the remains of S. Geminiano, Bishop and patron saint of Modena who died in 397. 5. Crespi d’Adda Crespi d’Addaand a fraction of the Italian municipality of Capriate San Gervasio, in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy. It consists of a workers’ village, for the workers operating in the cotton textile sector, built by Cristoforo Benigno Crespi starting from 1875 and then passed into the hands of his son. Due to the exceptional state of conservation of its historical and architectural heritage it was, in 1995, listed among the UNESCO world heritage sites. 6. Val Camonica
The Valle Camonicait is one of the largest valleys in the central Alps, in eastern Lombardy, about 100 km long, with an area of about 1518.19 km² [1] and 100 327 inhabitants [2]. It starts from Passo del Tonale and ends at Corna Trentapassi near Pisogne, on Lake Iseo. Its name derives from the Latin term with which the classical writers in ancient times called the population who lived there: the Camuni. 7. Palmanova Palmanova is an Italian town of 5 419 inhabitants in the province of Udine in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Fortress-city planned by the Venetians in 1593, it is called the “starry city” due to its polygonal star plan with 9 points. Since 1960 the historic city and national monument. From 9 July 2017 the fortress of Palmanova became part of the Unesco world heritage site.8. Historic center of Urbino
Urbino is an Italian town of 14 786 inhabitants, capital with Pesaro in the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region. It was one of the most important centers of the Italian Renaissance, of which it fully preserves the architectural heritage. Since 1998 its historic center has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Given its importance, the city is remembered in the series of sculptures of the Vittoriano, dedicated to the fourteen noble cities of united Italy.
