Italy is the country with the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, with 59 classified out of 1154 from 167 countries around the world. Five sites from Lazio, included in the “Tentative List”, are waiting to be awarded. Let us visit them together!
Acquapendente – Monte Rufeno nature reserve
The Via Francigena, over 1,200 km long, crosses seven Italian regions: Valle d’Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, and Lazio. Tentative UNESCO World Heritage Site since January 2019, the Via Francigena is the most important route from the Middle Ages. It connected the transalpine villages to Rome, allowing pilgrims and traders to travel south to Jerusalem and north to Santiago de Compostela. This complex road system was a perfect means of communication across Northern, European and Mediterranean cultures, customs and traditions.
Entering Lazio along the Via Francigena, we will discover impressive natural landscapes and a succession of beautiful medieval villages. We will cross the Tuscia area walking along the Cassia Antica, through Acquapendente, Bolsena, Montefiascone and Viterbo.
The Cathedral of Santa Margherita in Montefiascone Ig @photographye2022
From Viterbo to Rome, we cover a long stretch of the Cassia Romana, crossing Vetralla, Capranica and Sutri. Then we enter the Parco Valle del Treja, go past the Baccano Valley in Campagnano and, finally, take the Via Trionfale to reach the most important places of worship in Rome. Hugging our fellow walkers along the Via Francigena we will feel like in heaven!
Civita di Bagnoregio
Let us stay on in Tuscia and marvel at the gorgeous landscape of Civita di Bagnoregio, which does not require long descriptions. Included in the List of “The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy”, this wonder, perched on a tufaceous hill, is reachable by crossing a pedestrian bridge, overlooking the splendid surrounding gullies. This incredibly fascinating village entered the Italian Tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in January 2017, an important step in the civil, cultural, and religious Western evolution.
Santa Scolastica in Subiaco, one of the three Benedictine settlements in Lazio candidate as UNESCO World Heritage Sites
In March 2016 “The cultural landscape of the Benedictine settlements in Medieval Italy” entered the UNESCO Sites Tentative List. It includes eight places of worship, three of which in Lazio: the Benedictine Monasteries of Santa Scolastica and Sacro Speco in Subiaco, the Abbey of Montecassino in Cassino, and the Abbey of Santa Maria di Farfa in Fara in Sabina. Benedictine monasticism unites their culture, landscape and Romanesque architecture, but each of them adds a touch of originality to the exceptional universal value.
The flower carpets in Gerano
The Infiorata di Gerano, the oldest in Italy, is also waiting for the official recognition in the “Ephemeral Art of Flower Carpets and Mosaics” by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage. For about 300 years, during of the Feast of the Madonna del Cuore, the streets of Gerano have been turning into multicoloured floral carpets, scented works of art carried out by the entire community.