The UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Tuscany

Visiting Tuscany you have the chance to admire eight wonders included in the UNESCO world heritage site list. Set in the heart of Italy, Tuscany is a precious chest of beauties holding artistic unparalleled masterpieces and breathtaking landscapes. Not to mention natural reserves, clear blue sea waters, and hundreds of small villages and historical cities. 

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Its mission is “to build peace through international cooperation in Education, Sciences, and Culture”. One of the tasks of UNESCO is to search out cultural and natural heritages of outstanding value to mankind across the world and protect them. 

The seven Tuscan UNESCO World Heritage Sites

It’s such a great honor for Tuscany to be part of UNESCO world heritage site list with seven treasures. 

Let’s discover now these sites that we proudly show to millions of tourists every year.

Florence Historical Center

Historical Center of Florence (1982). The birth land of the Renaissance is the first Tuscan site that UNESCO included in the list. Walking along this open air museum, you will admire masterpieces as the Duomo and the Brunelleschi Dome, Giotto’s bell tower, Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, The Basilica of Santa Croce, the Accademia Gallery with the David of Michelangelo, Uffizi Museum and many other less known jewels full of charm and beauty as Palazzo Borghese or the Vasari Corridor.

The Square of Miracles of Pisa

Piazza del Duomo of Pisa (1987). It is known also as Square of Miracles. The Italian poet Gabriele d’Annunzio coined this name for the beauty and novelty of its monuments: the leaning tower, the impressive Duomo, the round Baptistery, and the cemetery and the old hospital that frame the square. Once in Pisa we suggest to get out the square to explore the city center. Here is the Things to do in Pisa beyond the tower.

The medieval town of San Gimignano

San Gimignano (1990). The medieval town known all over the world for its fourteen towers and its architecture. Thanks to the position up on the hill, it dominates the surrounding valleys and you can see the skyline made of towers and stone houses from the roads, while you get closer.

Historical Center of Siena

Historical Center of Siena (1995). The wonderful, romantic small city of Siena is famous for the Palio, the horse race between the Contrade that thrill its inhabitants and tourists. It takes place in the Piazza del Campo, the main square with a D-shape symbol of the town together with its narrow streets and the Romanesque Gothic Duomo. 

Historical Center of Pienza

Historical Center of Pienza (1996). The birth land of Pope Pius II – the humanist Enea Silvio Piccolomini – that on 15th century commanded to rebuild the village to create “the ideal town of the Renaissance”. In the middle of Val d’Orcia, it is famous also for its delicious and tasty pecorino cheese.

Val d’Orcia

Val d’Orcia (2004). The breathtaking landscapes made of green rolling hills, wheat fields, cypresses, olive oil trees, vineyards and romantic isolated farmhouse surrounded by the nature. This is the classic Tuscany everyone known and wishes to visit at least one time in a life.

Medici Villas and Gardens

Medici Villas and Gardens (2013). The lasts to be inserted in the UNESCO world heritage site list on 2013. They consist in two gardens and twelve elegant villas in Tuscany, built between the 15th to 17th centuries. They were built respecting the nature, surrounded by magnificent gardens. Medici Family used to live or to spend their holidays.

Here a list of these tuscan beauties:

• Cafaggiolo Villa, in Barberino del Mugello, Florence.
• Villa del Trebbio, in San Piero a Sieve, Florence.
• Careggi Villa, in Florence.
• Fiesole Villa, in Fiesole, Florence.
• Villa di Castello, in Florence.
• Villa Ambra, in Poggio a Caiano, Prato.
• La Petraia Villa, in Florence.
• Cerreto Guidi Villa, in Cerreto Guidi, Florence.
• Villa La Màgia, in Quarrata, Pistoia.
• Villa di Artimino, in Carmignano, Prato.
• Poggio Imperiale Villa, Florence.
• Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens in Florence.
• Pratolino Gardens, in Vaglia, Florence.
• Palazzo di Seravezza, in Seravezza in the coastal area of Versilia, Lucca.

8. Montecatini Terme

Watch this video and let you get carried away by the magic of the Tuscan UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Cover Photo Credits: @Martin Sojka