So far we do not have a thread which is dedicated to the Italian WHS. I would like to start with good news from a T-list site that is also on our Top 50 list missing: Cappella degli Scrovegni.

This article, dated from April 2014, reports that Padova works on the nomination dossier. They plan to include a total of nine sites with frescoes from the 14th century. However, I am not sure whether this extension is really favourable.

http://mattinopadova.gelocal.it/cronaca/2014/04/08/news/giotto-patrimonio-unesco-un-d ossier-con-nove-siti-1.9008044

nice find. I'm glad Padua's finally working towards inscribing this special site. Considering Italy's success in inscribing series rather than single sites (e.g. Longobards, Sacri Monti, Valcamonica, Royal Palaces, etc.), I don't think it's a negative approach.

A year late but I just saw this thread.

It is great news that Scrovegni Chapel is being put forward. To my mind it is one of those places that the list is poorer for not currently including. The other sites mentioned are the other attractions around Padua, so make more sense than I initially thought. The Baptistery is astounding, if it wasn't in the same town as the Scrovegni chapel I think I would have been raving about it even more.

Does anyone know about the progression of t-list sites in the south? Leccesse Baroque propossal is the one that I am particularly interested in, but also those Puglian Caves and the Via Appia are of interest.

I'm just back from a trip to Sicily, completing the visit of all WHS in Italy. Here's my very personal ranking of the sites.

1. Venice
2. Rome
3. Cilento
4. Amalfi coast
5. Pompei
6. Alberobello
7. Siena
8. Cinque Terre
9. Florence
10. Villa Romana del Casale
11. Royal Houses of Savoy
12. Mount Etna
13. Assisi
14. Pisa
15. Cerveteri and Tarquinia
16. Agrigento
17. The Last Supper Milan
18. Syracuse
19. Aeolian Islands
20. Matera
21. Caserta
22. Crespi D'Adda
23. San Giminano
24. Urbino
25. Castel del Monte
26. Val di Noto
27. Verona
28. Palermo
29. Dolomites
30. Su Nuraxi di Barumini
31. Villa d'Este
32. Ferrara
33. Naples
34. Ravenna
35. Medici Villas
36. Villa Adriana
37. Pienza
38. Mantua
39. Modena
40. Vicenza
41. Botanical Garden Padua
42. Piedmont Vineyards
43. Longobards Places
44. Aquileia
45. Genoa
46. Valcamonica
47. Sacri Monti
48. Val d'Orcia
49. Rhaetian Railways
50. Pile Dwellings
51. Monte San Giorgio

An impressive undertaking and I like the ranking idea. As you say it is subjective, though I will admit to being surprised to see Aquileia so low, it is one of my favourites.

It all boils down to the overall subjective experience on the day as well as personal preferences. Personally, I've been to Italy a zillion times and I consider it my second home. I've visited 44/51 sites and I hope to be able to visit the remaining few soon. I like the ranking idea too although I'll "vote" in random batches of top 10, 20, 30, etc. I didn't visit the WHS in Campania, Piedmont vineyards and Barumini.

Top 10: Rome, Venice, Florence, Ravenna, Eolie, Verona, Siena, Palermo, Mantua, Cinque Terre
11-20: Aquileia, Agrigento, Alberobello, Pisa, Last Supper, Val d'Orcia, Assisi, Modena, Tarquinia, Ferrara
21-30: Val di Noto, Villa Adriana, Villa del Casale, Valcamonica, Pienza, Royal Savoy Palaces, Sacri Monti, San Gimignano, Urbino, Castel del Monte
31-40: Syracuse, Matera, Dolomites, Longobards, Palladian Villas, Medici Villas, Genoa, Pile Dwellings, Botanical Garden Padua, Villa d'Este
41-44: Rhaetian Railways, Crespi d'Adda, Mount Etna, Monte San Giorgio

I do that too for my personal record. I give them overall ratings from 1-10. But as Italy is No 1 in number of sites I just did this little game for myself ranking them. I visited most of the central Italy sites several times. Mostly because the first time I was not happy with the weather conditions. However my only visit in Aquileia was with quite cloudy weather, which clearly influenced my low rating (despite that I found that not too much is left from the Roman settlement). Btw Rhaetian Railways as a WHS would be ranked higher. But the interesting part is in Switzerland and it's only also an Italian site because the train happens to finish in Tirano, a few hundred meters from the Swiss border.

Would be interested what is your No 1 in Italy, Clyde.

Update for Barocco Lecce TWHS.

http://www.quotidianodipuglia.it/lecce/lecce_unesco_candidatura-1469602.html

http://www.ilpaesenuovo.it/2016/01/08/candidatura-a-patrimonio-mondiale-dellumanita-u nesco-il-salento-scalda-i-motori-e-un-calendario-darte-ne-illustra-la-bellezza/

Thanks for the update Durian! Definitely would like to see the Barocco Leccese sites inscribed. I understand that Italy has no lack of sites - but this is an area and a site that is deserving of the WH listing.

Thanks Durian. Like pikkle, I know Italy has more sites than anywhere else, but there are so many sites there that still seem worthy of inscription. Though I'm not sure if this proposal will come up against the new operational guidelines in 2018, limiting the number of sites considered.

kintante

No 1 in Italy is really difficult to pin down and it very much depends on how much time is spent there, which season you visit, what are your preferences, etc. I visited the ones in my Top 10 batch (except Cinque Terre) at least 6-7 times and I never once felt I didn't enjoy my visit or I didn't discover something new. I studied in Verona for 6 months and in Florence for a month, and I visited Mantua for weeks on end for family reasons since I was a child. The rest were always shorter visits but certainly not mere day trips or half day trips. Perhaps, Ravenna would be the only site from the batch to be "completely doable" in a day.

Although I really love all of Italy's sites (even while typing I'm quite hesitant to choose just 1), my personal favourite is Florence on the whole. As a unique and enchanting site I'd choose Venice or Rome. I'm emotionally attached to Mantua and Verona and my dream is to hopefully live in one of them for good one day.

We must be kindred spirits! I completely adore Mantua and Verona. Perhaps because Verona was the first Italian city that I stayed in after driving non-stop from Prague with my brother only to arrive in a torrential downpour, but immediately felt I was in a magical place. Sitting and looking across Piazza Brà toward the Arena di Verona, the soft pink marble beneath your feet, the Porta Borsari and Porta Leoni, San Zeno, Scaliger tombs, Sanmicheli's gates, the strange Veronese tradition of raising tombs eight meters off the ground ... Later staying there for a longer period of time, I fell in love all over again.

Mantua, too, has to be one of the friendliest and most pleasant cities I've ever come across. And it is simply an architectural jewel box. If you worship at the altar of Alberti, there's no place more appropriate than Mantua. I have met lifelong friends in both cities and love them both.

I also adore Bologna and it's not even a WHS, yet it could be right up there with any city in Italy for me.

The portico are a TWHS and I would love to see Bologna's university inscribed. I love Bologna too but I'd probably choose Parma then as my favorite in Emilia Romagna. Either or, I wouldn't complain, that's for sure :)

I did notice the Porticoes are a TWHS, but I haven't heard much about that in awhile. It is an interesting approach that seems like it would have more of a chance than cities like Lucca, Volterra, and others which have simply gone the "Historic Centre" route. Anyone know if theres any chance of the porticoes TWHS going forward? It is quite a unique facet. The university would also be a worthy addition as Oxbridge is averse and I believe the only European universities we have on the list are Iberian? (Coimbra and Salamanca) Last time I was in Bologna (May 2014), I was able to witness the parade of the Madonna which reminded me of the confraternity processions in Seville and other Spanish cities.

I love Parma, as well. I definitely have strong emotional ties to certain Italian cities and Bologna is one of those, like Verona, Mantua, and outside of Italy - The Hague (my second home) and Lisbon.

Can't go wrong with the food in either Bologna or Parma ;) And my god the Correggios in Parma...

There is a website of the Bologna Porticoes reporting on recent activities, at least they already have a logo for the "Candidatura UNESCO".
http://www.comune.bologna.it/portici/en/bologna-porticoes-nomination