Colvin Glad you liked it and hopefully it will help others enjoy the different WHS locations.

Tomorrow evening, I fly out to Rome from New Jersey's Newark airport. I have to be in London by October the eighth (8/10). What do you recommend from the 24th to the 30th?

That's really a bit broad. Have you been to Rome before? Are you looking for recommendations on what the best sites are to visit or for what events might be happening during that week? Or are you asking about what day trips out of Rome are worthwhile?

For sights to see, Rome is a feast for ancient architecture, making it an excellent city to roam at large. And I always recommend the gelato.

I was robbed there many years ago (a hoard of Gypsies stole everything on the left half of my body), and had to get a new passport, and when I got it, I had to sleep in front of Termini station and was kind of robbed again. I've been there s number of times since then. A fascinating place, but I'll never love it.

Day trip by train to Tarquinia for the Etruscan tombs. Other day trip by train to Tivoli for the Villa d'Este and the Roman villa. There are also fast trains to Naples. Naples region offers many great sites, but you need to stay there a few nights.

After these sad accounts of robbings in Rome more than a year ago, maybe does this thread need to be revitalized? :-)

So, what has been going on recently?

- From the information gathered in the respective threads, these are going to be the upcoming nominations.

2020: Padova urbs picta (painted city) - Scrovegni chapel and other XIVth century paintings
2021: The porticoes of Bologna
2022: ? Unknown - Via Appia?
(2023: The river Tiber???)

- As a comparison of some kind, the inscriptions of the last years were:

2019: The Prosecco hills
2018: Ivrea
2017: Venetian works of Defence (Bergamo, Peschiera del Garda and Palmanova)
2016: Nothing!!! How's that possible? :-P

Some comments.

I have to say, the last four years seem to me to have brought forth quite unpredictable or weak choices. Who would have ever said that Ivrea would ever make it on the list?!? Among all the cities, it doesn't (didn't) attract much consideration beyond probably modern architecture/urbanistic enthusiasts. Also, the Prosecco hills came not so long after the vineyards in Piedmont. Of the nominations of the few last years, the Venetian Stato da Terra was maybe the more "classic" one, albeit from an unusual perspective: three sites with a potential of their own got inscribed because of their fortifications. I mean, surely for Bergamo the part of this WHS are its Venetian walls, but it somehow feels as though the whole city got rewarded. It is not clear to me if this will hinder some possible future candidation of the rest of the city (which has been sitting on the tentative list for 14 years).

The upcoming nominations look like a return to the classics and might fill some "gaps": I read that Padova is one of the most beloved missing Italian sites in the forum, so many will be delighted to see it inscribed (I'm pretty sure it will)! And Bologna might well deserve its spot on the list as a città d'arte, too. Other possibilities like the Via Appia and the quirky, but valuable collection of historical sites along the Tiber (if it will ever make it in time for 2023) would also represent kind of "safe choices" with a rather high chance of being accepted.

So, for the future, let's hope that they will choose well from the TWHS and to get some cross-border WHS in to outrun China and come on top again! :-P One of my personal favorites among the TWHS is the Emilian Karst, especially the part in Reggio Emilia, of which I will perhaps write a review... it would be quite unique and the first natural one after Mount Etna after ten or more years. Others simply do not make sense, like the Via Francigena, which I hope will be quickly forgotten. I'm neither a great fan of Parma, actually. Still others, like Lago Maggiore & d'Orta, have some potential (I am thinking of the Isole Borromee) but need more focus.

Now, what's in the works? I know of the following:
- Mediterranean Alps: I am wondering what they are going to do with this one...
- The aforementioned river Tiber (the most important river in the world, as boasted by someone...): https://www.msn.com/it-it/notizie/italia/roma-tevere-patrimonio-dell-umanit%C3%A0-lanciata-la-candidatura/ar-BB19ojnX
-- They said "everything will be ready in three years"...
- There are vague ideas for very vague sites in Valtellina, as Solivagant investigated
- The application to add Sardinia's nuraghes to the tentative list has been just sent, with very good chances: https://www.ansa.it/canale_viaggiart/it/regione/sardegna/2020/10/06/ansai-nuraghi-si-candidano-a-diventare-patrimonio-unesco_4baab51e-96ab-403e-b2a6-b8048c72ff6b.html
-- Now, this would be very interesting and I think I could vouch for it. But be prepared, if really everything goes through, this might involve more than 3500 chamber tombs, 10000 nuragic towers, and more. That's how you do it, no compromises!
- And finally, a petition was started to candidate the Alpine forts of Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta, like Bard: https://www.change.org/p/alberto-cirio-candidiamo-i-forti-alpini-piemontesi-e-valdostani-a-patrimonio-dell-unesco
-- They emphasize the touristic aspect more than anything else, let's see if they'll do it. Indeed, some stages at the Giro d'Italia (and some restauration works, if I remember well) brought some more attention to the forts.

I think an extension to Nuraghe di Santu Antine and to Nuraghe Losa would be enough.

I think Italy dropped the ball a bit in the last few years, I made a list a couple of pages back of things I would consider inscription-worthy.

@Els did you visit Maddalena Island on your Sardinia trip? The beaches around the area have police that check you don't sit directly on the sand and carry it with you, i.e. only on blankets or on the stones. That's where tax payer money is well spent!

Indeed, it seems strange that a great site like Padova is later than the Prosecco Hills. One explanation (at least for Germany) can be regional decision making or enthusiasm by mayors etc.


You actually made the list in a different threat. I copied parts of it to this threat. ;)

Applying normal standards to WHS in Italy would result in an endless list of sites. Or the whole country being one big WHS. To me, only site I would add is Lecce and maybe the Alpine Lakes (Orta).

Yes I did, but I saw no police. Probably because it was off-season, or it only concerns the Pink Beach (which I did not visit).

I was considering a post corona trip to Naples and therefore studying the core zone to see what to include and what not to miss. As everybody can see there are for separate core zones. Beside the obvious and largest central core zone three more further west named "District of Villa Manzo, Santa Maria della Consolazione", "Marechiaro" and "District of Casale and Santo Strato". I have been searching the ICOMOS documents about why these three areas were included but there was no clear information I could find. Then I searched google maps and Wikipedia about possible attractions in these areas but couldn't find anything that implied any OUV, not even a roman wall or so. There is a church in each area whos importance is also implied by the names given but they look very plain and barock even for me who likes visiting churches.
There is also no dispute by ICOMOS if theres areas should be included or omitted.
There are a few things in this western end of Naples that seem interesting though: Mainly the Grotta di Seiano and the Parco Archeologico del Pausilypon. The latter is a spectacularly situated roman villa with a theatre that is even mentioned in the ICOMOS report of 1995. further there is the pretty Isola di Gaiola (supposedly linked with a curse) and the Palazzo dei Spiriti, a ruin of supposedly roman origin. None of these are included in the core zones.

Since certainly many of you have been to Naples I am very curious if you found out more about why they were included or if you went there and checked these areas out.

The closest thing to an answer is probably the dossier submitted by Italy for the Minor Boundary Modification from 2011, available as a zip download:
https://www.comune.napoli.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/6%252F6%252F4%252FD.9c5a2e1cb5cf15b50b49/P/BLOB%3AID%3D14142/E/zip.
However, even in the 90 pages justifying the Minor Boundary Modification there is barely any useable information about the choice of these three locations, all of which previously existed as a part of the original nomination from 1995.

Thanks a lot, Assif, that will give me a lot to read. From the first glance I do not find anything about the strange core zones in the West but I will surely find some food for thought. Did you visit any of the western parts when you were in Naples?

No, unfortunately I only had two full days to dedicate to this city which has so much to offer, so I didn't venture to the areas of the Western core zones.

Unesco: le Marche vogliono essere la 'regione dei teatri'

60 municipalities sign a protocol to submit an application to become a WHS.