Somebody stop this monstorusity! XD I hope for a selection of the most significant theatres, but it is difficult that any mayor would like to take a step back now...

Italy seeks Unesco World Heritage Status for Appian Way

So this means we'll probably see the Via Appia as Italy's nomination for one of the coming years.

Unesco: candidatura dei teatri storici delle Marche, attiva una task force

A task force will be set up for the Historical Theatres of the Marche.

Hoping not to come too late for whom is interested, I'd like to point to the upcoming Rolli days on the 14-16th of October in Genoa, when many Rolli palaces open their doors. While it is true that one should book visits, it is also very possible to just go there and slip in the vacancies (I did so last year with great success). It is an exciting way to enter the palaces, mostly free! There are also special guided tours about Rolli.

Probably many of us have stared with a little shock at the blank pages related to Civita di Bagnoregio in the reports for the next WH session. I have not yet found information about this withdrawal, so I have written to some contacts I found of the commitee, hoping to get an answer at some point.

Meanwhile, with regard to Rome you may already know that the Pantheon now has an entry fee for non-residents, a move by the government which I really loathe. But at least I have seen that there will be a "minor" boundary modification which actually adds a lot to the core zone, many interesting neighbourhoodsand sites. The funnier side of it is that, if I understood well, now you can claim to have visited Rome's WHS if you go watch a football game at the Olimpico :-)

Oh would that make Stadio Olimpico the first WHS to host a World Cup final?

Set me off and I think I have discovered a connection that we can add it to if/when it is expanded.

Of course I took a blunder, sorry @meltwaterfalls. The boundary modifications regard the buffer zone, but I was too enthusiastic. Many of the new neighbourhoods could and should easily be included in the WHS's core, though (extending the time frame...)!

Oh well, we can start the campaign to get it inscribed in its own right :)

@Hubert
With regard to your review of Savoy residences, it is true that a dedicated info point does not really exist (even if a regular info point in Turin should do), but as you maybe have noticed, I'd like to point out that the exhibition at Venaria Reale is in fact a "hub" for all the other residences, as it explains in good detail their history , placement and architecture, in the context of the urban expansion of 17th century! I found it very interesting and well done!

So Venice avoided being listed on the danger list.

I think Venice has Google to thank for. It is important to have the mass (tourists) move smoothly. I was in Venice 2 weeks ago, and every tourist, including myself, was using Google Map to navigate the otherwise impossible city to navigate. If the mass is stuck on narrow alleys at 40°C and find a chilled bottle of Coke at 5 Euros, you can only imagine what would ensue.

Rewind to 2012 when I was there before this time. I have only the terrible memory of getting lost every few minutes and incredibly frustrated. But this time, it was almost like I rediscovered the charm and the beauty of Venezia! It was so pleasant to stroll along the back alleys, never getting lost, while heading to my destinations, be it Padiglione Centrale in Centro Storico, Palazzo del Cinema in Lido, or just a spot to view Regata Storica.

No, no, no, tsunami!!! Actually the best way to wander around Venice is without a map, not to speak of Google maps (which anyway looks very dysfunctional to me with its "empty map")! :-D One just needs to get the system of sestieri (neighbourhoods) and house numbering, and that's it! But I am glad you enjoyed the city.

Still, I am annoyed it was not put on the danger list. But local population won't stop fighting against cruise ships.

That sounds similar to the address system in Japan, which is impossible. I recommend using Google Map in Japan.

I'm with Astraftis on this one. Getting lost in Venice is one of life's greatest experiences. The thought of trudging around with my eyes glued to a phone is horrific.

(I actually had fairly low expectations of Venice when I visited, expecting it to be dirty, smelly, crowded and overrun by tourists. Maybe it was because I visited at the arse-end of November but I found none of those things to be true - and so I was absolutely blown away by the place. I'm almost afraid to revisit it with my family now...)

Liam, You can try Venice in July at 40°C and see what happens! :-D

Since I'm a fan of the American composer Philip Glass (who studied at the University of Chicago in the 1950s), I started reading the following article about his new piece, titled "The Triumph of the Octagon," dedicated to the Italian conductor Riccardo Muti (who is now the musical director emeritus for life at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra).

https://music.newcity.com/2023/09/22/octagon-octogenarians-philip-glass-composes-a-new-work-of-friendship-for-muti-and-the-chicago-symphony/

This articles has quotes from both of these musical luminaries, and to my surprise, Muti totally out of the blue starts talking about the Castel del Monte WHS in southern Italy.

It turns out that since Muti so enthusiastically talked about this castle to Glass, Glass decided to write this piece "about" the castle for Muti, meaning the Octagon in the title refers to the Octagonal shape of the castle and its 8 towers.

So Castel del Monte now has its own piece of music, which is supposed to premiere in Chicago in a few days.

I thought it's very unusual to hear classical musicians talking about a WHS, so I just wanted to share it here.