Villages with a UNESCO connection

Historic centres, districts and individual monuments. Each card names the heritage covered by the inscription.

Alberobello

Apulia (Metropolitan City of Bari), Italy

Alberobello in Apulia is built of trulli, dry-stone huts with conical roofs, UNESCO-listed since 1996. Its Rione Monti district remains fully inhabited.

Trulli districts of Rione Monti and Aia Piccola

UNESCO inscription ↗

Pienza

Tuscany (Province of Siena), Italy

Pienza in Tuscany's Val d'Orcia was rebuilt as an ideal Renaissance town for Pope Pius II in 1459, designed by Bernardo Rossellino. UNESCO-listed since 1996.

Historic centre of the planned Renaissance town

UNESCO inscription ↗

Mont-Saint-Michel

Normandy (Manche), France

Mont-Saint-Michel is a tidal island village of 23 residents in Normandy, UNESCO-listed since 1979, crowned by a Benedictine abbey amid 14-metre tides.

The island and village, within Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay

UNESCO inscription ↗

Vézelay

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France

Vézelay's hilltop basilica, a starting point for medieval pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostela, is itself inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The church and hill

UNESCO inscription ↗

Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert

Occitanie, France

Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert grew up around the 9th-century Abbey of Gellone, a stop on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela that earned the abbey its place on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Abbey of Gellone, a component of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France

UNESCO inscription ↗

Conques

Occitanie (Aveyron, commune of Conques-en-Rouergue), France

Conques is a steep Aveyron valley village on the Camino de Santiago, UNESCO-listed since 1998 for its Romanesque Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy.

Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy, a component of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France

UNESCO inscription ↗

Villages connected to a wider World Heritage landscape. Each card names that landscape.

Hallstatt

Upper Austria (Salzkammergut), Austria

Hallstatt has lent its name to an entire prehistoric era — the Hallstatt culture — after Iron Age salt-mining artifacts were uncovered in the mountain above the village.

Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape

UNESCO inscription ↗

Dürnstein

Lower Austria (Wachau), Austria

Dürnstein's ruined hilltop castle once held Richard the Lionheart prisoner in 1192, on his return from the Third Crusade.

Wachau Cultural Landscape

UNESCO inscription ↗

Weißenkirchen in der Wachau

Lower Austria (Krems-Land), Austria

Weißenkirchen in der Wachau is a Danube wine village in Austria's UNESCO-listed Wachau Cultural Landscape, known for its fortified church and cable ferry.

Wachau Cultural Landscape

UNESCO inscription ↗

Spitz

Lower Austria (Krems-Land), Austria

Spitz an der Donau is an Austrian wine village in the UNESCO-listed Wachau valley, overlooked by the Tausendeimerberg vineyard and Hinterhaus ruin.

Wachau Cultural Landscape

UNESCO inscription ↗

Neive

Piedmont (Langhe), Italy

Neive sits among the vineyards of the Langhe, in the heart of Barbaresco wine country — a UNESCO-listed vineyard landscape.

Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato

UNESCO inscription ↗

Vernazza

Liguria (Province of La Spezia), Italy

Vernazza is the only natural port of the Cinque Terre, a UNESCO-listed coastal landscape in Liguria since 1997, built around a fortified fishing harbor.

Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands

UNESCO inscription ↗

Manarola

Liguria (Province of La Spezia, frazione of Riomaggiore), Italy

Manarola is the smallest inhabited Cinque Terre village, part of Italy's UNESCO-listed coastal landscape, known for terraced vineyards and cliffside houses.

Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands

UNESCO inscription ↗