Page 81 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

Michelangelo, Machi-
avelli and the Medici, WORLD HERITAGE SITES
Florence (Firenze) is
magnetic, romantic, With 51 World Heritage Sites, Italy has more than any
unique and busy. A other country. But what exactly is a World Heritage
couple of days is not long Site? Basically it’s anywhere that Unesco’s World
here but it’s enough for a Heritage Committee decides is of ‘outstanding
breathless introduction universal value’ and inscribes on the World Heritage
to the city’s top sights, List. It could be a natural wonder such as the Great
many of which can be Barrier Reef in Australia or a man-made icon such as
enjoyed on foot (p114). New York’s Statue of Liberty, a historic city centre or
Towering above the a great work of art or architecture.
medieval skyline, the The list was set up in 1972 and has since grown to
Duomo (Cattedrale di include 1031 sites from 163 countries. Italy first got
Santa Maria del Fiore; www. in on the act in 1979 when it successfully nominated
operaduomo.firenze.it; Piazza its first entry – the prehistoric rock drawings of the ITALY 5 WORLD HERITAGE WONDERS
del Duomo; h10am-5pm Mon- Valcamonica valley in northeastern Lombardy. The
Wed & Fri, to 4pm Thu, to inscription process requires sites to be nominated by
4.45pm Sat, 1.30-4.45pm a country and then independently evaluated. If they
Sun) dominates the city pass scrutiny and meet at least one of 10 selection
centre with its famous criteria, they get the green light at the World Heritage
red-tiled dome and Committee’s annual meeting. Once on the list, sites
striking facade. A short qualify for management support and access to the
hop away, Piazza della World Heritage Fund.
Signoria opens onto the Italian nominations have generally fared well and
sculpture-filled Loggia since Rome’s historic centre and the Chiesa di Santa
dei Lanzi and the Torre Maria delle Grazie in Milan were inscribed in 1980,
d’Arnolfo above Palazzo many of the nation’s greatest attractions have made
Vecchio (%055 276 82 24; it onto the list – the historic centres of Florence,
www.musefirenze.it; Piazza Naples, Siena and San Gimignano; the cities of
della Signoria; museum adult/ Venice, Verona and Ferrara; the archaeological
reduced €10/8, tower €10/8, sites of Pompeii, Paestum and Agrigento; as well as
museum & tower €14/12, natural beauties such as the Amalfi Coast, Aeolian
guided tour €4; hmuseum Islands, Dolomites and Tuscany’s Val d’Orcia.
9am-11pm Fri-Wed, to 2pm Thu
summer, 9am-7pm Fri-Wed, to Leonardo da Vinci,
2pm Thu winter), Florence’s Michelangelo, Raphael
lavish City Hall. and many other Renais- 4 Pisa
Next to the palazzo, sance maestros. Once a maritime republic
the Galleria degli Uffizi to rival Genoa and
(Uffizi Gallery; www.uffizi. 54 p41, p63, p86 Venice, Pisa now owes its
beniculturali.it; Piazzale degli The Drive » From Florence it’s fame to an architectural
Uffizi 6; adult/reduced €8/4, about 1½ hours to Pisa along the project gone horribly
incl temporary exhibition A11 autostrada. At the end of the wrong. The Leaning
€12.50/6.25; h8.15am- motorway, after the toll booth, Tower (Torre Pendente;
6.50pm Tue-Sun) houses head left onto Via Aurelia (SS1) www.opapisa.it; Piazza dei
one of the world’s great and follow signs to Pisa centro. Miracoli; €18; h9am-8pm
art collections, includ- summer, 10am-5pm winter)
ing works by Botticelli, is an extraordinary
sight and one of Italy’s

79