Not everyone knows that the capital holds a particular record in the Italian panorama of assets recognized as World Heritage. And in the last two years this record has been further strengthened.
The Tiber enters the UNESCO Management Plan
In 2024 the Tiber river, in the stretch that crosses the historic center, was included in the Management Plan of the UNESCO site as a distinctive element “Historic Center of Rome, the extraterritorial properties of the Holy See in the City and St. Paul Outside the Walls”. The inclusion took place thanks to the approval of the 2024-2030 Management Plan by the Capitoline Council in July, making the protection and enhancement of the river banks and the Tiber Island central elements for maintaining the exceptional universal value of Rome.
The historic center of Rome was already a UNESCO heritage site since 1980. It is not a single monument, but an immense area, almost 1,500 hectares, which contains stratifications of three thousand years of history: from the Colosseum to the Pantheon, from the Imperial Forums to the basilicas, from the Renaissance palaces to the Baroque squares. In 1990 the recognition was extended to the walls of Urban VIII and the extraterritorial properties of the Holy See. Then in 2023 a “Buffer Zone” of over 7,000 hectares was added, a sort of protective buffer between the ancient heart and the more peripheral areas.
The Appian Way and Italian primacy
But there is more, given that, again in 2024, the Appian Way was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The “Regina Viarum”, the ancient consular road that connected Rome to Brindisi for approximately 900 kilometres, has become the 60th Italian site recognized by the international organisation. A result that allowed Italy to consolidate its world record. Today we have a total of 61 sites – without considering the so-called intangible heritage, otherwise we would be talking about over 70 sites – and with another 31 in candidacy and ready to be part of it, ahead of China which stops at 59.
In July 2024, the Capitoline Council approved the 2024-2030 Management Plan of the Roman UNESCO site, a document which according to former councilor Gotor serves to “reconcile the protection and conservation of the heritage with the development of the modern city”. It is not easy to find the right balance when managing a living metropolis that attracts over 50 million tourists a year and which at the same time must preserve a thousand-year-old heritage.
Three thousand years of history to protect
Rome remains a unique case in the world precisely because of this historical continuity. Founded, according to legend, in 753 BC, it was the center of the Roman Republic, capital of the Empire and then the heart of Christianity from the 4th century. A stratification that has no comparison and which explains why UNESCO has recognized the city as having “Exceptional Universal Value” as well as being the most loved one.
In 2025, to celebrate its 75th anniversary, UNESCO, together with the British Design Bundles, drew up the ranking of the most loved sites on social media and the historic center of Rome was precisely the one that stood out in the ranking.
The real challenge now lies in making all this coexist with a city that changes, that grows, that moves every day between Jubilee construction sites, traffic and millions of people who live or visit it. A beauty that must be defended and which should be administered in a better way, starting from the institutions.
