Sardinia: two UNESCO sites, 28 years apart

Sardinia has 2 World Heritage sites in 2026, both prehistoric and both entirely Sardinian: Su Nuraxi di Barumini, listed in 1997, and the domus de janas, a serial site of 17 underground tomb areas inscribed in July 2025.

Two sites, neither shared

Sardinia's list has two entries 28 years apart: Su Nuraxi di Barumini in 1997 and the domus de janas in 2025. Neither is a transregional serial site, which on an island is what you would expect.

The 2025 inscription made the domus de janas Italy's 61st World Heritage site. Italy now has 62, because the Italian list grew again in 2026 with the theatres of central Italy, after the Via Appia in 2024.

The domus de janas: 17 of 26 proposed

The domus de janas were inscribed in July 2025, at the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee, as 17 sites selected from the 26 put forward. They are spread over 14 comuni, with Alghero as lead town of the nomination.

The official description calls the group the largest expression of underground funerary architecture in the western Mediterranean.

The two official sources give the site slightly different names and date the inscription to July 12 or July 14, 2025. Neither detail changes a visit, but both explain why searches return two titles.

Su Nuraxi: guided only, every 30 minutes

Su Nuraxi di Barumini can be visited only with a guide, on departures every 30 minutes, and the tour takes about an hour. The site opens every day of the year with continuous hours.

One ticket covers three places: the nuraghe itself, the Casa Zapata museum and the Centro Giovanni Lilliu, each with its own compulsory guided visit of about 30 minutes. In bad weather or extreme heat the archaeological area may close for safety.

The price and the exact 2026 hours are published only as image files that cannot be read as text, so neither is given here. Groups book by email with the Fondazione Barumini.

Also on a UNESCO list: canto a tenore, since 2008

Sardinian canto a tenore is one of the two oldest Italian entries on the UNESCO intangible heritage lists, both from 2008. The other is the Opera dei Pupi of Sicily.

That listing belongs to a different convention from World Heritage and does not change the count of 2. It is a tradition you hear, not a site you enter, and no ticket applies.

More in Sardinia, Su Nuraxi di Barumini, the newest Sardinian site, nuragic Sardinia, seven days in Sardinia and intangible heritage.

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