# Tuscany: nine UNESCO sites, and Pienza is the smallest > Tuscany has 9 World Heritage sites in 2026, level with Veneto and one behind Lombardy. Pienza covers 4.41 hectares; the Val d'Orcia around it, 61,187.96. URL: https://myitalia.it/unesco/in-toscana Last updated: 2026-09-11 Tuscany has 9 World Heritage sites in 2026, level with Veneto and one behind Lombardy, and the smallest of them, the centre of Pienza, covers 4.41 hectares inside a listed landscape, the Val d'Orcia, of 61,187.96 hectares. ## The nine, by year Eight of Tuscany's nine sites are Tuscan only; the ninth is a serial site shared with six other regions. | Site | Listed | |---|---| | Historic centre of Florence | 1982 | | Piazza del Duomo, Pisa | 1987 | | Historic centre of San Gimignano | 1990 | | Historic centre of Siena | 1995 | | Historic centre of Pienza | 1996 | | Val d'Orcia | 2004 | | Ancient beech forests, shared | 2007 | | Medici villas and gardens | 2013 | | Great Spa Towns of Europe, Montecatini Terme | 2021 | The national ranking counts each shared site in every region it touches: Lombardy 10, Tuscany 9, Veneto 9. With a different method, one lead region per site, the numbers change, and the source says so. ## Pienza: a pope's ideal town on 4.41 hectares The historic centre of Pienza was listed in 1996 under criteria i, ii and iv, and at 4.41 hectares it is the smallest of the Tuscan sites. It exists because of one man's decision. Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini, had his native village redesigned from 1459 by the architect Bernardo Rossellino, a pupil of Leon Battista Alberti. About 40 buildings were built or rebuilt. The result is counted as the first application of the humanist principles of the ideal Renaissance city. Its 4.41 hectares are about a third of San Gimignano's 13.88. ## Val d'Orcia: five comuni, and the places that aren't in it The Val d'Orcia was listed in 2004 as a cultural landscape under criteria iv and vi, over 61,187.96 hectares plus a buffer of 5,660.08. It is a farmed landscape redrawn in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries: clay plains with conical hills, each crowned by a fortified village. Criterion vi is the unusual one. It was granted because the landscape shaped the painters of the Sienese school, one of the few Italian listings that rests partly on influence over art. The listed area covers the historic centres and most of the land of five comuni in the province of Siena: Castiglione d'Orcia, Montalcino, Pienza, Radicofani and San Quirico d'Orcia. Many places marketed as Val d'Orcia lie outside those five. ## San Gimignano: 14 towers left of about 72 The historic centre of San Gimignano was listed in 1990 under criteria i, iii and iv, on just 13.88 hectares. Merchant families put up about 72 towers between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries as a show of wealth and power, and 14 survive. There are no single tickets for the main monuments. The San Gimignano Pass costs €15, €12 for ages 6 to 17, in 2026, is valid 3 days, and adds €1 if bought in advance. It covers the Collegiata complex, the Palazzo Comunale with the Pinacoteca and the Torre Grossa, the Santa Chiara complex and the church of San Lorenzo in Ponte. The Torre Grossa is the only tower in town you can climb, and the pass is the only way up. More in [Tuscany](/regions/toscana), [San Gimignano](/attractions/san-gimignano), [Piazza del Duomo in Pisa](/attractions/duomo-di-pisa), [Siena](/towns/siena), [the Uffizi](/attractions/uffizi) and [sites by region](/best/unesco-sites-by-region). ## FAQ ### How many UNESCO sites are in Tuscany? Nine in 2026, level with Veneto and one behind Lombardy's ten. Eight are Tuscany's alone, from the historic centre of Florence in 1982 to Montecatini Terme among the Great Spa Towns of Europe in 2021. The ninth, the ancient beech forests, is shared with six other regions. ### Which towns are part of the Val d'Orcia UNESCO site? Five comuni in the province of Siena: Castiglione d'Orcia, Montalcino, Pienza, Radicofani and San Quirico d'Orcia, with their historic centres and most of their land. Places sold as Val d'Orcia outside those five are not inside the listed area. ### Can you buy a single ticket for the tower in San Gimignano? No. The main monuments are sold only through the San Gimignano Pass: €15, or €12 for ages 6 to 17 in 2026, valid 3 days, plus €1 for presale. It is the only way up the Torre Grossa, the one tower in town that visitors can climb. ### Why is Pienza on the UNESCO list? Because it is the first application of the humanist idea of the ideal Renaissance city. Pope Pius II had his birthplace rebuilt from 1459 by Bernardo Rossellino, a pupil of Leon Battista Alberti, reworking about 40 buildings on what is now a 4.41 hectare site. ## Sources | Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until | |---|---|---|---| | In Toscana ricadono 9 siti UNESCO del Patrimonio Mondiale (2026) | [UNESCO World Heritage Centre](https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/it/); [Ministero della Cultura - Ufficio UNESCO](https://unesco.cultura.gov.it/projects/); [Wikidata (query SPARQL su P1435=Q9259, P17=Q38, P757, P131)](https://query.wikidata.org/sparql) | medium | 2027-08-31 | | Classifica delle regioni italiane per numero di siti UNESCO ospitati, contando ogni sito transregionale in tutte le regioni interessate: Lombardia 10, Toscana 9, Veneto 9 (2026) | [UNESCO World Heritage Centre](https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/it/); [Ministero della Cultura - Ufficio UNESCO](https://unesco.cultura.gov.it/projects/); [Wikidata (query SPARQL su P1435=Q9259, P17=Q38, P757, P131)](https://query.wikidata.org/sparql) | medium | 2027-08-31 | | Il centro storico di Pienza e' patrimonio UNESCO dal 1996 con i criteri (i)(ii)(iv) su soli 4,41 ettari: fu papa Pio II, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, a far ridisegnare il suo borgo natale a partire dal 1459 dall'architetto Bernardo Rossellino, allievo di Leon Battista Alberti, con circa 40 edifici costruiti o ricostruiti. E' la prima applicazione dei principi umanistici della 'citta' ideale' rinascimentale. | [Ministero della Cultura - Ufficio UNESCO](https://unesco.cultura.gov.it/projects/centro-storico-di-pienza/) | medium | 2029-12-31 | | La Val d'Orcia e' iscritta al Patrimonio Mondiale UNESCO dal 2004 come paesaggio culturale, con criteri (iv) e (vi), su 61.187,96 ettari piu' 5.660,08 ettari di zona tampone: e' il riconoscimento di un paesaggio agricolo ridisegnato nel Rinascimento tra Tre e Quattrocento, con pianure argillose da cui emergono colline coniche coronate da borghi fortificati. | [Ministero della Cultura - Ufficio UNESCO](https://unesco.cultura.gov.it/projects/val-dorcia/) | medium | 2029-12-31 | | Il sito UNESCO Val d'Orcia comprende i centri storici e gran parte del territorio di cinque comuni della provincia di Siena: Castiglione d'Orcia, Montalcino, Pienza, Radicofani e San Quirico d'Orcia. | [Commissione Nazionale Italiana per l'UNESCO](https://www.unesco.it/it/unesco-vicino-a-te/siti-patrimonio-mondiale/val-dorcia/) | medium | 2029-12-31 | | Il centro storico di San Gimignano e' patrimonio UNESCO dal 1990 con i criteri (i)(iii)(iv) su appena 13,88 ettari: delle circa 72 torri erette tra XI e XIII secolo dalle famiglie mercantili come simbolo di ricchezza e potere ne sopravvivono oggi 14. | [Ministero della Cultura - Ufficio UNESCO](https://unesco.cultura.gov.it/projects/centro-storico-di-san-gimignano/) | medium | 2029-12-31 | | A San Gimignano non si comprano biglietti singoli per i monumenti principali ma il San Gimignano Pass da 15 euro (12 euro per i 6-17 anni, 2026), valido 3 giorni, che comprende il Complesso della Collegiata, Palazzo Comunale con Pinacoteca e Torre Grossa, il Complesso di Santa Chiara e la Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Ponte. La prevendita costa 1 euro in piu'. | [Musei di San Gimignano - Comune di San Gimignano](https://www.sangimignanomusei.it/) | medium | 2027-06-30 | ## Image https://media.myitalia.it/media/region.toscana.1600.jpg Author: Martin Falbisoner. License: CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tuscan_Landscape_7.JPG ## Other languages - it: https://myitalia.it/it/unesco/in-toscana.md - es: https://myitalia.it/es/unesco/in-toscana.md - fr: https://myitalia.it/fr/unesco/in-toscana.md - de: https://myitalia.it/de/unesco/in-toscana.md