The Italian Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano expressed “satisfaction” with the decision of the Board of Directors of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO to send the candidacy of “The landscape of the Chianti Classico villa-farm system to UNESCO”, for submission to a preliminary evaluation of the advisory bodies for the purposes of inscription on the World Heritage List. “It is a candidacy that enhances an identity landscape of our nation, which has the full support of the Ministry of Culture”, declared Sangiuliano.
The candidacy falls into the category of cultural landscapes and consists of an area that includes seven municipalities distributed across two provinces, Florence and Siena, and which occupies an area of approximately 54 thousand hectares. The proposal represents, through its integrity and beauty, an exceptional testimony to the renewal process which, started in the 16th century, gave rise to a new efficient and sustainable agricultural settlement system. The image of the historic territory is still outlined today by the rhythmic sequence of typologically differentiated buildings, but consistent with the unitary production organization of the villa-farm, by the wise choices of location of the buildings, which allow for a wide intervisibility, and by the continuity of the traditional connections between wooded areas and the areas intended for the main tree crops.
The preliminary evaluation of the advisory bodies of the World Heritage Committee is the first step of the new procedure established by UNESCO for the inscription of sites in the World Heritage List. It optimizes the work of the Convention States, providing an initial assessment of the application dossier and offering observations on which to concentrate efforts during the drafting of the application documentation.
The project, coordinated by the Ministry of Culture through the UNESCO Office of the General Secretariat, was promoted by the Tuscany Region and supported by the Foundation for the Protection of the Chianti Classico Territory. The exchange activities with UNESCO were assisted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.