Mediterranean UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Beccy Miller
UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. As part of its work, UNESCO highlights (and helps restore/maintain) sites that are widely considered of 'outstanding universal value' worldwide. Here are some of our favourites you can visit on a Mediterranean cruise...
Barcelona and the works of Antoni Gaudi
Seven properties were built by the architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), representing an eclectic (and very personal) style which was given free reign in the design of gardens, sculpture and architecture.
Florence, the symbol of the Renaissance
The historic centre of Florence is just 90 minutes' drive from the port of Livorno. Its 600 years of extraordinary artistic activity can be seen in the 13th-century cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore), the Church of Santa Croce, the Uffizi and the Pitti Palace, the work of great masters such as Giotto, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, and Michelangelo.
The Imposing Mount Etna
From Messina, Sicily, you can visit this iconic site - Mount Etna, which is the highest Mediterranean island and the most active stratovolcano in the world.
The tragic story of Pompeii
From the port in Salerno, you can visit two UNESCO sites, Naples and Pompeii. The latter was engulfed by the eruption of Vesuvius on 24 August AD 79 and has been progressively excavated since the mid-18th-century. It remains one of the world's most fascinating archaeological experiences.
Dubrovnik, 'The Pearl of the Adriatic'
Situated in Croatia, on the Dalmatian coast, Dubrovnik was a significant Mediterranean sea power from the 13th century onwards. Although severely damaged by an earthquake in 1667, Dubrovnik managed to preserve its beautiful Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque churches, monasteries, palaces and fountains.
Valletta, one of the world's most concentrated historic areas
The capital of Malta's 320 monuments are all within an area of 55 hectacres, and are evidence of successive rule by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and the Order of the Knights of St John
The historical complex of Split
The ruins of Diocletian's Palace, built between the late 3rd and early 4th centuries A.D., can be found throughout the city. Twelfth—and 13th-century Romanesque churches, medieval fortifications, 15th-century Gothic palaces, and other palaces in Renaissance and Baroque style make up the rest of the protected area in this Croatian city.
The natural and historic region of Kotor
During the Middle Ages, this natural harbour on the Adriatic coast was an important artistic and commercial centre with its famous schools of masonry and iconography.
Corfu
The Old Town of Corfu, on the Island of Corfu off the western coasts of Albania and Greece, is located in a strategic position at the entrance of the Adriatic Sea, and has its roots in the 8th century BC. The three forts of the town, designed by renowned Venetian engineers, were used for four centuries to defend the maritime trading interests of the Republic of Venice against the Ottoman Empire.
Rome, the centre of the Roman Republic
The World Heritage site, extended in 1990 to the walls of Urban VIII, includes some of the major antiquity monuments, such as the Forums, the Mausoleum of Augustus, the Mausoleum of Hadrian, the Pantheon, Trajan’s Column, and the Column of Marcus Aurelius, as well as the religious and public buildings of papal Rome.
Naples - founded in 470 B.C.
From the Neapolis founded by Greek settlers to the city of today, Naples has retained the imprint of the successive cultures that emerged in Europe and the Mediterranean basin. This makes it a unique site, with numerous outstanding monuments such as the Church of Santa Chiara and the Castel Nuovo.
Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre is one of the Mediterranean's most pristine natural and semi-natural areas. The small towns' layout and disposition and the surrounding landscape's shaping to overcome the disadvantages of steep, uneven terrain encapsulate the continuous history of human settlement in this region over the past millennium.
Our friends at Cunard are currently offering flights for £99pp on selected 2026 Mediterranean departures, why not plan ahead to see these beautiful sites?
