Val d'Orcia
The landscape of Val d’Orcia is part of the agricultural hinterland of Siena, redrawn and developed when it was integrated in the territory of the city-state in the 14th and 15th centuries to reflect an idealized model of good governance and to create an aesthetically pleasing picture. The landscape’s distinctive aesthetics, flat chalk plains out of which rise almost conical hills with fortified settlements on top, inspired many artists. Their images have come to exemplify the beauty of well-managed Renaissance agricultural landscapes. The inscription covers: an agrarian and pastoral landscape reflecting innovative land-management systems; towns and villages; farmhouses; and the Roman Via Francigena and its associated abbeys, inns, shrines, bridges, etc.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1026
The Val d'Orcia is a cultural landscape made out of farmlands and fortified villages on hilltops.
The landscape as it unfolds nowadays was created by wealthy Siennese merchants in the 14th and 15th centuries. The farms cultivate mainly grains, vines and olives. Rows of cypresses are also a distinctive sight.
The beauty of the area inspired Renaissance painters and early travellers on the Grand Tour alike.
ICOMOS only had meagre praise for this site when it evaluated inscription as a WHS. Not enough detail and no comparisons were supplied by the Italians. There's also the issue of the City of Pienza, which is considered to be a key part of the Val d'Orcia but was already a WHS in its own right. Both sites should be combined into one.
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/site.php?id=1026
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