Ivrea Added to UNESCO World Heritage Site List

The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural) World Heritage Site list has recently increased, adding 19 new places around the world to its list of sites deemed to have special cultural or physical significance to the world. The new sites were given the esteemed heritage award following the 42nd session of the World Heritage committee hosted by Bahrain this summer. Italy has the most sites on the list with 54 entries, five being natural and 49 being cultural. Sites such as Mount Etna, the Aeolian Islands, Piazza del Duomo in Pisa, the Historic Centre of Florence, and the Botanical Garden in Padua are included. This year, the industrial city of Ivrea in the Piedmont region was given the honor. Ivrea developed as the testing ground for Olivetti, manufacturer of typewriters, mechanical calculators and office computers. The Italian city was chosen amongst other locations such as the Ancient City of Qalhat in Oman, Naumburg Cathedral in Germany and the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai in India. Considered an industrial city of the 20th century, UNESCO.org says, “A model social project, Ivrea expresses a modern vision of the relationship between industrial production and architecture.”