1
WORLD HERITAGE LIST
Cilento (Italy) [Mixed site]
No 842
Identification
Nomination
The Cilento and Vallo di Diano
National Park
Location
Province of Salerno, Campanian
Region
State Party
Italy
Date
4 July 1996
Justification by State Party
Cilento National Park is the result of the combined
work of nature and humankind. It falls into the category
of evolved landscape, the result of historical, social,
economic, artistic, and spiritual imperatives and
assumed its present form in association with and in
response to its natural environment. Today it is a living
landscape which continues to play an active role in
contemporary society whilst retaining the traditional
characteristics that created it in the organization of its
landscape, its communication routes, the way in which
it is cultivated, and the human settlement pattern. Like
natural species and geographical environments, human
beings have found points of contact, of interaction, and
of coalescence in these places. Cilento is the point of
intersection between the sea and the mountains, the
Atlantic and the Orient, the Nordic and African
cultures, it has produced peoples and civilizations, and
it retains clear traces of this in its distinctive
characteristics. Located in the heart of the Mediterra-
nean, it is the park par excellence because the most
typical aspect of that sea is the interpenetration and
diversity of environments and the coming together of
peoples.
[Note: This is the justification for the entire National
Park nomination. From this point on in this evaluation,
ICOMOS will concentrate on the cultural aspects of
this mixed site nomination.]
As a cultural property it conforms with the following
criteria:
Criterion iii: It bears exceptional witness to the
cultural
tradition and civilization of ancient
Mediterranean peoples by means of its system of
routes, human settlement, surviving sanctuaries,
and intact archaeological remains;
Criterion iv: It is an outstanding example of the
urban civilization and architecture that throw light
o