“The landscape of the Chianti Classico villa-farm system”, a step toward Unesco status

“The landscape of the Chianti Classico villa-farm system” is officially in the running for Unesco recognition, with the candidacy dossier arriving in Paris these hours. An important step, for the enhancement of an icon of that wine territory, among the most beautiful and intact in the world, that of the Black Rooster, defined by Piero Antinori as “an earthly paradise” for wine production (with Chianti Classico increasingly rewarded by critics and the market, ed.), as we recounted in this video that exalts the beauty of a territory that makes “culture fall in love”, as recounted in the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Chianti Classico Consortium by Eugenia Falini, scientific head of the Unesco candidacy.
“I express my satisfaction with today’s decision by the Governing Council of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO to send the candidacy of “The Landscape of the Chianti Classico Farm-Villa System” to UNESCO for preliminary evaluation by the advisory bodies for inclusion in 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”, the Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, commented late yesterday evening. “An important step for the project, coordinated by the Ministry of Culture through the Unesco Office of the General Secretariat, and promoted by the Region of Tuscany and supported by the Foundation for the Protection of the Territory of Chianti Classico, with exchange activities with Unesco were assisted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation”.
Project of an area that, also through its Consortium, looks to the future. The nomination, explains a note from the Ministry of Culture, is in the category of cultural landscapes and consists of an area that includes seven municipalities spread over two provinces, Florence and Siena, and occupies an area of 54,000 hectares. The proposal represents, through its integrity and beauty, an outstanding testimony to the renewal process that, beginning in the century, gave rise to a new efficient and sustainable agricultural settlement system. The image of the historic area is still delineated by the rhythmic sequence of buildings that are typologically differentiated but consistent with the unified productive organization of the Villa-Farm, by the wise locational choices of the buildings, which allow for their wide intervisibility, and by the continuity of the traditional connections between wooded areas and the areas devoted to the main arboreal crops. Great satisfaction, of course, is expressed by the Foundation for the Protection of the Chianti Classico Territory, which through its president Tessa Capponi Borawska, recalls how, in addition to the Unesco recognition, the ultimate goal is “to preserve a magical territory like Chianti Classico to future generations. This is our strongest ambition”.
A candidacy, the Foundation still recalls, that exalts the cultural elements that underlie a settlement system consisting of more than 150 farm-villas that have preserved the agroforestry system through the centuries to the present day, in the heart of Tuscany so dear to the whole world. “After only a year since being included in the Tentativ List our scientific, methodical, painstaking work has been rewarded allowing us to pass this essential step. From tomorrow we will be at work with renewed enthusiasm and commitment to obtain the recognition that this territory, extraordinarily dense with cultural values to be preserved, deserves. We thank the Minister of Culture Sangiuliano for his active support, the Region of Tuscany and all the Municipal Administrations involved. Special thanks to all the staff and members of the Scientific Committee, led by the exceptional expertise of Professor Paola Eugenia Falini”, Tessa Capponi Borawska concludes. The preliminary assessment of the World Heritage Committee’s advisory bodies is the first step in the new procedure established by UNESCO for the inscription of sites on the World Heritage List, which streamlines the work of the Convention states by providing an initial assessment of the candidacy dossier and offering observations on which to focus efforts during the drafting of the candidacy documentation.