The UNESCO hills.

Since 7 July 2019 «Le Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene» are a World Heritage site: Italy’s 55th, voted unanimously in Baku. Not for the wine: for the landscape. The steep hills, the grassy terraces, the vineyards that the people here have drawn by hand over centuries. Here’s what it means, and what to see.

Valdobbiadene, explained · 5 November 2026 · 4 minutes

What UNESCO decided.

The World Heritage List has a category called «cultural landscape»: a piece of the world made together by nature and by people. Here it’s the hogback hills between Valdobbiadene and Vittorio Veneto, covered by a mosaic of vineyards, woods and villages, and worked with the «ciglioni»: terraces held up by grass, not by walls, a system you only see here. The Committee voted yes on 7 July 2019, all twenty-one countries.

What changes, and what doesn’t.

It isn’t a mark on the wine: no bottle is «UNESCO», and Prosecco Superiore was good before too. It’s a commitment to keep the landscape as it is: no warehouses where there were vines, care for the woods, the paths, the villages. And a draw: visitors went from about 250,000 in 2019 to about 570,000 in 2025. Those who live here feel it, for better and in the Saturday traffic.

What to see, starting from Colbertaldo.

The Cartizze hill, with the hamlets of San Pietro di Barbozza, Santo Stefano and Saccol: the steepest vineyards and the best sunset. The Strada del Prosecco, from Valdobbiadene to Conegliano, Italy’s first wine road, from 1966. The Abbey of Santa Bona in Vidor, behind our house. The Molinetto della Croda in Refrontolo, a mill under the rock. The abbey of Follina and the village of Cison di Valmarino, with the hamlet of Rolle in the middle of the vines. Conegliano, with its castle and the 1876 School of Winemaking.

When to come.

Advice, not rules. In spring, with the Primavera del Prosecco, the wine fairs in the villages, one after another. In September, the harvest, when the hills are full of people at work. In autumn, the colours. In winter the fog below and the sun above, and the roads empty. The hour, we know: sunset.

Come and drink it with us

Three quick questions.

Can you visit the vineyards?

Yes: the roads and paths between the vineyards are open. You walk, you cycle, you look. You respect the work of those who are there: no picked bunches, no cars in the rows.

Is there a ticket, an entrance?

No. The UNESCO site is a landscape, not a museum: you go in and out without noticing. Wineries and tastings have their own prices.

Where exactly is the site?

The core area runs from Valdobbiadene to Vittorio Veneto, along the hills north of Conegliano. Colbertaldo, where we are, is in Vidor, at the foot of Valdobbiadene.