Fai Places of the Heart, the 2026 census kicks off with record ambitions

The goal is ambitious: to reach 3 million votes this year, surpassing the record of the previous census which, two years ago, had collected over 2.3 million votes. There are seven months left (from yesterday until 15 December) to take part in the 13th edition of the "Luoghi del Cuore" (Italian Places of the Heart), the Fai project, in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo, which has been dedicated to safeguarding and enhancing Italy's cultural and environmental heritage since 2003.

The president of Fai, Marco Magnifico, is optimistic, because in these 23 years the number of people who have become active has grown rapidly, from 24,000 reports in the first census. And these are not numbers for their own sake: the enthusiastic participation of so many people in the project demonstrates the interest and love of Italians for their territory, the ability to get active, from below and spontaneously, to take care of and pass on the memory of places that would otherwise be lost.

The programme, promoted by Fai and also supported since 2004 by Intesa Sanpaolo, has so far collected, in 23 years and 12 editions, over 13.5 million votes, for a total of almost 42 thousand places reported and more than 6,500 Italian municipalities involved, with 180 projects financially supported in 20 regions, mainly places of worship. And again: more than 1,500 heritage communities have joined 'Places of the Heart' in recent years, involving more than 5,000 local stakeholders. The participation of young people is also crucial: in 2024 alone, 538 schools took part in the project in 17 regions, plus 92 institutes based abroad.

"The Places of the Heart are always good news, which is good for the country," notes Magnifico. "They have become a real movement, unstoppable, from North to South, from the coasts to the Alpine and pre-alpine valleys. A movement of people that has expanded without us even realising it'. Moreover, as Intesa Sanpaolo chairman Gian Maria Gros-Pietro recalls, over the years this project has also proven to have important and concrete social and economic spin-offs. "For us, culture is also a very important productive factor, which characterises the way Italians are compared to the rest of the world," explains Gros-Pietro. "The motivation that prompted Intesa Sanpaolo to collaborate with Fai in this initiative is that it allows us to better achieve one of our objectives, which is to make Italian society grow and help achieve long-term goals, especially in favour of future generations.

In 2026, the programme will make 600,000 euros available to finance restoration and enhancement projects for the places listed in the census. It is possible to vote through the website www.iluoghidelcuore.it, or through the paper forms downloadable from each place card. In addition to the prizes reserved for the three places with the most votes (of 70 thousand, 60 thousand and 50 thousand euros), after the announcement of the final ranking, a call for projects nominated by the territories will be opened in 2027, in which all the places that have reached the minimum threshold of 3 thousand votes will be able to participate, and which will award grants of up to 50 thousand euros per project.