() is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest. It was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the aim of preserving and maintaining villages of quality heritage. Its motto is ("The charm of hidden Italy").
Participants in the group are small population centres which risk neglect and abandonment because they lie outside the main tourist circuits. Initially they comprised about a hundred villages, but had increased to 361 in 2023.
In 2012, the Italian association was one of the founding members of the international association The Most Beautiful Villages in the World, a private organization that brings together various territorial associations promoting small inhabited centres of particular historical and landscape interest.
The criteria for admission to the association are: integrity of the urban fabric, architectural harmony, livability of the village, artistic-historical quality of the public and private building heritage, services to the citizen as well as the payment of an annual membership fee.
The association organizes initiatives within the villages, such as festivals, exhibitions, fetes, conferences and concerts that highlight the cultural, historical, gastronomic and linguistic heritage, involving residents, schools, and local artists. The club promotes numerous initiatives on the international market. In 2016, the association signed a global agreement with ENIT, to promote tourism in the most beautiful villages in the world. In 2017, the club signed an agreement with Costa Cruises for the enhancement of some villages, which are offered to cruise passengers arriving in Italian ports aboard the operator's ships.
The regional subdivision of the villages members of the association is as follows: 31 in Marche and Umbria, 29 in Tuscany, 27 in Liguria, 26 in Abruzzo and Lombardy, 25 in Lazio, 24 in Sicily, 20 in Piedmont, 16 in Emilia-Romagna and Trentino-Alto Adige, 15 in Calabria, 14 in Apulia, 13 in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 11 in Veneto and Campania, 9 in Sardinia and Basilicata, 4 in Molise and 3 in Aosta Valley.