Authenticity
The assets of the World Heritage property have substantially retained their original character. The urban structure has predominantly maintained the formal and spatial characters present in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance with a few later additions due to landfills and land reclamation. The numerous monuments and monumental complexes in the city have retained their character and authenticity through the conservation of their constitutive elements and their architectural features. Similarly, the whole urban system has maintained the same layout, settlement patterns and organization of open spaces from medieval times and the Renaissance. In the structural restoration of the buildings, much attention is given to applying conservation criteria and the use and recovery of materials in their historical stratifications. The local culture has developed a deep-seated continuity in the use of materials and techniques. The expression of the authentic cultural values of the property is given precisely by the adoption and recognition of the effectiveness of traditional conservation and restoration practices and techniques.
The other lagoon settlements have also maintained a high level of authenticity, which continues to manifest itself in preservation of the character and specificity of the places. The historical processes that were developed over the centuries and helped shape the lagoon landscape have left a strong testimony of the action of the people, whose work is tangibly visible and recognizable in its authenticity and historical sequences.