Cycloaddition reactions of alkynes are elegant, atom-efficient transformations for the synthesis of carbo- and heterocycles, mostly aromatic, involving the construction of challenging skeletons of complex molecules. Therefore significant efforts have recently been devoted to the development of novel methodologies, efficient strategies and different catalytic systems to broaden the scope of these reactions. We summarize in this review the recent advances in the cycloaddition reactions of 1,3-butadiynes to provide facile and reliable approaches to various functionalized carbo- and heterocycles.