What does heritage mean?

The word “heritage” means inheritance: what the past has given to us and what makes us what we are now.

How is heritage classified?

Heritage is broadly separated into two categories: natural and cultural heritage.

The term cultural heritage covers several main types:

  • Tangible cultural heritage, which comprises buildings and historic places, monuments, artefacts, and archaeological sites including underwater sites and cities.
  • Intangible cultural heritage, which is represented by our inherited traditions such as customs, music, dance, folklore, particular skills and knowledge, and rituals.

Natural heritage is what we describe as natural sites with cultural aspects, such as cultural landscapes, and physical, biological or geological formations.

Why is heritage important and why should we preserve it?

Heritage shapes our identity, and makes us a part of it. The understanding of heritage helps us to understand societies, their socio-cultural features, as well as their evolution.

Since heritage is what we have inherited from past generations, we need to maintain it in the present so that we can bestow it to future generations.

References

https://www.icomos.org/en
https://whc.unesco.org/

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