Factors shaping the Venice Charter and its usefulness – on the example of heritage protection in Poland

In the collection of dozens of doctrinal documents on the protection of heritage, the Venice Charter occupies a unique position. The Venice Charter was created more than half a century ago, but it is still treated as the universal, basic document of the heritage protection. This is confirmed by numerous declarations emphasizing the validity of the Venice Charter, contained in many doctrinal documents adopted by ICOMOS, and even in the Operational Guidelines of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. The Venice Charter is therefore a kind of decalogue for the monument protection [1]. However, every few years there are discussions whether Venice Charter still retains this position. This problem is not resolved unequivocally.

However, in the twenty-first century, it can be stated that Venice Charter is not an universal document and cannot be a document shaping the entire heritage protection. This is shown by the reception of the Venice Charter by the Polish conservation community over the past decades. The change of the Venice Charter position is particularly clear in the context of the system transformation that took place as a result of the fall of communism in 1989. This change shows well that doctrinal documents of the heritage protection reflect the external conditions in which they are created. Their importance and usefulness is in principle limited to specific conditions and a specific group of heritage. This is also how the Venice Charter should be treated.