Transsylvania Nostra Journal

In order to be able to protect certain parts of the built cultural heritage, we have to know these parts. This self-evident statement applies differently to the widely known heritage buildings and differently to – using not exactly the right term – the “mass monuments”. Since we have “monument protection”, it is obvious that something has to be done to protect the buildings of the Acropolis, the Giza pyramid complex, the remnants in Machu Picchu and the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The situation is different however in the case of those buildings, which belong to “vernacular architecture”. These buildings being suitable for a special protection, especially because they represent – hopefully – the most characteristic examples of “mass monuments”.
Keywords: protection of cultural heritage, inventories, historic buildings, vernacular architecture, open air museums, inventory systems.