When we talk about the heritage architecture we refer to all the buildings or structures that have a historical or cultural relevance nowadays. So, this buildings can be used as a source of information for the study of architecture in past times, meaning we can describe the evolution of architecture thanks to them.
In fact, the importance of many of them is registered in the UNESCO international heritage, that also involves other arts such as paintings, sculpture or literature. Thanks to this agreement we are able to protect this sites in order to preserve the knowledge we obtain from the material buildings and structures.
Let’s see some examples of the greatest findings made in human history.
Rome Coliseum
I think this is one of the most known ancient structures of the world. Anywhere you go, somebody knows about this wonderful building. The amount of information that has been substraed from this building and that it’s already being extracted is huge. From this structure we learnt about the importance of this kind of stadium in Ancient Rome, and all the complex technology they used, such as a floodable floor when they wanted to emulate ship battles.
Niza Pyramids
This other well-known complex located in Egypt is a perfect example of how architecture can be used as a tool to learn about our past not only in architecture itself but as a civilization as well. In this case, the study of the pyramids brought us the idea that the Egyptians were closely related to the concepts of life after death and so they built their funerary structures, including even space for goods which were supposedly used by the deceased.
Palace of Versailles
As a last example, I want to show the other face of the importance of the historical buildings. Apart of learning from the structures their self, it’s important to highlight some events and meetings that took place in this kind of buildings. Therefore, we should talk about the Treaty of Versailles, the most important of the peace treaties of World War I, which was signed in this palace placed in the closeness of Paris.
