The first experiences of dismantling and move of monuments in France and Spain. Lessons for the present

Abstract

As restoration theory and cultural heritage preservation have been established, we have become aware of the narrow relationship between the monument and its original site, its environmental surroundings and its importance in the territory. Its move signifies to alter that relationship and that balance, causing the uprooting of the cultural property and changing its material and intangible values. Because of that, international documents and legislation in many countries point that a move must constitute an exceptional operation which must always be carried out after having dismissed any other possibility of saving the monument and preserving it in its location.