Venice Charter
The 1964 ICOMOS document that established the foundational principles of modern heritage conservation — authenticity, reversibility and minimal intervention.
The Venice Charter (formally the International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS 1964) is the foundational international document of modern heritage conservation. Adopted at the Second International Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historic Monuments in Venice, it established the core principles that underpin conservation practice globally.
The Venice Charter's key principles include: conservation is inseparable from authentic materials and fabric; the aim is to hand down heritage to future generations in the full richness of its authenticity; any work must not alter or destroy historic evidence; additions must be distinguishable from original fabric; and reversibility — any intervention should be reversible so that better approaches can be applied in future.
While the Venice Charter has been critiqued for its European focus and its treatment of living heritage and cultural landscapes as secondary, it remains the baseline document from which national and regional charters — including the Burra Charter and INTACH Charter — develop their adaptations to local context.
Relevant Standards
- — Venice Charter 1964 (ICOMOS)