Kulturowy krajobraz zabytkowy i problemy jego ochrony

The landscape comprises the physiognomy of an environment, including the cultural one. Over twenty years ago, a system for protecting the natural landscape was established as part of the preservation of nature, but despite numerous works on the subject (G. Ciolek, Z. Novak, 1950), the historical cultural landscape was not formally recognised until the 1991 amendment to the law about the protection of cultural property. Debates of the Conference of European Security and Co-Operation, held in Krakow in 1992, became a turning point, making it possible to apply the already prepared and locally functioning methods and areas of activity (from 1960). Upon this basis, concrete work associated with methodical studies and conceptions was initiated within the Fifth Programme on the Protection of the Cultural Landscape (from 1994); in accordance with the range defined in the law in question, these endeavours encompassed protection on the scale of Poland as a whole (initial undertakings), voivodeships, communes, as well as landscape interiors and panoramas, in reference to the law on spatial planning. The initiative is accompanied by numerous publications. A change in the comprehension of the scale of the historical monument — from an object to historical landscape — constitutes an indispensable and essential breakthrough in the perception and protection of monuments. Unfortunately, this problem remains insufficiently appreciated even by conservators, and thus requires intensive scientific, didactic, and popularisation efforts.