A Concise Introduction to the World of Religious Heritage

In this chapter, the author introduces the main category and the rationale for choosing religious heritage as the protagonist of the narrative in this book. Religious heritage has a set of inherent and intrinsic values that explain its importance for both people and institutions. Its tangible and intangible presence on the territory of states is recognised as having implications in cultural, religious, historical, artistic, architectural, social, folkloristic, anthropological and, above all, political terms. An overview of UNESCO’s (United Nation Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) global framework for tangible and intangible religious heritage is provided. Based on this premise, an introduction to the importance of the political use of religious heritage by global and national institutions will be given. This profile is necessary to develop a common ground that relates tangible and intangible religious heritage, the nomination processes for tangible and intangible heritage and their instrumental and non-neutral use by states and UNESCO. The book addresses several issues from a legal perspective, but also offers a multidisciplinary approach: all these aspects are under-researched by researchers and authors, and there is a lack of overarching studies that provide a comprehensive overview of the book’s subject matter. Finally, the structure of the book is presented.