Referring to the relation of the Landscape to the term “MONUMENTA”, we have to denote, at first, as cultural heritage all systems of social relations in general, inscribed through history or transmitted through tradition. Material structures created by societies are commonly accepted as well, as integral part of cultural heritage. Going one step further, we must also accept the cultural validity of the natural environment and the cultural validity of places, where all previous elements, social relations or specific material constructions are located in a state of osmosis.
We shall describe the above mentioned ‘overall space’ substratum as Landscape, commenting that according to the European Landscape Convention the term indicates any area “as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors”. In this way, Landscape indicates the relation between societies and territories, the relation of societies with any place represented or organized through human structural activity or even classified only through mere human perception. It may correspond to territories existing beyond human settlements, or to their vicinity, or even to urban landscapes. Thus, the concept of Landscape seems central in reference to the relation between social formations and place or to the relation between civilization and culture on the one side and their environment on the other.
Contemplating landscape seems therefore a necessary prerequisite for the comprehension of any specific cultural corpus, of any national tradition or cultural heritage. However, the Greek landscape, in the frame of the modern and the contemporary history, seems to surpass its restricted geographical limits and develops an emblematic significance for western civilization in general. It has been considered by western societies as their primordial landscape, wherefrom modern civilization and what is more modern western democracy originate.
mor@arsisarc.gr
