THE ITALIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE. Law and Rights

After a brief historical-institutional outline of the Italian cultural heritage, the fundamental aspects of the subject are addressed, with themes ranging from the concepts of a cultural artefact or cultural property, including the landscape as heritage and the related activities (protection and enhancement) to rules and regulations applied to the cultural heritage in present-day Italian and European Union law. In addition to these classical topics, the concept of cultural heritage has been developed to include a new and decidedly more innovative consideration, by focusing on the question of traditional forms of trade and business activities in historical town centres. Such activities are interpreted here as a means for enhancing the most distinctive areas of towns and settlements which are governed by the in force laws pertaining to the cultural heritage and landscape. At the same time, given that the present volume was mainly designed to serve educational purposes, the here-addressed issues will be basic tools allowing foreign students to gain deeper understanding of the legal aspects involved in this field.