Listed Village

The protection of (national) monuments focuses on safeguarding the architectural image and preserving the authenticity of the material. In addition, based on the Monuments Act 1988, it is possible to protect areas with a special historical character. This involves the preservation of urban planning or cultural landscape characteristics. Such areas are referred to as protected townscapes or villagescapes. The law defines protected townscapes and villagescapes as 'Groups of immovable property of general interest because of their beauty, their mutual spatial or structural coherence, or their scientific or cultural-historical value, and in which groups one or more monuments are located.'

The protection of townscapes and monuments cannot replace each other, but rather complement one another. A protected townscape often contains monumental buildings, but it is not the case that every building in that area is protected as a (national) monument. In a protected village landscape, it is not only about the individual buildings that represent a certain value; it is precisely about the mutual coherence and the associated structure, or layout, which has cultural-historical significance.