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Inherited Empire in East European Architectural Conservation

Appropriating Ottoman, Habsburg and Russian/Soviet Past

Rather than a mere technical matter, the restoration of built monuments is a process through which societies promote their vision of history and cultural identity. The reasons why many monuments survive to this day are to be found in the nineteenth century, when modern practices of heritage preservation began. This book addresses the emergence and practices of architectural conservation in the case of the heterogeneous, disputed, fragmented and controversial heritage of Eastern and Central Europe from ca. 1800 to 1990. Thirteen chapters, an introduction and an afterword, follow the transformation and preservation of monuments, many of which are little known internationally, and their present legacy, from Georgia to Estonia, from Dalmatia and Galicia to the Russian Far North. With a focus on regions within and around the former Habsburg, Ottoman, Russian and Soviet empires, the volume contributes to decolonising this field of historical research by investigating the imperial and post-imperial architectural legacies, including how they enforced social, racial or ethnic inequalities.