Historical and cultural heritage is a set of the most distinctive results and evidence of the historical, cultural, and spiritual development of the Belarusian people, embodied in historical and cultural values.

The protection of historical and cultural heritage is a direction of cultural activity, which includes a system of organizational, legal, economic, material and technical, scientific, informational, and (or) other measures aimed at identifying cultural values for granting them the status of historical and cultural value, granting cultural values the status of historical and cultural value, accounting for, preserving, restoring, maintaining, and using historical and cultural values, which are carried out for the purpose of preserving and multiplying historical and cultural heritage and creating conditions for its transfer to future generations.

Article 83 of the Code defines the types of tangible historical and cultural values, which include

  • Documentary monuments - acts of state bodies, other written, graphic, and audiovisual documents, including ancient and other manuscripts, archival documents, rare printed publications;
  • Protected areas - topographically defined zones or landscapes created by humans or by humans and nature;
  • Archaeological monuments - archaeological sites and archaeological artifacts;
  • Architectural monuments - capital structures (buildings, constructions), individual or combined into complexes and ensembles, objects of folk architecture, which may include works of fine, decorative and applied, garden and park art related to the said objects;
  • Historical monuments - capital structures (buildings, constructions), other objects, territories that are associated with the most important historical events, the development of society and the state, international relations, the development of science and technology, culture and daily life, political, state, military figures, figures of science, literature, culture and art;

Historical and cultural values are divided into categories according to their distinctive spiritual, artistic and (or) documentary values and depending on their significance (world, international, national, for a specific region of the Republic of Belarus).

Tangible historical and cultural values are divided into the following categories

  • Category "0" - historical and cultural values of world significance, which are included or proposed for inclusion in the established manner in the World Cultural and Natural Heritage List or the List of World Heritage in Danger;
  • Category "1" - historical and cultural values of international significance;
  • Category "2" - historical and cultural values of national significance;
  • Category "3" - historical and cultural values of significance for a specific region of the Republic of Belarus;
  • Without category - tangible cultural values that are part of a complex, ensemble, set, collection of tangible historical and cultural values, but which have not been separately granted the status of historical and cultural value.

Intangible historical and cultural values are divided into the following categories:

  • Category "a" - historical and cultural values whose complete authenticity and accuracy are unconditional and unchanged;
  • Category "B" - historical and cultural values that have been fully or partially restored (recorded) on a secondary material or may objectively change over time.

Also, 3 intangible historical and cultural values are protected in the Verkhnedvinsk district:

  • Traditional dish "Klyotski s 'dushami'" of the Vitebsk region (category "a");
  • Traditional spiral weaving technology (Category "a");
  • Traditions of insit (naive) art of Vitebsk region (Category "B");
Historical and cultural heritage