Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by society.
Roman ruins with a prophet, by Giovanni Pannini, 1751. The artistic cultural heritage of the Roman Empire served as a foundation for later Western culture, particularly via the Renaissance and Neoclassicism (as exemplified here).
The Grandfather tells a story, by Albert Anker, c. 1884.
Karl von Habsburg, on a Blue Shield International fact-finding mission in Libya
Plaque stating the designation of Carthage as a World Heritage Site.
Cultural property, also known as cultural patrimony, comprises the physical items that are part of the cultural heritage of a group or society, as opposed to less tangible cultural expressions. They include such items as cultural landscapes, historic buildings, works of art, archaeological sites, as well as collections of libraries, archives, and museums.
Plaque of the Federal Monuments Office on a building in Salzburg indicating "Cultural property" in four languages; German: Kulturdenkmal, English: Cultural property, French: Bien culturel, and Russian: Культурное достояние.
