EN
Basing on his own experience as a monuments’ c a ta lo guer (the publication known as the Cata log ue of Art M o numents in Poland) and also on the observations of the results of the valorization carried out in 1962—1963 the a u thor of this report suggests th a t criterions should be used in the evaluation of historic monuments. He assumes that irrespective of the fact that the results of the valorization were in practice pitiful — just as it offered to some incompetent institutions the possibility to give up preserving of hundreds of historic monuments qualified below groups 1 and 2 — one cannot presume th at all historic monuments have for us and will have the same value for future gen e rations. The valorization should function in the consciousness of district and other conservators, in their programming of a conservation policy. At this point the author puts stress on a territorial specificity, just as there are different opinions depending on, e.g., density or style uniformity of monuments found in a given region. The author goes on to discuss the criterions which he a r ranges according to certain criterions. At the same time he points out their overlapping and coexistence in specific structures. The criterion of antiquity does not need any further explanations, except for one: this antiquity (d u ra tion) will depend on its material duration. And so, a wooden church from the 14th cent, is not less va luab le than a bricked 11th century building. The criterion of "exemplarity” reveals itself only when only rare examples are left out of a previously numerous class (kind) of monuments. A typical 18th century office building or a steam engine from the 19th century often fulfill the requirements of this criterion. The author distinguishes between an aesthetic criterion which refers only to the exceptionality and uniqueness of form and an artistic criterion when not only formal qualities but, first and foremost, substantial ones are involved. To some extent, the latter criterion is associated with a criterion of a historic aspect of a monument, i.e. its connection with some historic events or personalities from the past. And finally, an essential criterion of collectivity, i.e. the occurrence of a historic monument in a specific collective context.