The Significance of Preserving Old Buildings: Cultural Importance

In the countries around the world there exist a lot of buildings that have been reconstructed and maintained due to their high value. They require maintenance and specific care in treatment and they are so valuable because they present the cultural heritage of that country. Nowadays, because of the great development of the building there is an discussion if old buildings should be preserved for future generations or destroyed to build new ones. I believe that history plays an important role in getting to know country’s culture, traditions, beliefs, religions etc. Without our history we wouldn’t know where we are from, for our past, for our predecessor, and for their struggle to preserve this heritage that we have today. Old buildings are part of country’s history and the identity the people of that country. This essay will be about the importance of old buildings, and why we should protect them.

At first I believe that it is important to preserve old objects due to their historical and cultural value. We can also say that they are also one of the country's most precious things. By old buildings you can identify the history of a country. The construction of these buildings shows the way of construction that people used to use when they didn’t have many options as we have now in this century and also the type of people that used to live during that time. The old style of buildings is more likely to be recognized by the people than the new one. Ancient architecture shows about the situation of the country throughout history, how they have passed them and the damage that they have because of that. For example, the pyramids and temples of Egypt show the history of the pharaoh and how powerful he was. He made the slaves build amazing graveyards and temples. The way the pyramids were created are still a mystery and inexplicable for today’s engineers. It also shows the way of thinking about afterlife during that historical period, the way the using different materials and the way they thought about religion. So, when people go to Egypt, these are the main thing that they are interested in. Also, those buildings make a sense of happines in the hearts of Egyptian people, as it tells their mysterious and amazing history. That is why maintenance of old buildings is of a must. Also, a historical building is a great object for historians and archeologist to research for work. There are a lot of buildings in the world which are inexplicable for today’s engineers and they are inspiration for them, so it is a very bad thing not to protect them.

Another reason is the economic benefit. With the preservation of these buildings, there will be many tourists around the world. Most countries like Egypt, for example, have the biggest economic outflow from tourism. Aside from tourism, they also have the opportunity to employ different people, and so the unemployment rate is not high. For this they should be thanked to their predecessors. But this economic development would not be if they did not care about their cultural heritage. It would be a perfect world, if there would be good managers for the cultural heritage and if there would be strong rules about letting them be a part of us. So I can say that if we destroy our old buildings, they would result in an economic loss. With the economy that earned from tourist is helping countries to progress.

There are different opinions about this issue. One of the things that are mostly said is that if it was legal to destroy those buildings, there will be more space for building more new buildings than older buildings. The main concern may be the weak maintenance and restore of these buildings. One of the things where objects have caused fatality in life has been in the city of Prizren. But with better management of the cultural heritage, the old buildings would indeed be the main attraction in the case of the city of Prizren. The reason why we should not worry about overcrowding is that old buildings do not need a lot of space, and cities could be developed in other areas as well without destroying the past.

To conclude the essay, I believe that old buildings should not be damaged and replaced with the new ones because they are a part of the country, its history and the identity of its people. They will also always be precious for every country and for every time that will come.