(IN)TANGIBLE HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

A heritage city is an archive of both tangible and intangible heritage(s). Cities that are fully functional are meant to be in transformation towards a heterogeneous narrative in contrary to the homogeneous past posing heritage(s) under a risk of “lost in translation”. But the narrative of heritage can live despite of the odds and challenges! This paper gives an effort to gain insight of the case of Évora, a UNESCO world heritage site and a fully functional European city. It is the center of historic settlement which dates back to the Roman period and beyond. It has large educational facilities. Industrial investment is increasing by time and the industrial zone, situated outside the historic center, is always referenced to the center for cultural identity. Despite the restriction on alteration and new construction, the city performs attracting tourists continuously, hosting the life and business of regular residents and acting as a regional capital. An understanding on how the city is functioning (connectivity, legibility, services and amenities, educational, health) can be an important cultural knowledge to follow in other cases. Mapping on different tangible (places, buildings, gardens etc.) and intangible (urban connections, accessibility, cultural identity etc.) indicators denote the identity of this settlement. The aim of this paper is to find out how the world heritage site is retaining a cultural identity and performing functionally sound in all aspects. The methods followed include “mapping interviews” of the residents of different age, gender and profession as well as those who work inside but reside outside. The data is further analyzed and synthesized by Interpretative Mapping to gain the insight on how the heritage city and heritage urbanism relates to object and experience; how the present society fits in the heritage infrastructure of “centro historico de Évora”.