Geomonumental Routes: a useful tool for popularising the built heritage

Abstract

The Geomonumental Routes entail a new proposal for the popularization of architectural heritage based on the geological materials that have shaped it, their behaviour and decay and how to preserve them. These routes take into account both social and scientific perspectives, being a novel method for the knowledge, transfer and preservation of architectural legacy. The prefix «Geo» highlights the link between geology and monuments, as any human urban settlement is conditioned by the geology for its placement; also the main resources for building are extracted from the Earth. The role of the stone within the built heritage confers a major value to it, and by itself. A heller knowledge of stone as a building material accounts for a different way of preserving and valuing built heritage. Geomonumental Routes lake visitors on a journey from the surrounding area lo the inside of the monument. These Routes focus on aspects such as the building history of monuments, the construction materials and their sources, the location of the historical quarries, the conservation/deterioration condition in which the monuments are, and any past restoration work pe1formed in them. To date, the Institute of Economic Geology has developed six Geomonumental Routes in the Region of Madrid. These Routes are also very useful for bringing a great stimulus lo the architectural heritage which is less known and therefore less valued, such as traditional architecture which is usually excluded from tourist itineraries. Valuing heritage and recognising the need of preserving it, will contribute to awake more consciences towards the fact that sensitivity to inherited culture is a question of time.