INTRODUCTION. HISTORIC CITIES & CULTURAL-RELIGIOUS HERITAGE: PRESERVATION & REGENERATION

It is already established by anthropologists that culture played a considerable role in making, maintaining, and memorising cities in the long-run perspectives of human history. Cities remain the symbols and career of civilization wherever they appear; in fact, the story of civilization may be narrated through the stories of historic cities. The concluding and challenging remarks that “The city may be regarded, but only very incompletely, as a centre from which spreads outward the idea of progress. It is true that progress, like the ideologies of nationalism, socialism, communalism, capitalism, and democracy, tends to form in cities and it is in cities the prophets and leaders of these doctrines are formed” by Redfield and Singer (1954: 72), is still valid in different contexts and at varying degrees. The modern vision of heritage “allows us to better integrate culture in the social and human development policy frameworks. This role of culture, cultural and natural heritage, cultural institutions, cultural products, and cultural industries has indeed long been promoted in the sustainable development process” (Bandarin, 2019: 13). Moreover, “the long and complex process that has led to the approval of Agenda 2030 has brought together all the forces in support of the idea that culture is a fundamental pillar of sustainable development processes (at some point it was even proposed to have culture as a “fourth pillar” next to the social, economic and environmental ones)”