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Relevance of the research: The area in the vicinity of Vilnius city (20-30 km around it) is under strong pressure of intensive building activity. The sites of cultural heritage concentration, mostly located in picturesque natural environment, are loosing their traditional settings and functions. Intensive physical development and social processes of this area are in need of harmonization.
Research target: assessment of cultural value of historic settlements in the vicinity of Vilnius city and proposing the approaches for its preservation.
Methods: architectural aesthetic assessment, structural analysis of landscape and settlements pattern, and comparative analysis of cultural value manifestations.
Contents of the research: listing and mapping of the historic, archaeological, architectural and urban planning heritage structures and sites, interviewing of the local inhabitants, competitive assessment of the values in the context of Vilnius district municipality (full-scale) and South –East Lithuania (basic, in accordance with Comprehensive Plan of the Territory of Lithuania), and general description of the SWOTH (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).
Relation with territorial planning: completed research is based upon the data of Immovable Cultural Heritage Plan, which is a part of Comprehensive Plan of Vilnius district municipality (launched in 2003, under completion). Interviewing of the inhabitants was executed as a part of Vilnius City Master Plan, the projects for the Forty Tartars village and Vilnius Verbos area under ethno cultural protection (completed in 1992 – 95).
Achieved results:
1. Registration and preliminary inventory of built (mostly wooden) and spatial planning heritage.
2. Assessment of architectural value of traditional buildings and general evaluation of their importance to traditional local communities. The assessment revealed, that built and spatial planning heritage in Vilnius region is still characterised by high cultural value and social importance for local inhabitants. This heritage presents confessional variety and common building tradition. They are particularly reflected in wooden architecture of the sacral buildings and in vernacular dwelling houses of linear pattern villages.
3. Evaluation of architectural characteristics of these buildings and sites revealed their spatial integrity, authenticity and dominating role in the landscape and social life of traditional communities in Vilnius region municipality. The most of the historic settlements still possess the basic features of authenticity, spatial variety and integrity with natural landscape. Growing building activity determined by development of Vilnius city endanger these values. The instruments of sustainable development of these historic settlements still should be generated.
Conclusions and recommendations:
1. Historic settlements in the vicinity of Vilnius city possess unique cultural values and are distinguished by authenticity. Small historic towns, former manor complexes and traditional linear pattern villages present historic landscape of the medieval spatial pattern. The features of cultural identity of the local communities are mostly expressed in architecture of the sacral buildings and dwelling houses.
2. Cultural values of these settlements are still not enough protected by present listing of the immovable properties or other legal instruments of heritage preservation. Vernacular timber architecture is dominating in the historic settlements of Vilnius district, but the most of the structures are in dander of disappearance or rebuilding without respect of cultural value.
3. Use of present instruments of built heritage preservation is in need of more close cohesion with the system of spatial planning and natural environment preservation. At present establishment of protected areas proved itself as the most effective instrument in preservation of small historic settlements in Lithuania.
4. Expert decisions on cultural values are still not coordinated with the evaluation of their living environment by local communities. Local inhabitants still take insignificant part in the processes of built heritage preservation.
5. Present expertises on cultural value of the buildings and sites do not reveal their importance in the context of entire historic cultural region, which is equally covering the areas of neighbouring countries. Comparison of the buildings and sites in the context of Lithuania should be correlated with assessment of their value in context of Baltic Sea region.
