The current legislation regarding historical monuments in Spain dates from 1985. However, ''Monumentos nacionales'' (to use the original term) were first designated in the nineteenth century. It was a fairly broad category for national heritage sites protecting, for example, the Alhambra. The overarching category for Spanish heritage sites is now ''

Bien de Interés Cultural A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" (" goods" in the economic sense) and incl ...

'' ("good of cultural interest").Definición de bienes culturales protegidos

Ministry of Culture (Spain) The Ministry of Culture and Sport (MCD) is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for the promotion, protection and dissemination of the Spanish historical heritage, national museums, art, books, reading and literary creation, ...

. Now there are some 13,000 monuments registered by the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

within the wider category of ''Bien de Interés Cultural''. As well as monuments, the category of ''Bien de Interés Cultural'' includes the following sub-categories of non-movable heritage: * ''

Conjunto histórico In Spain, the legal designation ''Conjunto histórico'' (formerly ''Conjunto Histórico-Artístico'' or "Historic-Artistic Grouping") is part of the national system of heritage listing. It is applied to buildings in a given locality. It is typicall ...

'', a type of conservation area (which may include one or more monuments). * '' Jardín histórico'', historic garden (for example the gardens of

Aranjuez Aranjuez () is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the Community of Madrid. Located in the southern end of the region, the main urban nucleus lies on the left bank of Tagus, a bit upstream the discharge of the Jarama. , the municipality h ...

) * ''Sitio histórico'', which includes cultural landscapes (for example the

Bulls of Guisando The Bulls of Guisando ( es, Toros de Guisando) are a set of ancient sculptures located on the hill of Guisando in the municipality of El Tiemblo, Ávila, Spain. The four sculptures, made of granite, represent quadrupeds identified as bulls or pig ...

) * ''Zona arqueológica'', archaeological zone (for example the Archaeological Site of Atapuerca) Some Spanish sites are protected under more than one sub-category. For example, the Alhambra and

Generalife The Generalife (; ar, جَنَّة الْعَرِيف, translit=Jannat al-‘Arīf) was a summer palace and country estate of the Nasrid rulers of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus. It is located directly east of and uphill from the Alham ...

receive protection as monument, garden and ''conjunto histórico''.

Examples

A few of numerous articles at Wikipedia covering Spanish monuments are: *

Numantia Numantia ( es, Numancia) is an ancient Celtiberian settlement, whose remains are located on a hill known as Cerro de la Muela in the current municipality of Garray ( Soria), Spain. Numantia is famous for its role in the Celtiberian Wars. In ...

(designated 1882, and protection enhanced by a ''Zona Arqueológica'' in 1999) *

Castle of La Mota The Castle of La Mota or Castillo de La Mota is a medieval fortress, located in the town of Medina del Campo, province of Valladolid, Spain. It is so named because of its location on an elevated hill, a ''mota'' (in Spanish), from where it domin ...

(1904) * Church of Nuestra Señora de la Mayor (1929) *

Cuéllar Castle Cuéllar Castle or The Castle of the Dukes of Alburquerque is the most emblematic monument in the town of Cuéllar, located in the province of Segovia, autonomous community of Castile and León, in Spain. It was declared ''Bien de Interés Cultura ...

(1931) *

San Sebastian Church, Madrid The Saint Sebastian Church or Iglesia de San Sebastián is a 16th-century church in central Madrid, Spain. It is located on Atocha street, #39. The name arises from a devotional chapel (ermita) which was found along the route to the Basilica ...

(1969) *

San Cayetano Church, Madrid The Church of Saint Cajetan, known as the church of San Millán y San Cayetano is a Baroque church in Madrid, Spain. History The present church was built adjacent to the now absent Convent of ''Nuestra Señora del Favor'' (Our Lady of the Grac ...

(1980)

References

Heritage registers in Spain Architecture in Spain {{Spain-stub

Examples

See also

References