Front cover: A 19th-century photograph of St. Mark's Square in Venice, taken decades before the development of major international heritage charters. In 1964, Venice was the site of the Second International Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historic Buildings, which produced the Venice Charter. The charter—one of the most influential heritage documents of the 20th century—codified internationally accepted standards of conservation practice relating to architecture and sites. Photo: © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis.