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Fernández, Rubio, Alonso 
This focus on awareness and widespread appreciation of our cultural assets requires not so much a financial effort but mainly one of 
participation and determination. It also requires an understanding that preserving our cultural assets is a common task, not a quest for 
fame, and one that must not only seek to guarantee the survival of heritage from the past handed down to us for our enjoyment but 
also seek to ensure its future survival. 
All of this is happening at a time when architectural heritage, and above 
all that which is to be found in smaller areas (regions, districts, etc), 
acquires greater relevance: 
As a sign of the identity of different cultures and places 
As the recognition of individual and private cultural wealth 
As a testimony that gives us an insight into our recent past. 
These are values that it is essential for us to know if we wish to establish 
a common sense of identity and “contribute to the affirmation of 
European citizenship through a greater understanding of our own culture 
and that of the other EU countries”, as was pointed out by Carlo Avetta, 
member of the Directorate General X of the European Commission, at 
the international symposium Conservation as a factor of development in 
the XXI century, organised in 1997 by the Castile and León Historical 
Heritage Foundation. 
With this idea in mind, one of the aims of the Architectural 
Photogrammetry Laboratory at The University of Valladolid is to 
document heritage within the community of Castile and León, and above 
all the architectural heritage as we feel that it is essential that in order to 
value and conserve heritage, the first step is to understand it and 
therefore to study and document it. 
This is even more the case if, as happens on many occasions, any 
reliable documentation available relating to important buildings is scarce 
and smaller buildings, the mention of which is limited to catalogues of 
monuments (and at times not even that), may disappear without our even 
being aware of them. 
Another point is that any information on a building should be easy to access and consult. This need has led to the creation of systems 
that, thanks to computer technology, provide rational databases, which record different aspects of the assets that make up our 
heritage so that they meet the requirements of different users consulting for different reasons. 
2. URGENT DOCUMENTATION 
Unfortunately there are many buildings (generally in rural areas), that are neglected and do not arouse the interest of individuals or 
local and regional administration until architectural work is required for their study. 
Amongst these buildings is a large part of our heritage in rural areas, buildings that have been neglected or forgotten over the years, 
mainly through lack of use. This leads to gradual decay through ransacking and lack of maintenance.