Tangible and intangible heritage as a way of experiencing one's culture and customs is a focal point in order to recognize historical and social circumstances that have created one's cultural identity. For decades, completely unjustly neglected, the traditional construction of dry stone walls, i.e. the entire vernacular architecture, built without the use of binders, is an integral element of every cultivated landscape along the Mediterranean coast.
However, this intangible heritage has long been considered less valuable and therefore has never been accompanied by public and scientific discourse. That is considered to be completely unjust because, in the entire area, regardless of the seas, borders and cultures, diligent hands created beautiful structures stone by stone and thus formed settlements and stone landscapes from which many European cultures emerged.
Therefore, the inclusion of dry stone walls on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage is an exceptional step towards preserving this tradition, because although it is impossible to protect all dry stone walls, stone buildings or vineyards it is imperative to preserve and transfer these creations to future generations. The skill of building dry stone walls, which would have been and could have been used by anyone who cultivated fields, has been passed down for generations but without any record, which proved to be necessary when during the last few decades of the 20th century the continuity has been broken.
In times when every trace in history is recorded in megabytes, it is becoming extremely important that buildings like dry stone walls can be intuitively deciphered and their structure and purpose, which were created as a result of rituals and customs by distant generations, could be revealed.
The simplicity and the complete functionality of traditional architectural heritage, as well as the ecological component, present very important requirements for modern society and its architects. The sustainable use of resources, which was implemented a long time ago, is the only way of survival for present and future generations.