ICOMOS was founded on the 22nd of June 1965 in Warsaw one year after the adoption of the Venice Charter of 1964.
The Venice Charter established international guidelines for conserving and restoring historic buildings. Drawn up by heritage conservation professionals, it is a set of principles providing an international framework for the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage.
The Charter, officially entitled the International Restoration Charter, was adopted as the first resolution of the IInd International Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historic Monuments in Venice, on the 31st of May, 1964. At the same Congress, the second resolution, put forward by UNESCO, called for the creation of an International Council on Monuments and Sites, paving the way for the founding of ICOMOS.
Prior to the Venice Charter, there was no dedicated association or set of internationally agreed guidelines on conservation and restoration of built cultural heritage, apart the conclusions of the conference organised in Athens in 1931 by the International Museums Office.
After the devastation of World War II, the importance of preserving and restoring heritage was seen in a more pressing light. As such, UNESCO sponsored the First International Congress of Architects and Technicians on Historical Monuments, held in Paris in May 1957, which recommended that all countries should establish organisations for the protection of historic buildings, if they did not already have one. The Congress ended with the invitation of Guglielmo De Angelis d’Ossat to hold the second congress in Venice in 1964.
The Warsaw General Assembly, held on the 22nd of June 1965, is known as a Constitutive Assembly as its purpose was the constitution of the association of specialists that the second resolution of the 1964 Venice Congress called for. The Constitutive Assembly established ICOMOS’ initial Statutes, including its name, aim and membership, all of which were adopted by vote.
One of ICOMOS’ important roles is its collaboration with UNESCO. ICOMOS helped UNESCO to write the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Adopted in 1972, it names ICOMOS as an Advisory Body. Central to the Convention was the creation of a World Heritage List to recognise heritage of ‘outstanding universal value’. ICOMOS supports the implementation of the Convention’s provision for protection of cultural heritage, including evaluating nominations for World Heritage Status.
Historically speaking, until the late 19th century, questions of architectural heritage had only been considered on a national level.
One consequence of World War I was the emergence of what is now called Cultural Internationalism, notably with the creation of the League of Nations. In the interwar period, a growing worldwide consciousness amongst specialists led to the Athens Conference, whose conclusions were a first attempt to agree on international conservation principles. After the Second World War, the League of Nations was transformed into the United Nations, accompanied by the founding of UNESCO, which would go on to contribute to the establishment of ICOMOS.