Historic site

A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been recognized with the official national historic site status. A historic site may be any building, landscape, site or structure that is of local, regional, or national significance.

Historic sites may be thought of in three broad categories:

• documentary sites: primary objective is to document a specific historic event or a specific person or group.
• representative sites: primarily focused on representing a historical period or way of life
• aesthetic sites: focused on history of art or conceptions of beauty