# Federal Inventory of Swiss heritage sites of national importance ISOS

A map of a former edition of the Atlas of Switzerland, the national atlas published by ETH Zurich. It opens only in the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS, not in the web atlas; see the links below.

- Map: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/federal-inventory-of-swiss-heritage-sites-of-national-importance-isos/
- Short title: Heritage sites ISOS
- Map id: 581
- Categories: Society and Culture › Architecture and Buildings
- Published: 2019-03-13
- Last revised: 2020-11-02
- Content language: English
- Other languages: [Deutsch](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/de/thema/bundesinventar-der-schuetzenswerten-ortsbilder-der-schweiz-von-nationaler-bedeutung-isos.md), [Français](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/fr/theme/inventaire-federal-des-sites-construits-dimportance-nationale-a-proteger-en-suisse-isos.md), [Italiano](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/it/tema/inventario-federale-degli-insediamenti-svizzeri-da-proteggere-dimportanza-nazionale-isos.md)

## Description

The Federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites of national importance ISOS currently lists 1274 sites; in most cases permanent settlements of at least ten main buildings which are marked on the Siegfried map (topographical map of Switzerland) and appear with a place name on the map of Switzerland. The aim of the ISOS is to preserve the qualities which make the sites listed worthy of national importance and to avoid irreparable damage being done to them. The ISOS should therefore systematically be taken as a basis when decisions are made regarding the preservation of monuments and sites of national importance and in spatial planning decisions which may affect the latter.
All the sites in the ISOS have been examined in a cantonal and regional comparison and assessed according to the type of settlement (city, small town/town, urbanised village, village, hamlet, special case) by representatives of the federal government, cantons and members of the expert ISOS Assessment Committee. Topographical, spatial and architectural-historical features determine the national importance of the site: The ISOS assesses the sites in their entirety by considering the relationship of the buildings to each other as well as the quality of the open spaces between them and the relationship of the site to the immediate and more distant surrounding areas. The inclusion of a site in the ISOS means that it warrants unrestricted conservation.

## Sources

- FOC (2018): [ISOS - Bundesinventar der schützenswerten Ortsbilder der Schweiz von nationaler Bedeutung](https://www.bak.admin.ch/bak/de/home/kulturerbe/heimatschutz-und-denkmalpflege/isos.html)

## Data sources

- FOC (2018): [ISOS - Bundesinventar der schützenswerten Ortsbilder der Schweiz von nationaler Bedeutung](https://www.bak.admin.ch/bak/de/home/kulturerbe/heimatschutz-und-denkmalpflege/isos.html)

## Data owners

- [Swiss Federal Office of Culture (FOC)](https://www.bak.admin.ch)

## Citation

The terms of use ask to name the Atlas of Switzerland and the data owners, and to keep the source references in exports, screenshots and embeds. Cite the map as:

> Atlas of Switzerland (2020): Federal Inventory of Swiss heritage sites of national importance ISOS. ETH Zürich. Map data © FOC. https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/federal-inventory-of-swiss-heritage-sites-of-national-importance-isos/

## Links

- Map page, with the description and sources and a button that opens the map in the desktop atlas: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/federal-inventory-of-swiss-heritage-sites-of-national-importance-isos/
- Open the map in the desktop atlas (version 4), where it is installed: adsglobe://map/581
- Download of the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/ads4-download/

For the use and citation of maps and data, see the [terms of use](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/terms-of-use/).