ICOMOS stands for the International Council on Monuments and Sites, and we are a worldwide non-governmental organisation (NGO). ICOMOS was created in 1965, the fruit of the numerous conversations between architects, historians and international experts that had been ongoing since the beginning of the century. These discussions led to the adoption of the Venice Charter in 1964, which set international guidelines for the conservation and restoration of historic buildings; founding ICOMOS was the logical next step.