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Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Ripa Pannonica in Hungary (RPH) Nomination statement
The system for implementing this protection is ensured by Law XXVI of 2003 on the National Regional
Development Plan, as well as Law LXXVIII of 1997 on the protection and shaping of the built and
natural environment, and Law LXV of 1990 on local governments.
The system for archaeological protection differs from the protection of historic properties. That is, every
archaeological site is placed under legal protection independent of its notoriety or its state of excavation, while
only those structures that the authorized minister registers as protected receive the status of protected historic
properties. Consequently all Hungarian material remains of the Ripa Pannonica are – ex lege – protected by law.
The law can establish three degrees of archaeological protection: “general archaeological protection”,
“protection as an archaeological site of regional significance” and “protection as an archaeological site of
national significance”. However, general protection is afforded to all known or unexpectedly discovered
archaeological sites, it is important that every proposed site at least receive the status of “protected
archaeological site of regional significance”. Only this can ensure comprehensive protection in the regional
development and regional or town planning, as well as investment processes. The general protection set
down in the law only makes preventive or rescue excavations mandatory, which while they are sufficient for
the preservation of the material finds discovered, only in rare cases do these result in modifications to the
plans whose outcome makes it possible to preserve the remains together with the context of the entire site.
The surviving remains from the Hungarian section of the Ripa Pannonica can be placed in three
fundamental categories for their states of conservation. There are excavated remains that are conserved
or rehabilitated as historic properties; there are remains that have been excavated and registered with
excavation documentation and records, but have been re-interred or that have been covered over by
construction; and there are those that have been identified, but have not been excavated. All three types
are protected, but the degree of their protection can differ. We further point out that in relation to both
the nominated property and the buffer zones, the given level of protection can either relates to the entire
site or only a portion of it.
In Hungary the maintenance and proper upkeep of heritage sites is in general the duty of the owner.
Besides insignificant exceptions, the excavated remains of the Ripa Pannonica are in the ownership of
the state, local governments or sometimes the Church. The sphere of private ownership for the most part
extends to the sites that are unexcavated and are under agricultural cultivation or built-in areas. If the
obligation for maintenance is neglected, the law provides for official measures to enforce compliance.
The precise, ortophoto maps, descriptions and the photographs all made for the nomination statement are
suitable for the monitoring of the state of conservation for the individual sites included in the Ripa Pannonica.
4.b Factors Affecting the Property
(i) Development Pressures, Encroachment, Agriculture, Mining
The development pressures and encroachment are under official state supervision in Hungary:
A separate law regulates the rights and obligations related to historic and archaeological sites. Of the
normal official local governmental affairs, the jurisdiction over building regulations related to historic
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