In our study we analyse the way in which such exceptional cases of built inheritance as a baroque castle are perceived by their social environment, i.e. a village community. We analysed this relationship by identifying the topoi (topics) of positive and negative discourses related to the castle, then we tried to identify the local social groups behind the different discourses. We have come to the conclusion that the castle does not only represent a building for the local community, but a combination of the building itself, of its owners and the related social and economic transactions. Due to these aspects of built heritage, their perception are determined by different motivations: besides recognising the architectural value of this building, emotional attitudes toward its owners, as well as interest/opposing interests in the (real or suspected) status endeavours of its owners within the community and in economic activities related to the building. We used qualitative methods for data collection.
Keywords: built heritage, castle, social environment
