ABSTRACT
Imagine the outcry in England if, it was decided to rebuild Stonehenge, not as a replica somewhere else, but to put upright the stones where they have fallen, and substitute others for the missing ones. Moreover, in Europe and the rest of the world reproductions are made if buildings or objects have been destroyed or lost through war or decay with decisions taken on a case-by-case basis. Thus their attitudes to authenticity and its role in heritage are conflicted and contradictory. The authenticity of the object may derive from the way in which owners or guardians have stayed true to the purpose, appearance and materials of the original. Moreover these values, this sense of the authentic, change over time. Authenticity derives its authority from popular perception and also from professional accreditation, whether this is a formal procedure such as a listing of a historic building in the UK. Tourism that seeks the authentic often destroys the very thing it seeks.
