The Charter of Venice (also called International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites) is a document signed in the city of Venice, Italy, in 1964 on the occasion of the II International Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historical Monuments, held in May of that year, where important specialists in the restoration of monuments gathered in order to establish the common principles that should govern conservation and restoration; considering that monumental works are loaded with a spiritual message from the past that continue to be in the present life, the living testimony of their traditions.

This set of guidelines was developed by a group of conservation professionals with the intention of establishing a code of professional standards that would constitute an international reference framework to regulate the methods of conservation and restoration of monuments and architectural works, as well as historical and archaeological sites.

Among the principles established, the definitions of "historical monument", "conservation" and "restoration" are proposed, whose objectives are mainly to safeguard both the work of art (formal aspect) and the historical testimony (meaning and valuation).

The Venice Charter has a universalist vision regarding cultural heritage,[1]​ and states:

However, the document is now considered by some to be obsolete, as it represents modernist views opposed to Reconstruction. Currently, UNESCO cautiously accepts reconstruction in exceptional circumstances if it is intended to reflect a pattern of use or a cultural practice that maintains cultural value, and is based on complete documentation without resorting to conjecture. The change in attitude can be seen in the 2015 reconstruction of the Sufi mausoleums at the Timbuktu World Heritage site in Mali, following their destruction in 2012.[3]​.