/ world today news/ The Hague / Luxembourg, March 15, 2018 – Europa Nostra, the leading organization for the protection of cultural heritage in Europe, and the Institute of the European Investment Bank announced the most endangered sites in Europe for 2018: the post-Byzantine churches in Moskopole and Vitkuk in Albania, the historic center of Vienna in Austria, the Buzludzha monument in Bulgaria, the David-Garezha monastery complex in Georgia, the Constanta casino in Romania, the Greek orphanage Prinkipo on the Princes’ Islands in Turkey and the Grimsby ice factory in Great Britain.
These pearls of European cultural heritage are in great danger, some due to abandonment or inadequate development, others due to lack of expertise or resources. In the coming months, experts from Europa Nostra and the Institute of the European Investment Bank, together with other partners and the nominators, will visit the 7 selected sites and meet the main stakeholders. Multidisciplinary teams will provide technical advice, identify possible sources of funding and mobilize broad support for the preservation of these landmarks. By the end of the year, specialists will formulate feasible action plans for the selected sites.
This new list of the “7 most endangered” is announced during the European Year of Cultural Heritage, which celebrates the common cultural heritage – at European, national, regional and local level – and aims to encourage the citizens of Europe to discover and engage with it. Previous lists were published in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
Maestro Plácido Domingo, President of Europa Nostra, said: “The latest list of the ‘7 most endangered’ consists of extraordinary treasures of European cultural heritage that are in danger of being lost. The people in the respective regions have a strong interest in preserving these important examples of our common heritage, but they need wider European support. I therefore call on local, regional, national and European stakeholders, both public and private, to join forces to ensure a real future for the sites.
Francisco de Paula Coelho, Dean of the European Investment Bank Institute, said: “This European Year of Cultural Heritage provides an ideal framework for the launch of the fourth list of the ‘7 Most Endangered’ sites. The current evaluation showed impressive progress with a number of the sites selected so far and demonstrated the capacity of investment in cultural heritage to generate multiple benefits, especially at the socio-economic level. Therefore, we hope that thanks to a combination of public and private support, the sites included in the new list will be saved for future generations.”
The “7 Most Endangered” for 2018 were selected by the Governing Council of Europa Nostra from among 12 sites determined by a team of specialists in history, archaeology, architecture, restoration, project analysis and finance. Nominations were made by non-governmental organizations or by government institutions forming part of the European network of members and associated organizations of Europa Nostra.
The “7 Most Threatened” program was founded in January 2013 by Europa Nostra with the main partner the Institute of the European Investment Bank. It was inspired by a similar successful project of the American organization “National Association for Historic Preservation”. The 7 Most Endangered is not a funding program. Its purpose is to be a catalyst for action and to promote “the power of good example”. It has the support of the EU Creative Europe program as part of the Europa nostra project “Shared Heritage – Shared Values”.
Buzludzha monument, Bulgaria
The Buzludzha monument, located in the mountains and in the heart of Bulgaria, is an impressive example of 20th century architecture. It was built in 1981 as a Memorial House of the Bulgarian Communist Party. It lasted only 8 years until the end of the socialist regime in Bulgaria in 1989. Soon after, the building was abandoned and became a victim of theft, vandalism and harsh weather conditions. The windows and roof are badly damaged, exposing the structure to atmospheric changes throughout the year, including the heavy snowfalls typical of the area. The responsible authorities have not taken any measures to protect the building until now.
The mosaics in the monument cover an area of over 1,000 square meters. and present the history of the BKP with artistic techniques in the style of socialist realism. The mosaics of the inner circle are made of enamel, and of the outer one – of natural stones collected from the rivers of Bulgaria.
Today, the imposing appearance of the Brutalist architecture, heavy symbolism and colorful mosaics have been badly damaged, but the monument is attracting increasing interest for its dramatic history, astonishing architecture and vision of plundered pomp.
Its fate is similar to several hundred other monuments built during the socialist regime in Bulgaria and throughout the Eastern Bloc. The most recent legacy of former socialist countries is often traumatic and unknown to the general public. Therefore, the significance of this building at the European level as a “place of memory” (place of memory).
On the one hand, when it comes to conservation, the monument can also be presented as a place of conflict because it affects the environment, drastically altering the mountain context. The strong ideological message conveyed by the very scale of the building, as well as the symbols within it, poses the problem: how it can be preserved in a way that does not glorify or inadvertently affirm a political ideology.
On the other hand, it can be argued that letting the monument gradually crumble would be an underestimation of the human labor involved in its construction, its artistic qualities or its symbolic significance as an artifact of 45 years of socialism in Bulgaria.
Buzludzha Project Foundation, which nominated the monument for the “7 Most Endangered” program 2018, defends the thesis that as one of the masterpieces of its period, the Buzludzha monument could become an example for the preservation and rethinking of similar historical heritage sites in the Central and Eastern Europe. As the most applicable long-term strategy for saving the Buzludzha monument, conservation of the building in order to strengthen and prepare it for sustainable tourism has been proposed.
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