European Union Prize for Dragomirna Monastery
The European Commission has awarded Dragomirna Monastery for heritage conservation.
Roxana Vasile, 21.03.2014, 14:31
The monasteries of Humor, Sucevita, Moldovita and Voronet, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, make Romania famous around the world. The north-eastern Romanian region where they are located, Bukovina, is highly popular among Romanian and foreign tourists, attracted by the impressive number of churches in the area, and by the exceptional quality of their frescoes, preserving their Medieval patina. Painted in unique colours, which have come to be associated with their names, such as the Voronet blue or the Humor red, the moasteries in Bukovina are still fascinating, hundreds of years since they were built.
This is the case with Dragomirna as well, a church located 12 km from the city of Suceava. For the quality of its 17th Century murals in the nave and chancel, Dragomira received one of the 2014 EU awards for heritage. The prizes were announced on Thursday by the European Commission and Europa Nostra, a European cultural and natural heritage association chaired by the famed tenor Placido Domingo.
Because the quality and visibility of the frescoes had become very seriously compromised over the 400 years of their existence, a restoration team of 50 professionals and students from various countries had a difficult task. The jury was impressed with the high level of professionalism as well as with the remarkably short period of time of the restoration works. Here is the head of the Suceava County Culture Directorate, Aurel Buzincu:
Aurel Buzincu: “Dragomirna monastery benefited from a funding project, jointly with Sucevita and Moldovita monasteries. It was an EU-funded project, which covered the costs of several types of works, including upgrades. We have also restored the painting in the nave, a very interesting mural which looks quite good now, after the works were completed.”
Out of 160 nominated projects, 27 have been awarded. Up to six entries will be awarded a Grand Prix, and receive 10,000 euros each, and one of them will get the Public Choice award, following an online vote. The award ceremony is to take place on May 5th, in Burgtheater in Vienna, under the patronage of the President of Austria, Heinz Fischer. Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, and tenor Placido Domingo, will jointly present the awards.
“Europe’s heritage is one of our most precious assets,” Commissioner Vassiliou said. After the EU invested close to 40 million euros in heritage projects under the “Culture” programme in 2007-2013, a new programme, called “Creative Europe,” with a budget of 1.5 billion euros for the next seven years, will continue to support transnational heritage initiatives.
