Winners of the European Heritage Awards 2022 announced

Winners of the European Heritage Awards 2022 announced

The European Commission and Europa Nostra have announced the 2022 winners of the European Heritage Awards, funded by the EU Creative Europe programme. This year marks the 20th anniversary of this prestigious award for sites, research, campaigns and initiatives that stress the value of heritage for society. The award has recognised 30 outstanding heritage achievements from 18 European countries.

The EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, stated: “Many of the awarded initiatives demonstrate the enormous interest and engagement of young people for our heritage, our history, and our cultural identity, which is particularly relevant in this European Year of Youth. A special thought goes to the two Ukrainian laureates. Creative Europe, which is co-funding the Awards, stands for promoting culture and creativity in building inclusive and cohesive societies founded on our core European values.”

The European Heritage Awards Ceremony will be held in Prague on 26 September at the recently restored State Opera. The ceremony will be co-hosted by the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, and Europa Nostra’s Executive President, Prof. Dr. Hermann Parzinger.

See the full list of winners here.

Religious Heritage among the winners

As the voice of religious heritage in Europe, we are delighted to see many buildings of worship among the 30 awarded winners.

 

St Andrew’s Church, Kyiv | Conservation and adaptive reuse

St. Andrew’s Church is one of the most famous monuments in Kiev. It was built in the 18th century as a the church of the Romanovs’ summer palace in Kyiv. It now functions as a museum and venue for scientific, educational and cultural events. It also hosts church services. Its restoration was undertaken by the National Conservation Area, depending from the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, who fully financed the works.

Read more here.

Monument of Episkopi | Conservation and adaptive reuse

The mausoleum of Episkopi has been an important landmark for the island of Sikinos since ancient times. The monument was in a severely deteriorated condition in the 20th century. The Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades led the restoration of this 4th century temple in 2006. Now the community is looking forward to reinstalling the annual celebration of the Dormition of Virgin Mary. The community of Sikinos was strongly committed to the restoration of the monument of Episkopi and provided housing, transportation and even equipment.

Read more here.

Convent of the Capuchos | Conservation and adaptive reuse

For almost three centuries the Convent of the Capuchos was home to the Portuguese Franciscan friars, who lived there until 1834. In the following years the convent started to suffer a continuous decay due to lack of maintenance. In 2000 the public organisation Parques de Sintra – Monte da Lua, acquired the building. Since then, this convent, perfectly blended into the natural environment of the Sintra forest, has undergone multiple renovations to restore its decorative features and turn it into an attractive place for a new model of tourism, more sustainable, slower and more cultural. The site was listed as UNESCO World Heritage in 1995.

Read more here.

House of Religious Freedom | Conservation and adaptive reuse

The House of Religious Freedom is the oldest example of a townhouse in Cluj-Napoca. The building had structural problems and was at risk of collapsing. The restoration of the building lasted 10 years and resulted in the discovery of a collection of paintings and ecclesiastical art, which is now on display to the public for the first time in centuries.

Read more here.

 

La Paranza Cooperative | Heritage Champions

The project was led by La Paranza, an organisation dedicated to creating employment opportunities for youth through the revitalization of cultural heritage. This social cooperative has also restored and repurposed other historic sites in Naples such as the church of San Vincenzo which was converted into the Nuovo Teatro Sanità.

Read more here.

Share this post: