NEWSLETTER NO. 5

LAUNCHING (G)LOCAL LEVEL HERITAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

STRATEGIES AND TOOLS TO UNITE FORCES, SAFEGUARD THE

PLACE, MOBILIZE CULTURAL VALUES, DELIVER THE EXPERIENCE

Bucharest old town

Monastery Snagov

Here is the project Sagittarius newsletter no. 5. The project has turned into the second half. In the first quarter of this year JTS from Budapest approved the extension of the project until the end of May 2014. Work of the project partners is focused on the preparation of projects and sites for the establishment of the roving museum and heritage trail. Through the education in the Golden bow participants gained adequate knowledge of the heritage management. All this knowledge has contributed in the preparation of high-quality and interesting selections of sites of natural and cultural heritage that each project partner wants to present in the project Sagittarius.

1. HERITAGE REGISTER Heritage register is the list of natural and cultural attractions. Each project partner has selected 10 locations and attractions that he would like to present in the context of "Heritage trail" These cultural or natural heritage assets he has to examined, described and pictured together with interested colleagues, satellite partners or managers of the sites. Based on a prepared form, each project partner has to prepare an inventory of heritage. The inventory contains information on the type of heritage (building, complex, archaeological sites, open space, etc.). Register followed the identification and description of the sights. Project partner had to describe the name and type of sights and specify the location, we have also described the access to the sights. Then followed the description of the ownership of the asset, current and past use of asset (mainly buildings and complexes). Every attraction we have put into place and a certain historical period. Cultural and natural heritage, historic buildings, archaeological sites become interesting when they are defined by the people and events that are associated with them. The most difficult part of the description of each site represent search of the historical facts, collecting stories and legends of the people who once lived here and gave the buildings, towns and cities the seal, to which we listen with interest also today. The challenge presents also discoveries of natural beauties and phenomena, phenomena that are rare or unique in some places. A key advantage of heritage is its depth and diversity. This is to be achieved with a collection of heritage sites of all project partners representing 8 countries of South Eastern Europe. With a heritage register we want to create and establish an advanced tool. With this tool we want to give both natural and cultural heritage of the area a generally recognized identity.

2. FORTH TRANSNATIONAL MEETING AND STUDY VISIT IN BUCHAREST

The activities on the project Sagittarius lead to the 4th Transnational Project Partners Meeting, that was hosted by Romanian project partners Institution of National Economy and National Institute for Research&Development in Tourism from Bucharest. The meeting took place from 13th to 16th of May 2013 in hotel Novotel in Bucharest.

2.1 Forth Transnational Project Partners Meeting (Bucharest)

Project partners met in the morning in the hall. The meeting started with a welcome speech by prof. Gheorghe Zaman, director of INE and corresponding member of the Romanian Academy and

Mrs. Iulia Dragulea from the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism of Romania. The salutation was made also by the project manager Dorothea Papathanasiou Zuhrt. The meeting was continued with a review of the activities on the project. This was also the Steering Group Committee Meeting. We reviewed the progress of the activities on the project. Representatives of all project partners briefly reported what was done on the project from the last meeting in Freiburg. We discussed some delays in the implementation of activities and plans for the next reporting period. We also pointed out that sometimes appear the communication problems between the Lead Partner and the project partners.

Project partners meeting

Project partners meeting

The meeting continued with a review of spending the project budget. Stella Arapoglou has prepared an overview of budget disbursement for each project partner under interim reports. We found that the disbursement should be accelerated, since it is quite behind the implemented activities. Each project partner has to forecast the amount of funds to be spent within 5th interim report. After that we have the quality Control Committee Meeting. At this meeting it was pointed out the need to update the project website and add some content. At the same time we all should increase the number of visits to the website. External contractors of Romanian partners INE have prepared web application of Heritage register. They made the presentation about the application and show us the entry of data into the application. Data that each project partner prepared in a form of heritage registry for 10 selected locations will be loaded in application. Then they showed us how the data and pictures will be visible on the website. In the end they show the link of all locations on display. The locations from 8 countries will be presented on the inlet side and users can select various reviews. This presentation was also the introduction to the Technical Committee meeting. After the presentation project partners had debate about the inclusion of individual pilot projects in the application. We saw how the application of heritage register will work in practice. Each project partner has to clear out whether the description of chosen locations is appropriate for application or needs some improvements.

2.2 Forth Transnational Study Visit (Bucharest) The purpose of the two-day study visit was to see the different locations in Bucharest and its surroundings. These locations are part of the heritage trail, which is being prepared by the Romanian project partners. Through viewing the locations we comment their historical

significance, their attractiveness, uniqueness, interesting stories and events - aspects how to attract visitors to choose to see the very same cultural or natural heritage.

4rd Transnational Study Visit - Day 1 First day of study visit we drive to four historical locations near Bucharest with bus. First we visited the Ştirbey Palace. Palace is part of a wider domain which also comprises a

church, a chapel, a summer pavilion, a park, a water tower and a lake. The construction works at the palace started in 1850 by order of Barbu Dimitrie Ştirbei, back then prince of Wallachia, but the structure was completed no sooner than 1863, under Alexandru Barbu Ştirbei. The Gothic elements are more or less visible, both inside and outside the building. The prestige of the palace was repeatedly acknowledged by the fact the building was often used for receiving the noble guests of Alexandru Ştirbei (public figures, cultural and political personalities, scientists, businesspeople and so on). The palace was restored and converted into a restaurant.

Stirbey Palace The way then led us to the Mogoșoaia Palace which is situated about 10 kilometers from Bucharest. It was built among 1698-1702 by Constantin Brâncoveanu. It combines Venetian and ottoman elements. The palace bears the name of the widow of the Romanian boyar Mogoș, who owned the land it was built on. The Palace was to a large extent rebuilt in the 1920s by Martha Bibesco. The Palace had been given to Princess Marthe Bibesco by her husband, Prince George Bibesco who later also deeded the land to her. She spent all her wealth from the many books she wrote in its reconstruction and it became the meeting place for politicians and international high society, a quiet retreat during the growing turmoil of the 1930s. Prince George died in 1941 and was buried in the small, white 1688 church on the grounds of the Palace. The Palace is now a popular tourist destination, but although the grounds and gardens are beautiful, the interior of the palace itself is under reconstruction and presently houses a museum and art gallery. Entrance to the Mogosoaia Palace Next location was Snagov Monastery that stands on a remote island in the middle of Snagov Lake. The first records of there being a monastery on Snagov Lake date back to 1408 (although some sources date it to 1364), at which time it had been newly built by Mircea the Elder. Vlad Tepes' associations with Snagov stem from when he had the monastery rebuilt during the 15 th century in honor of Mircea who was his grandfather. During this time it would have been one of the wealthiest and most prominent churches of the Wallachia Empire, most likely due to its patronage by Tepes and the easily-defensible island setting. Rumors abound of the ruler constructing torture

chambers within the monastery, although this, along with the great enigma of Vlad Tepes' death, remains unproven. After his death during battle with the Ottomans in 1476, Tepes' body was, according to legend, buried at Snagov, minus his head which was sent to Istanbul preserved in honey, so that the Sultan could prove to doubters the formidable prince was finally dead (war between Wallachia and the Ottoman Empire had lasted some years). Excavations of the grave under the monastery altar in 1931, however, revealed an empty grave which, simultaneously, fuelled claims of the Dracula connections with Snagov being a sham and, to some Dracula devotees, provided proof that he was still roaming the earth. Snagov Monastery The first day of the study visit we completed in Caldarusani Monastery. This monastic establishment was founded by Matei Basarab Voivode. The monastery was built on the location on which, in 1638, there had existed a wooden skeet. Initially, there were constructed three sides of the monastic cells and the eastern defense wall of the holy establishment. The fortress was provided with a watch-tower, which now has become the belfry of the monastery.

The building was finished on 26th October, 1638. The beautiful church, which was constructed of bricks and of river stones, attracts the attention of the visitors by its uniqueness. From the point of view of its architecture, it is three-cusped, being in fact a combination of the architectural styles that are characteristic of the architectural pattern of the princely church of the Curtea de Arges Monastery, as well as of the church of the Dealu Monastery (which is located in the town of Targoviste). The paintings inside the church were reconditioned over the succeeding centuries, in

1778, 1817 and 1911. Master Belizarie repainted the church in the third decade of the 20th century. A school for church painters was founded here in 1778. The renowned Romanian painter Nicolae Grigorescu attended this school within the period 1854-1856. Moreover, in 1825, a painting house was also accommodated within the monastery grounds. Between 1950 and 1958, major extensive repairs and restoration works were initiated by His Beatitude, the Patriarch Justinian and by Father Gherasim Cristea (the abbot of the establishment at the time). Subsequent to the disastrous earthquake that struck Romania on 4th March, 1977, the church was restored and thoroughly consolidated. The monastery shelters one of the most valuable museum collections of the Patriachy, comprising liturgical objects, sacerdotal attire, icons, old printed books, as well as six icons that were executed by the renowned painter Nicolae Grigorescu.

Caldarusani Monastery 4rd Transnational Study Visit - Day 2 On the second day of the study visit we visited four historic sites, which were located in Bucharest and the immediate surroundings.

First we walk through the old town of Bucharest. Bucharest was once known as the Citadel Dambovita. According to European standards, Bucharest is not an old city historians believe that it was only created in the 1459th. Since then the city has changed, in 1862 it became the capital city of Romania, and gradually established itself as a cultural center. Eclectic urban architecture

buildings representing diverse styles of different historical periods, they are mixed with one another building from the communist era, modern, baroque, etc. In the period between the two World Wars was elegant architecture of the most elite neighborhoods Bucharest, earned the title of "Little Paris", i.e. "Eastern Paris "(Paris Micul). Although there were many buildings and areas of historic city destroyed during the 2nd World War II, earthquakes, and then by Ceausescu's systematization plan the country there are many well-preserved. In recent years, the city experienced an economic and cultural boom.

Vlad Tepes Memorial Our next stop was the National Museum of Romanian History, where we visited the National Treasury. National Museum of Romanian History includes historical exhibits from prehistoric times

to the modern era. Permanent exhibitions include plaster casts of Trajan column, the Romanian Crown Jewels and Pietroasel treasure. The museum is placed in the former building of mail, including philatelic museum. Since 2012, the museum is restored. Under construction there were discovered late medieval archaeological sites.

We viewed the exhibition "National Treasure". These are various treasures of gold, silver and precious stones. They are owned by a variety of key historical figures and Romanian families. Now constitute state wealth. Some of them were also purchase from various sources by the state over the years.

National History Museum in Bucharest We took bus to Cotroceni Palace, which was constructed from 1888-93 at the behest of Romania's first king, Carol I, Cotroceni. Palace has since 1991 been the official residence of the Romanian President. Built on the site of a former monastery (the foundations and cellars of which remain, and form part of the tour of the palace), the palace was designed by a French team of architects, led by Paul Gottereau. The design would form something of a blueprint for Romanian domestic architecture for years to come. It served as the Bucharest residence of the Romanian royal family until 1939.

During the communist period it was used as a guest house for visiting heads of state. The part that serves today as the president's office, and official home, however, was added after the great Bucharest earthquake of 1977, and bears the stamp of local architect Nicolae Vladescu. Part of the palace is open to the public, and can be visited on a tour. Visitors can see a number of function rooms, many of which were decorated to the whims of Marie, the English wife of Carol's heir, his nephew Crown Prince Ferdinand.

Cotroceni Palace You will also be able to view her astonishing art collection. During the construction of the new wing in the 1980s, ruins of the original monastery church were discovered, including part of the original interior frescoes. We paid the penultimate visit to Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest. This is a multi-purpose building containing both chambers of the Romanian Parliament. According to the World Records Academy, the Palace is the world's largest civilian building with an administrative function, most expensive administrative building, and heaviest building. The Palace was designed and nearly completed by the Ceaușescu regime as the seat of political and administrative power. Nicolae Ceaușescu named it the People's House also known in English as the Palace of the People.

The Palace measures 270 m by 240 m, 86 m high, and 92 m underground. It has 1,100 rooms, 2 underground parking garages and is 12 stories tall, with four underground levels currently available for the general public and in use, and another four in different stages of completion. The floor space is 340,000 m2. The structure combines elements and motifs from multiple sources, in an eclectic neoclassical architectural style. The building is constructed almost entirely of materials of Romanian origin. Palace of the Parliament Study visit was completed with a tour in Village Museum »Dimitrie Gusti« in Bucharest. The National Village Museum is one of the best and most complete museums in the country. Enjoying a virtually central location in Bucharest, the museum stands out in sharp relief as an oasis of tranquility, a dreamlike set seemingly clipped from a time immemorial rural legend. This outdoor museum fills a surface of some 10 hectares, a park populated with examples of Romanian rural architecture. The park aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the architectural styles used in building the traditional rural homes throughout Romania, in sundry regions of the country (Moldavia, Oltenia, Transylvania, Banat, and Dobrogea, for instance). The houses aside, the patrimony of the museum is complemented by churches, outhouses and mills, such as to offer visitors a thorough picture of the Romanian traditional village life. The structures (depending on their type) are furnished with authentic items (old furniture, tapestries, tools and the like), such as to render as closely as possible the atmosphere of the rural life.

In order to keep true to this purpose, the structures were made of materials ascertained as traditional materials used in erecting the buildings by the peasants themselves in the course of history (clay, wood, thatch, and, less frequently, stone). The perishable nature of these materials is an inexhaustible source of challenge for the museum, which is faced with the situation of preserving the structures as such, without tampering with the genuineness of the peasant set by altering the raw material of which the exhibits were made.

Village Museum »Dimitrie Gusti«

2.3 Forth Roving Museum & Heritage Trail Workshop The last day was devoted to the workshop presenting the roving museum and heritage trail. These activities are a central part of the project, which is now turning into the second half. The project partners have already made their partial heritage route. It is necessary to create a final shape of roving museum and its presentation to the general public. Project partners from Bulgaria - Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, invited external experts to the workshop who prepared the application of roving museum and heritage trail. This would include and integrate all partly prepared heritage trails of project partners from 8 countries. It was prepared for use on the iPhone and iPod.

Forth Workshop

Virtual

Roving

Museum

Overview of web applications we ended with an agreement that Bulgarian partners will send all partners the template for in which will prepare all written texts and picture attachments, maps and other information about the selected locations. These will be included in a web application that will generate common heritage trail of the project. The project partners will continue work on the common heritage trail together with selected external expert. With his help, the project will also prepare so called "gamefication", which will even more attract visitors of heritage trail web application.

The workshop was concluded with a brief review of chosen locations which were prepared by the partners from Greece and Italy. The emphasis was on presentation of significance assessment of each location we want to show as unique and important to attract visitors. Fifth partnership meeting was concluded by project manager Dorothea Papathanasiou Zuhrt. She wished all the successful work and good partner’s communication. We also agreed that our next meeting will take place in Ptuj, Slovenia in November 2013. Our activities in the Sagittarius project will succeed only with your participation, information, suggestions, and ideas. We use this opportunity to invite you to participate. Contact details of the project are on project web page: www.see-tcp-project-sagittarius.eu/index.php.sl , on web page of Leap Partner UNIVERSITY OF THE AEGEAN (www.aegean.gr) and on web pages of other project partners.