Con­se­rva­tion of the Wit Stwosz Altar­pie­ce in St. Mary­’s Basi­li­ca in Kra­kow awar­ded the Euro­pe­an Heri­ta­ge Award /​ Euro­pa Nostra Award 2023

Brus­sels /​ The Hague, 13 June 2023

The Euro­pe­an Com­mis­sion and Euro­pa Nostra have anno­un­ced today the win­ners of the Euro­pe­an Heri­ta­ge Awards /​ Euro­pa Nostra Awards 2023. This year, 30 out­stan­ding heri­ta­ge achie­ve­ments from 21 coun­tries have been awar­ded Europe’s top hono­ur in the field (see the full list below). Among this year’s win­ners in the Con­se­rva­tion cate­go­ry was the Wit Stwosz Altar­pie­ce at St. Mary­’s Basi­li­ca in Kra­ków. Carved betwe­en 1477 and 1489 by an artist who came from Nurem­berg, the altar­pie­ce is wide­ly regar­ded as a Gothic master­pie­ce. Its meti­cu­lo­us con­se­rva­tion, based on in-depth rese­arch, was car­ried out in situ for more than 1,000 days and invo­lved a team of top spe­cia­li­sts from Poland and abroad.

The Awards, fun­ded by the Cre­ati­ve Euro­pe pro­gram­me of the Euro­pe­an Union, are gran­ted in five cate­go­ries:

• Con­se­rva­tion & Adap­ti­ve Reuse;
• Rese­arch;
• Edu­ca­tion, Tra­ining & Skills;
• Citi­zens’ Enga­ge­ment & Awa­re­ness-raising; and
• Heri­ta­ge Champions.

This year’s impres­si­ve col­lec­tion of award win­ners ran­ges from the true rena­is­san­ce of the Roy­al Gar­dens of Veni­ce (Ita­ly), a most tre­asu­red gre­en spa­ce in the heart of this uni­que heri­ta­ge city, to the fasci­na­ting rese­arch pro­ject Safe­gu­ar­ding of the Arti­sa­nal Fishing Tech­ni­que “Arte-Xáve­ga” (Por­tu­gal), which helps secu­re the futu­re of one the last exam­ples of arti­sa­nal and susta­ina­ble fishing in Euro­pe; from ACTA VISTA (Fran­ce), an inno­va­ti­ve heri­ta­ge skills tra­ining pro­gram­me which helps indi­vi­du­als mar­gi­na­li­sed from employ­ment return to work, to the annu­al festi­val Buda­pest 100 (Hun­ga­ry), which cele­bra­tes the built heri­ta­ge of this World Heri­ta­ge City; and the trans­fron­tier network of volun­te­ers of SUCHO: Saving Ukra­inian Cul­tu­ral Heri­ta­ge Onli­ne (Ukraine/​International Pro­ject), which web archi­ved over 50TB of data from Ukra­inian cul­tu­ral insti­tu­tions in the first mon­ths of the war in Ukraine.

The Award win­ners were selec­ted by the Jury, com­po­sed of heri­ta­ge experts from across Euro­pe, upon eva­lu­ation by the Selec­tion Com­mit­tees that are respon­si­ble for exa­mi­ning award appli­ca­tions, which this year were sub­mit­ted by orga­ni­sa­tions and indi­vi­du­als from 35 Euro­pe­an countries.

Ceci­lia Bar­to­li, the world-renow­ned mez­zo-sopra­no and Pre­si­dent of Euro­pa Nostra, sta­ted: “I warm­ly con­gra­tu­la­te this year’s win­ners of the Euro­pe­an Heri­ta­ge Awards /​ Euro­pa Nostra Awards on the­ir well-dese­rved reco­gni­tion. They are inspi­ring exam­ples which tru­ly con­tri­bu­te to buil­ding a more beau­ti­ful, susta­ina­ble and inc­lu­si­ve Euro­pe. The­ir suc­cess sto­ries demon­stra­te how adver­si­ty can be over­co­me thro­ugh pooling exper­ti­se, dedi­ca­tion, cre­ati­vi­ty and inno­va­tion. I look for­ward to meeting them in per­son and cele­bra­ting all the win­ners at the Euro­pe­an Heri­ta­ge Awards Cere­mo­ny in our belo­ved World Heri­ta­ge City of Veni­ce”.

The win­ners will be cele­bra­ted at the Euro­pe­an Heri­ta­ge Awards Cere­mo­ny on 28 Sep­tem­ber in the Palaz­zo del Cine­ma in Veni­ce. This pre­sti­gio­us event will be hono­ured with the par­ti­ci­pa­tion of Ceci­lia Bar­to­li, Pre­si­dent of Euro­pa Nostra. Mar­ga­ri­tis Schi­nas, Vice-Pre­si­dent of the Euro­pe­an Com­mis­sion, is also expec­ted to attend this high-level event. During the cere­mo­ny, the Grand Prix lau­re­ates and the Public Cho­ice Award win­ner, cho­sen from among this year’s win­ners and enti­tled to rece­ive €10,000 each, will be anno­un­ced. The cere­mo­ny will be a high­li­ght of the Euro­pe­an Cul­tu­ral Heri­ta­ge Sum­mit 2023, orga­ni­sed by Euro­pa Nostra with the sup­port of the Euro­pe­an Com­mis­sion, on 27–30 Sep­tem­ber in the World Heri­ta­ge City of Venice.

Heri­ta­ge sup­por­ters and enthu­sia­sts are now enco­ura­ged to disco­ver the win­ners and vote onli­ne to deci­de who will win the Public Cho­ice Award 2023, enti­tled to rece­ive a mone­ta­ry award of €10,000.

From Nor­way to Por­tu­gal, from Fran­ce to Ukraine:vthe­se are the win­ners of the Euro­pe­an Heri­ta­ge Awards /​ Euro­pa Nostra Awards 2023^[1]

Con­se­rva­tion & Adap­ti­ve Reuse

Ste­am Engi­ne Bre­we­ry, Lobeč, CZECHIA

For over 15 years, the archi­tects Jana and Pavel Pro­uza wor­ked to revi­ve this bre­we­ry with a rich histo­ry dating back to 1586. It was reope­ned with a mix of cul­tu­ral and busi­ness acti­vi­ties to ensu­re its sustainability.

Fri­lu­fts­sko­len Open-Air Scho­ol, Copen­ha­gen, DENMARK

This master­pie­ce of func­tio­na­lism, desi­gned by the archi­tect Kaj Got­tlob and built in 1938, demon­stra­tes the way in which archi­tec­tu­re can con­tri­bu­te to health and well-being. Its resto­ra­tion serves as a model for other scho­ols in Europe.

Hôtel de la Mari­ne, Paris, FRANCE

An exten­si­ve, high-quali­ty pro­ject bro­ught this mid-18th cen­tu­ry buil­ding at the Pla­ce de la Con­cor­de in Paris back to its ori­gi­nal splen­do­ur, whi­le cre­ating a new cul­tu­ral hub. The resto­ra­tion is also nota­ble for its inno­va­ti­ve finan­cing model.

Roy­al Gar­dens of Veni­ce, ITALY

Fol­lo­wing com­plex reno­va­tion works, the­se aban­do­ned gar­dens from the Napo­le­onic-era have been given new life and the­ir archi­tec­tu­ral link to St. Mark’s Squ­are rein­sta­ted. Today, the­se gar­dens are a beau­ti­ful, eco­lo­gi­cal­ly susta­ina­ble oasis that can be enjoy­ed by everyone.

Museum of Urban Wooden Archi­tec­tu­re, Vil­nius, LITHUANIA

This 19th-cen­tu­ry wooden buil­ding was resto­red using high-level cra­ft­sman­ship and authen­tic tech­ni­qu­es. It now houses a museum and com­mu­ni­ty cen­tre, serving as an exam­ple for other simi­lar buil­dings in Vil­nius and beyond.

Wit Stwosz Altar­pie­ce in St. Mary’s Basi­li­ca, Kra­ków, POLAND

The altar­pie­ce carved from 1477 to 1489 by Wit Stwosz, renow­ned Ger­man-born sculp­tor who moved from Nurem­berg to Kra­kow, is wide­ly regar­ded as a master­pie­ce of Gothic art. Its meti­cu­lo­us resto­ra­tion, based on tho­ro­ugh rese­arch, was under­ta­ken in situ for over 1,000 days and invo­lved a team of top pro­fes­sio­nals from across Europe.

Mudéjar Ceilings of the Cathe­dral of Fun­chal, Made­ira, PORTUGAL

The resto­ra­tion of the­se rare Mudéjar sty­le ceilings, cove­ring 1500 m², was car­ried out using the best prac­ti­ces in wood con­se­rva­tion and invo­lved an inter­di­sci­pli­na­ry team of top pro­fes­sio­nals of vario­us nationalities.

Deba Brid­ge, Gipuz­koa, SPAIN

The remar­ka­ble reha­bi­li­ta­tion of this 19th-cen­tu­ry sto­ne brid­ge, an exqu­isi­te exam­ple of civil engi­ne­ering, requ­ired exten­si­ve histo­ri­cal rese­arch into mate­rials and for­got­ten tech­ni­qu­es and bene­fit­ted from inter­di­sci­pli­na­ry tech­ni­cal cooperation.

Ruins of the Mona­ste­ry of San Pedro de Eslon­za, Gra­de­fes, SPAIN

The ruins of this 16th-cen­tu­ry mona­ste­ry have under­go­ne an inte­rven­tion that inc­lu­ded archa­eolo­gi­cal inve­sti­ga­tion, con­so­li­da­tion and reha­bi­li­ta­tion for tourist visits. Its tech­ni­cal, eco­no­mic and social susta­ina­bi­li­ty is commendable.

Rese­arch

Scien­ti­fic-Archa­eolo­gi­cal Stu­dies for the Pre­se­rva­tion of Ere­ro­uyk, ARMENIA/​FRANCE

The Ear­ly Chri­stian and Medie­val com­plex of Ere­ro­uyk was rese­ar­ched with a scien­ti­fic, mul­ti­di­sci­pli­na­ry and envi­ron­men­tal­ly pro­gres­si­ve appro­ach betwe­en 2009 and 2021 by experts of vario­us nationalities.

Pro­to-Indu­strial Archi­tec­tu­re of the Vene­to in the Age of Pal­la­dio, ITALY

This three-year stu­dy of Vene­to­’s pro­to-indu­strial heri­ta­ge is unpre­ce­den­ted in both Ita­lian and Euro­pe­an con­te­xts. It pro­vi­des insi­ght into the histo­ry of inno­va­tion and the trans­fer of know­led­ge at a Euro­pe­an level, focu­sing on the merits of hydrau­lic power.

Safe­gu­ar­ding of the Arti­sa­nal Fishing Tech­ni­que “Arte-Xáve­ga”, PORTUGAL

Thro­ugh the trans­fer of know­led­ge and know-how, this rese­arch pro­ject show­ca­ses exem­pla­ry prac­ti­ces of safe­gu­ar­ding “Arte-Xáve­ga”, one of the last exam­ples of arti­sa­nal and susta­ina­ble fishing in the Euro­pe­an Union.

Edu­ca­tion, Tra­ining & Skills

MADE IN: Cra­fts and Design Nar­ra­ti­ves, AUSTRIA/​CROATIA/​SLOVENIA/​SERBIA

This Euro­pe­an plat­form brings toge­ther desi­gners, rese­ar­chers and cura­tors, who are all dedi­ca­ted to explo­ring heri­ta­ge thro­ugh con­tem­po­ra­ry pro­duc­tion. It pro­mo­tes the inva­lu­able role of cra­fts in sha­ping local iden­ti­ties and ensu­ring the susta­ina­bi­li­ty of communities.

ACTA VISTA, Mar­se­il­le, FRANCE

Sin­ce its cre­ation in 2002, this asso­cia­tion has deve­lo­ped tra­ining pro­jects in heri­ta­ge tra­des, invo­lving 5,000 indi­vi­du­als mar­gi­na­li­sed from the labo­ur mar­ket. Its inno­va­ti­ve appro­ach, which com­bi­nes tra­ining for vul­ne­ra­ble citi­zens, social sup­port and a cul­tu­ral dimen­sion acces­si­ble to all, is unpa­ral­le­led in Europe.

Car­pen­ters witho­ut Bor­ders, Paris, FRANCE

Sin­ce 1992, Car­pen­ters witho­ut Bor­ders have foste­red a move­ment of wood car­pen­try pro­fes­sio­nals who volun­te­er the­ir exper­ti­se on an inter­na­tio­nal sca­le. A gro­und­bre­aking pro­ject show­ca­ses the­ir abi­li­ty to recon­struct the fra­me of the fire-rava­ged Notre-Dame Cathe­dral using mate­rials and tech­ni­qu­es remi­ni­scent of the 13th century.

Natio­nal Cen­tres for Resto­ra­tion of Histo­ric Ves­sels, NORWAY

The­se cen­tres under­ta­ke signi­fi­cant work to pre­se­rve the skills rela­ted to the con­struc­tion and repa­ir of histo­ric ships, an impor­tant ele­ment of Norway’s rich mari­ti­me heri­ta­ge. This ini­tia­ti­ve stands out for its com­pre­hen­si­ve appro­ach, cre­ating a who­le­so­me expe­rien­ce that sets an impres­si­ve exam­ple for other coun­tries in Euro­pe and beyond.

Path­fin­ders of the Waters, Danu­be Del­ta, ROMANIA

This pro­ject tar­gets vil­la­ges along the Danu­be with limi­ted access to cul­tu­ral acti­vi­ties, using the tra­di­tio­nal canoe (lot­ca) as a means to pro­mo­te the value of local heri­ta­ge and the acqu­isi­tion of new skills among children.

Citi­zens’ Enga­ge­ment & Awareness-raising

Vil­la­ge Squ­are Meer, Antwerp, BELGIUM

This remar­ka­ble citi­zens’ ini­tia­ti­ve has bre­athed new life into a histo­ric convent in a small vil­la­ge by cre­ating a new cen­tral hub for cul­tu­ral acti­vi­ties. It is a strong exam­ple of how a heri­ta­ge site can serve as a strong con­nec­ting for­ce within a community.

Budapest100, HUNGARY

This annu­al week­end festi­val cele­bra­tes the built heri­ta­ge of the World Heri­ta­ge City of Buda­pest, show­ca­sing the intrin­sic value of eve­ry house. Thro­ugh guided visits and enga­ging exhi­bi­tions, visi­tors and resi­dents sha­re sto­ries, know­led­ge and expe­rien­ces, foste­ring con­nec­tions and mutu­al understanding.

Museum of Lite­ra­tu­re Ire­land (MoLI), Dublin, IRELAND

The Museum of Lite­ra­tu­re Ire­land cele­bra­tes Ire­lan­d’s lite­ra­ry heri­ta­ge and inspi­res futu­re gene­ra­tions to enga­ge with the art of wri­ting and reading. Its par­ti­ci­pa­to­ry appro­ach aims to disman­tle eli­tist per­cep­tions of literature.

Open for You, ITALY

This out­stan­ding ini­tia­ti­ve has ope­ned over 80 heri­ta­ge sites in 34 cities thro­ugho­ut Ita­ly that would other­wi­se be clo­sed to the public. The secret of its suc­cess lies in the strong dedi­ca­tion of a lar­ge network of over 2,000 volunteers.

ALMADA Pro­ject, Lis­bon, PORTUGAL

This mul­ti­di­sci­pli­na­ry pro­ject uti­li­ses scien­ti­fic rese­arch to pre­sent the mural art of Alma­da Negre­iros, one of Por­tu­ga­l’s most influ­en­tial arti­sts of the 20th cen­tu­ry, in a new light. Its public outre­ach to diver­se com­mu­ni­ties is exemplary.

Via Trans­i­lva­ni­ca, ROMANIA

At 1,400 km, the Via Trans­i­lva­ni­ca is Romania’s lon­gest hiking tra­il which con­nects as many as 12 UNESCO World Heri­ta­ge sites. It serves as a vital con­nec­tion betwe­en local com­mu­ni­ties and diver­se facets of heri­ta­ge, encom­pas­sing both built and natu­ral heri­ta­ge as well as intan­gi­ble traditions.

Un-archi­ving Post-indu­stry, UKRAINE

This smart and mul­ti­fa­ce­ted pro­ject digi­tal­ly pre­se­rves endan­ge­red indu­strial heri­ta­ge col­lec­tions in the East part of Ukra­ine. It fosters enga­ge­ment with this heri­ta­ge among and betwe­en local com­mu­ni­ties in Ukra­ine and the Uni­ted King­dom. 

Heri­ta­ge Cham­pions 

Ham­bis Tsan­ga­ris, CYPRUS

Ham­bis Tsan­ga­ris is remar­ka­ble for his achie­ve­ments in foste­ring con­nec­tions and under­stan­ding among com­mu­ni­ties in Cyprus thro­ugh his work with the intan­gi­ble heri­ta­ge of printmaking.

Ser­gio Ragni, ITALY

Thanks to the remar­ka­ble efforts of the musi­co­lo­gist Ser­gio Ragni, over a period of over 60 years, a wealth of know­led­ge abo­ut the life and cul­tu­ral signi­fi­can­ce of one of Europe’s most influ­en­tial com­po­sers, Gio­achi­no Ros­si­ni, has been col­lec­ted, ana­ly­sed and sha­red with the public.

Cláu­dio Tor­res, PORTUGAL

For over 40 years, the archa­eolo­gist Cláu­dio Tor­res and the rese­arch cen­tre that he cre­ated in Mér­to­la have play­ed a pivo­tal role in foste­ring the appre­cia­tion and con­se­rva­tion of Isla­mic heri­ta­ge in Portugal.

Saving Ukra­inian Cul­tu­ral Heri­ta­ge Onli­ne (SUCHO), UKRAINE/​INTERNATIONAL PROJECT

In the first mon­ths of the war in Ukra­ine, the lar­ge network of SUCHO volun­te­ers from across the world archi­ved over 50TB of data from Ukra­inian cul­tu­ral insti­tu­tions. The­ir rapid respon­se is an impres­si­ve exam­ple of the power of col­lec­ti­ve action in a cri­sis situation.

Euro­pa Nostra Awards 2023 for out­stan­ding pro­jects from the UK 

This year, Euro­pa Nostra Awards go to two remar­ka­ble heri­ta­ge pro­jects from a Euro­pe­an coun­try not taking part in the EU Cre­ati­ve Euro­pe programme.

Cle­ve­land Pools, Bath, UNITED KINGDOM (Con­se­rva­tion & Adap­ti­ve Reuse)

Dri­ven by the local com­mu­ni­ty, the resto­ra­tion pro­ject of the­se 19th-cen­tu­ry open-air pools used gre­en ener­gy and a holi­stic appro­ach to rein­sta­te the site­’s ori­gi­nal func­tion whi­le adap­ting it to 21st-cen­tu­ry standards.

MINIARE: The Art & Scien­ce of Manu­script Heri­ta­ge, Cam­brid­ge, UNITED KINGDOM (Rese­arch)

This rese­arch pro­ject (2012−2022) revo­lu­tio­ni­sed under­stan­ding of manu­script illu­mi­na­tion across Europe’s Mid­dle Ages. By employ­ing non-inva­si­ve ana­ly­sis and cut­ting-edge tech­no­lo­gy, MINIARE iden­ti­fied arti­sts“ mate­rials and tech­ni­qu­es, offe­ring insi­ghts into cul­tu­ral, poli­ti­cal and socio-eco­no­mic con­te­xts like never before.

Two deca­des of show­ca­sing heri­ta­ge-rela­ted excel­len­ce in Europe

The Euro­pe­an Heri­ta­ge Awards /​ Euro­pa Nostra Awards were laun­ched by the Euro­pe­an Com­mis­sion in 2002 and have been run by Euro­pa Nostra ever sin­ce. For 21 years, the Awards have been a key tool to reco­gni­se and pro­mo­te the mul­ti­ple valu­es of cul­tu­ral and natu­ral heri­ta­ge for Europe’s socie­ty, eco­no­my and environment.

The Awards have high­li­gh­ted and dis­se­mi­na­ted heri­ta­ge excel­len­ce and best prac­ti­ces in Euro­pe, enco­ura­ged the cross-bor­der exchan­ge of know­led­ge and con­nec­ted heri­ta­ge sta­ke­hol­ders in wider networks. The Awards have bro­ught major bene­fits to the win­ners, such as gre­ater (inter)national expo­su­re, addi­tio­nal fun­ding and incre­ased visi­tor num­bers. In addi­tion, the Awards have cham­pio­ned a gre­ater care for our sha­red heri­ta­ge amongst Europe’s citi­zens. For addi­tio­nal facts and figu­res abo­ut the Awards, ple­ase visit the Awards websi­te.

The Call for Entries for the 2024 edi­tion of the Awards is now open. Appli­ca­tions can be sub­mit­ted onli­ne thro­ugh www​.euro​pe​an​he​ri​ta​ge​awards​.eu/apply. Sub­mit your appli­ca­tion and sha­re your know-how!

TO FIND OUT MORE

Press rele­ase in vario­us languages

Abo­ut each Award winner:

Infor­ma­tion and Jury’s comments

Vide­os (in high resolution)

Pho­tos & e‑banners (in high resolution)

Cre­ati­ve Euro­pe website

Back­gro­und

Euro­pa Nostra

Euro­pa Nostra is the Euro­pe­an voice of civil socie­ty com­mit­ted to safe­gu­ar­ding and pro­mo­ting cul­tu­ral and natu­ral heri­ta­ge. It is a pan-Euro­pe­an fede­ra­tion of heri­ta­ge NGOs, sup­por­ted by a wide network of public bodies, pri­va­te com­pa­nies and indi­vi­du­als, cove­ring over 40 coun­tries. It is the lar­gest and the most repre­sen­ta­ti­ve heri­ta­ge network in Euro­pe, main­ta­ining clo­se rela­tions with the Euro­pe­an Union, the Coun­cil of Euro­pe, UNESCO and other inter­na­tio­nal bodies. Foun­ded in 1963, Euro­pa Nostra cele­bra­tes its 60^th anni­ver­sa­ry this year.

Euro­pa Nostra cam­pa­igns to save Europe’s endan­ge­red monu­ments, sites and land­sca­pes, in par­ti­cu­lar thro­ugh the 7 Most Endan­ge­red Pro­gram­me. It cele­bra­tes and dis­se­mi­na­tes excel­len­ce thro­ugh the Euro­pe­an Heri­ta­ge Awards /​ Euro­pa Nostra Awards. Euro­pa Nostra acti­ve­ly con­tri­bu­tes to the defi­ni­tion and imple­men­ta­tion of Euro­pe­an stra­te­gies and poli­cies rela­ted to heri­ta­ge, thro­ugh a par­ti­ci­pa­to­ry dia­lo­gue with Euro­pe­an Insti­tu­tions and the coor­di­na­tion of the Euro­pe­an Heri­ta­ge Allian­ce.

Sin­ce 1 May 2023, Euro­pa Nostra has led the Euro­pe­an con­sor­tium selec­ted by the Euro­pe­an Com­mis­sion to run the Euro­pe­an Heri­ta­ge Hub pilot pro­ject. Euro­pa Nostra is also an offi­cial part­ner of the New Euro­pe­an Bau­haus ini­tia­ti­ve deve­lo­ped by the Euro­pe­an Com­mis­sion, and is the Regio­nal Co-Cha­ir for Euro­pe of the Cli­ma­te Heri­ta­ge Network.

Cre­ati­ve Europe

Cre­ati­ve Euro­pe is the EU pro­gram­me that sup­ports the cul­tu­ral and cre­ati­ve sec­tors, ena­bling them to incre­ase the­ir con­tri­bu­tion to Europe’s socie­ty, eco­no­my and living envi­ron­ment. With a bud­get of €2.4 bil­lion for 2021–2027, it sup­ports orga­ni­sa­tions in the fields of heri­ta­ge, per­for­ming arts, fine arts, inter­di­sci­pli­na­ry arts, publi­shing, film, TV, music, and video games as well as tens of tho­usands of arti­sts, cul­tu­ral and audio­vi­su­al professionals.

[1] The win­ners are listed alpha­be­ti­cal­ly by country