Greece Scores Double Win At Europa Nostra Award Ceremony

“Athens, the cradle of Europe’s democracy, is the perfect setting in which to pay tribute not only to the winners of our awards, but also to all the citizens and communities that are strongly engaged in safeguarding our cultural and natural heritage,” Europa Nostra’s President, Plácido Domingo, said.

Propylaea Central Building in Athens was voted the public choice award winner

Greece picked up two awards at the ceremony of the 2013 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards held at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens on Sunday, 16 June.

Of the 30 winning projects announced in March, seven were named as “grand prix laureates” and one of the winners received the “public choice award,” based on an online poll conducted by Europa Nostra. (Greece was among the 30 winners, honored in categories “Conservation” and “Dedicated Service.”)

Greece shines

The Propylaea Central Building in Athens was voted the public choice award winner. The jury for the conservation section of the awards praised the high quality of the craftsmanship employed in an “exemplary project which succeeded not only in rescuing this iconic monument of European culture but also in enhancing its inherent formal and social values”.

However, it was a a double celebration for Greece as the Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments was announced among the seven Grand Prix winners selected by expert juries.

The Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments was among the seven Grand Prix winners of the evening.

The other six Grand Prix winners are:

• Tallinn Seaplane Harbour, Estonia
• Roman Theatre of Medellin, Spain
• Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, United Kingdom
• Restoration of the Exceptional Machines of Wielemans-Ceuppens Brewery, Brussels, Belgium
• Association for the Promotion of Art and Culture in the Eastern Part of Germany, Berlin, Germany
• SOS Azulejo Project, Loures, Portugal

The seven Grand Prix winners received 10,000 euros each.

The award ceremony took place during Europa Nostra’s 50th Anniversary Congress in Athens.

“There is no place more fitting for a celebration of the European Year of Citizens and Europa Nostra’s 50th anniversary than Athens… Our entire evening in Athens will be a true ode to the Europe of Culture,” Europa Nostra’s President, Placido Domingo, said prior to the award ceremony.