PHOTOS, VIDEO: 2 Hungarian among the 11 most endangered monuments and heritage sites in Europe!
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On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the 7 Most Endangered Programme in 2023, Europa Nostra – the European Voice of Civil Society Committed to Cultural and Natural Heritage – and the European Investment Bank Institute have just announced the 11 most threatened heritage sites in Europe shortlisted for this year’s edition of the programme.
The 11 most endangered monuments and heritage sites in Europe for 2023 are:
• Memento Park, Budapest, HUNGARY
• Kortrijk Railway Station, Kortrijk, BELGIUM
• Domain and Royal Museum of Mariemont, Morlanwelz, BELGIUM
• Partisan Memorial Cemetery, Mostar, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
• Tchakvinji Fortress, Zugdidi, GEORGIA
• Sisters’ House Ensemble, former Moravian settlement in Kleinwelka, GERMANY
• Mansion (“Konaki”) of Gidas, Alexandreia, GREECE
• Herman Ottó Museum, Miskolc, HUNGARY
• Cultural Landscape of Paštrovska Gora, MONTENEGRO
• Cultural Landscape of Sveti Stefan, Paštrovići, MONTENEGRO
• Watermills of Bistrica, Petrovac na Mlavi, SERBIA
The selection was made on the basis of the outstanding heritage significance and cultural value of each of the sites as well as on the basis of the serious danger that they are facing today. The level of engagement of local communities and the commitment of public and private stakeholders to saving these sites were considered as crucial added values. Another selection criterion was the potential of these sites to act as a catalyst for sustainable development and as a tool for promoting peace and dialogue within their localities and wider regions.
Here is a video:
The 11 endangered heritage sites were shortlisted by an international Advisory Panel, comprising experts in history, archaeology, architecture, conservation, project analysis and finance. Nominations for the 7 Most Endangered Programme 2023 were submitted by member organisations, associate organisations or individual members of Europa Nostra from all over Europe as well as by members of the European Heritage Alliance.
A Dissonant Heritage Site: Memento Park Budapest
The Memento Park, also known as the ‘Statue Park’, is a history museum, educational centre, artistic action ground and tourist attraction – the resting place of statues which used to symbolise communist ideology in the streets of Budapest between 1945-1989. During the change of the political system in 1989-90, the public in Eastern European communist regimes turned radically against reminders of that era. In Hungary, a unique political and societal compromise initiated the relocation of unwanted public propaganda statues. The design competition to relocate 41 artworks was won by architect Ákos Eleőd. Opened in 1993, ‘One Sentence About Tyranny’ Statue Park is Europe’s first, and until today only, propaganda statue collection within a politically neutral setting.
The European significance of Memento Park emphasises the importance of democratic values by presenting political statues within an objective, artistic context; an inspired way to address a challenge faced across Europe.
“These statues are a part of the history of Hungary. Dictatorships chip away at and plaster over their past in order to get rid of all memories of previous ages. Democracy is the only regime that is prepared to accept that our past with all the dead ends is still ours; we should get to know it, analyse it and think about it!… This park is about dictatorship. And at the same time, because it can be talked about, described and built up, this park is about democracy. After all, only democracy can provide an opportunity to think freely about dictatorship. Or about democracy, come to that! or about anything!” stated Ákos Eleőd.
