EU project for Bylis and earthquake-damaged cultural monuments

The head of the European Union Delegation to Albania, Luigi Soreca, met today with the Minister of Culture, Elva Margariti to discuss the next EU-funded program for the post-earthquake recovery in the cultural heritage - EU4Culture. Soreca and Margariti also discussed the Bylis program to promote the site as a tourist destination and other EU initiatives to promote Albanian cultural heritage. During the meeting, the importance of close cooperation between the two institutions in the design and implementation phases of EU-funded programs in culture, as well as consultation with relevant stakeholders under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture was emphasized. "In addition to the EU-funded project, which envisages intervention in the Bylis Archaeological Park, we discussed a major action in the restoration of cultural monuments damaged by the November 26 earthquake." "But our work," the minister underlined, "will not only stop at the restoration of buildings, but also at the addition of as many services as possible, which will attract as many visitors to our museums and archeological parks." "As Ambassador Soreca would say, our cultural heritage is our most important asset, which we must turn into an engine of economic development," Margariti said. The € 6 million program focuses on promoting the Bylis site as a tourist destination. The project includes conservation and restoration works, infrastructure improvements, as well as the development of the site's economic development potentials. Well-known archaeologist and politician Neritan Ceka called on the Ministry of Culture and the EU mission in Tirana a few days ago to make their project more transparent and to ask specialists in the field, as our cultural heritage is being destroyed. Recall that Bylis caused strong debate a few days ago. A well-known Italian art critic, Vittorio Sgarbi, claimed that Bylis belonged not only to Greek culture, but that the ancient city was Greek, not Illyrian, which provoked a strong reaction from many Albanians, including Neritan Ceka.