Page 46 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΜΑΙΟΣ 2023

TRIBUTE

tage and nature. He deeply believed in the role of
citizens for democracy as well as for heritage and
environment.”
Receiving the Costa Carras Award 2023,
Claudia Apostol, representative of the
A.R.A. gave a moving and powerful speech
during which she briefly presented the
16 years of action of this organisation
dedicated to the preservation of the cul-
tural heritage of the historic mining
landscape of Roșia Montană “For all this, and
for the award we are so deeply honoured to receive
today, we thank Europa Nostra for the continuous
support, Elliniki Etairia, and all our partners and
collaborators but most of all, our very active local
community partners. We can't wait to go back to
Roșia Montană next weekend to share the joy of this
award with all and each of them.” she concluded.

partner of the 7 Most Endangered programme run A congratulatory message from Adriana
by Europa Nostra - considers cultural heritage to Ciamba, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy
be an integral part of sustainable economic and of Romania, was read at the end of the
developmental practices and pledged to sup- Ceremony. She paid a special tribute to
port similar initiatives that promote and preserve A.R.A NGO for their tireless efforts
Europe's cultural and natural heritage. and commitment to the preservation of
Roșia Montană which she characterised as
Presenting the Award to the representa- “little Romania'' due to its multicul-
tives of the winning organisation A.R.A., tural character and millenary history.
Lydia Carras, President of ELLET, read The winning organisation A.R.A. will receive a mon-
the citation of the Jury and added: “Costa etary prize of 10.000 Euro which they have pledged
would be very happy that A.R.A. from Romania won to use for the restoration of the Chapel of the
the unanimous vote of the European Jury for their Roman-Catholic cemetery in Roșia Montană.
tireless efforts for Roșia Montană. As he often did The heritage importance of Roşia Montană
himself, they fought against all odds; they per- Situated in the western area of the Carpathian
severed and they did not give up. This award is Mountains, the landscape of Roşia Montană has
handed in Delphi, a place he loved, as this land- been gradually transformed by gold and silver
scape - loaded with history and culture - gave him mining, from prehistoric surface works to deep
strength. He would also be very happy with an underground galleries, continued in mediaeval and
award for European citizens for endangered heri- modern times, up to the 1970’s. Along centuries,
the settlers coming from various parts of Europe
created communities of an interesting cultural
diversity, to mention only the 5 denominations
(Catholic, Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Unitarian
and Calvinist), whose churches and houses are
still witnesses of their way of life. All the surface
features – paths, roads, reservoirs, water chan-
nels, stamping areas and Roşia Montană in itself
– demonstrate a positive interaction between
man and the environment, which has resulted
in one of the most representative mining land-
scapes in Europe. The site as a whole and 50 of
its components are listed as historic monuments
and two geological formations as natural mon-
uments. In 2021, the historic mining landscape
of Roșia Montană was simultaneously inscribed
on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and on the
World Heritage List in Danger.

46