Nearly 30 outstanding cultural heritage projects were honoured yesterday at the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards at the Aya Irini (Topkapi Palace) in Istanbul, Turkey. Six of the projects received a grand prize and € 10,000 each.

The winners were selected by independent experts from nearly 140 projects covering 26 countries. The awards recognise excellence in conservation, research, dedicated service, and education, training and awareness-raising.

The six Grand Prize winners are:

• Le Collège des Bernardins (restored 13th century Cistercian college), Paris
• Neues Museum (incorporation of contemporary architecture in reconstruction of original site), Berlin
• Roman Theatre (for restoration and conservation of treasures unearthed during excavations), Cartagena
• Van Gogh Letters Project (digitisation of the artist's correspondence and exhibition), Amsterdam
• Nils Vest (documentary film-maker focusing on architectural heritage), Copenhagen
• Baerwaldbad (renovation of Kreuzberg public bath house by young people in vocational training), Berlin

The 29 projects honoured, which were announced in April, include major building restorations to landscape rehabilitation works, and art collections. For full descriptions of the winning projects and photographs, you can ivisit Europa Nostra website. 

The European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards are funded by the EU Culture Programme, which aims to encourage the transnational circulation of cultural and artistic works, cross-border mobility of workers in the sector, and intercultural dialogue. The Culture Programme has a total budget of €400 million in 2007-2013, also supports the exchange of best practices in heritage preservation and protection.

Europa Nostra represents some 250 non-governmental organisations, 150 associate organisations and 1500 individual members from more than 50 countries who are fully committed to safeguarding Europe’s cultural heritage and landscapes.