UNESCO director general Koichiro Matsuura, who visited Bulgaria this week, has signed a $1 million agreement for the restoration of Plovdiv Old Town.
This is the largest sum UNESCO has ever granted for a Bulgarian project and will be provided by the UNESCO Japan Fund for the Preservation of World Cultural Heritage.
The money will fund a three-year project for the restoration and conservation of seven period houses in the Old Town.
These are the Bayatova and Bakalova houses, the Georgiadi House and the Nedkovich, Hindlyan and Stambolyan houses. Deputy Foreign Minister Petko Draganov, who had previously announced the impending agreement, said the buildings would be an attractive tourist destination.
With a 4000 year history, Plovdiv possesses cultural and historic monuments from the Thracian, Roman and Byzantine civilisations. Conservation activities in the city started almost 50 years ago and half of the 191 cultural monuments in the Old Town were restored by 1990.
Matsuura came to Bulgaria at the invitation of President Georgi Purvanov and also met Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg and Government ministers. He visited the Forty Holy Martyrs Church in Veliko Turnovo, to which UNESCO has recently extended financial aid for its restoration.
Culture Minister Bozhidar Abrashev proposed the church, as well as the Perperikon Thracian complex and the ossuary near the Bachkovo Monastery, be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Only seven sites in Bulgaria are included in the list at present. A Thracian tomb in the Haskovo Region, which dates from the late fifth or the early fourth century BCE and is known for its unique wall paintings, will also be proposed for recognition by UNESCO.
Matsuura also toured cultural landmarks included in the UNESCO list, including the Boyana Church and Kazanluk Tomb, as well as some newly discovered sites such as the tomb at Starossel.
Matsura and Purvanov discussed opportunities for expanding UNESCO's assistance in the preservation of Bulgaria's cultural heritage and the promotion of contemporary Bulgarian arts.
This is the largest sum UNESCO has ever granted for a Bulgarian project and will be provided by the UNESCO Japan Fund for the Preservation of World Cultural Heritage.
The money will fund a three-year project for the restoration and conservation of seven period houses in the Old Town.
These are the Bayatova and Bakalova houses, the Georgiadi House and the Nedkovich, Hindlyan and Stambolyan houses. Deputy Foreign Minister Petko Draganov, who had previously announced the impending agreement, said the buildings would be an attractive tourist destination.
With a 4000 year history, Plovdiv possesses cultural and historic monuments from the Thracian, Roman and Byzantine civilisations. Conservation activities in the city started almost 50 years ago and half of the 191 cultural monuments in the Old Town were restored by 1990.
Matsuura came to Bulgaria at the invitation of President Georgi Purvanov and also met Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg and Government ministers. He visited the Forty Holy Martyrs Church in Veliko Turnovo, to which UNESCO has recently extended financial aid for its restoration.
Culture Minister Bozhidar Abrashev proposed the church, as well as the Perperikon Thracian complex and the ossuary near the Bachkovo Monastery, be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Only seven sites in Bulgaria are included in the list at present. A Thracian tomb in the Haskovo Region, which dates from the late fifth or the early fourth century BCE and is known for its unique wall paintings, will also be proposed for recognition by UNESCO.
Matsuura also toured cultural landmarks included in the UNESCO list, including the Boyana Church and Kazanluk Tomb, as well as some newly discovered sites such as the tomb at Starossel.
Matsura and Purvanov discussed opportunities for expanding UNESCO's assistance in the preservation of Bulgaria's cultural heritage and the promotion of contemporary Bulgarian arts.
