International Scientific Conference REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION Pirot, Republic of Serbia CREATING A CULTURAL DIPOLE IN THE CITIES OF SERRES (GR) AND PETRICH (BL) IN THE FRAME OF INTERREG REGIONAL COOPERATION Prof. Aristotelis Naniopoulos Dr. Tzoulia Tapali December 2, 2017
Serres Petrich: A Cultural Dipole (1/2) Greece and Bulgaria, two neighboring countries with a rich past. Since the end of the 1990s have entered an era of closer co-operation, due to the INTERREG Programme Greece-Bulgaria. Serres in Greece and Petrich in Bulgaria are sister cities (since 2005), having cooperated in common E.U. projects, facing various common challenges such as: preservation of cultural heritage, protection of environment, promotion of resource efficiency, cross-border entrepreneurship, development of tourism. Initiatives in both cities are currently in progress aiming to utilise former military camps. Serres and Petrich have a time distance of approximately 40 minutes by private car, including border controls, thus a visitor of the area staying in one of the cities may easily visit the other one, if there are good reasons for it.
Serres Petrich: A Cultural Dipole (2/2) Municipality of Serres Population: 76.817 inhabitants Poles of attraction: Archaeological Museum, Tzitzirli Tzami, Mehmet Bey Mosque, Serres Ecclesiastical Museum, Sarakatsani Folklore Museum, The Acropolis, The old cathedral, St. Nicolaos St. George Kryonerites, St. Anargiri's Valley Municipality of Petrich Population: 55.408 inhabitants Poles of attraction: Museum of History, St. Holy Mother Church, St George Church and St. Nikola Church, Samuil's Fortress (approximately 15 km from the town of Petrich, Heraclea Sintica (an Ancient Thracian, Greek, and Roman city located near the town of Petrich)
Reasons for Serbians to visit Serres (1/3) Stefanos Dousan, his son Ouros St. John the Prodrome the founder of the Monastery Ioannis and Queen Eleni. S. Dousan is considered as the second founder of the Monastery of St. Ioannis Prodromos.
Reasons for Serbians to visit Serres (2/3) The old Metropolis where probably Stefanos Dousan was crowned as Emperor of Serbians and Romans having Serres as the center of his empire.
Reasons for Serbians to visit Serres (3/3) Book about Serres by G. Ostrogorsky depicting inscriptions of Orestis (general of St. Dousan) tower.
Reasons for Serbians to visit Petrich (1/2) Archaeological site attributed to Heraclea Sintica Heraclea Sintica is an ancient city, the ruins of which are located on the land of the village of Rupite, Petrich municipality. In ancient times the city was the center of the region Sintica which was inhabited by Thracian tribe Sintians. The public buildings of the ancient city were built with much elegance and the preserved part of the civic basilica and the city water fountain stands out among them. The ancient city is mentioned in the works of ancient authors Livy, Diodorus, Strabo, Pliny the Elder and Claudius Ptolemy.
Reasons for Serbians to visit Petrich (2/2) Fortress of king Samouil of Bulgarians The National park-museum"samuil's fortress" is situated 56 km north of the village of Klyuch, Municipality of Petrich. The place has been settled as early as IV-III century BC but the stormiest period in its history is related to the reign of king Samuil (997-1014). With a view of strengthening the defense against Byzantium king Samuil built up an entire system of defensive works. The history of the fortress is related to some tragic events for the Bulgarians which dated the beginning of the end of the First Bulgarian Kingdom which was finally conquered by the Byzantines in 1018. In 1982, in memory of these events, the memorial complex "Samuil's fortress", part of the National park-museum of the same name was built at this place.
CULTURAL DIPOLE Project In the frame of the project CULTURAL DIPOLE funded by the Interreg V-A Greece - Bulgaria 2014-2020 Cooperation Programme, the creation of a Cultural Dipole in the cities of Serres and Petrich is envisaged. The project aims at the creation of: a) A Thematic Museum in Serres which will host the modern art collection of the famous artist Constantin Xenakis and b) A Multifaced Museum in Petrich which will host the collection of valuable archaeological, historical and other objects, from the current Historical Museum.
Basic data of the project Project title: CREATION OF A CULTURAL DIPOLE IN THE CROSS BORDER AREA Project acronym: CULTURAL DIPOLE Project duration: 24 months (01/09/2017-31/08/2019) Total budget: 1.422.936,41 Euros (EU 1.2 Mio, National Contr. 0,2 Mio ) Priority axis: 2. A Sustainable and Climate adaptable Cross-Border area Thematic objective: 06 Preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency Investment Priority: 6c. Conserving, protecting, promoting and developing natural and cultural heritage Specific Objective: 4. To valorize CB area cultural and natural heritage for tourist purposes
Importance of CULTURAL DIPOLE for the cross-border area The CULTURAL DIPOLE will enhance the attractiveness and tourist identity of Serres and Pertich. The annual number of tourists visiting the area is expected to increase, especially after the creation of the cultural parks. The CULTURAL DIPOLE will benefit the local population of Serres and Petrich in economic and social terms. The CULTURAL DIPOLE will be involved in major cultural events and will create synergies with other Museums of the broader national and international area. New opportunities will be provided to the whole cross border area for further development and cooperation. The Thematic Museum Constantin Xenakis in Serres will be a Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) and will be extensively disseminated. The CULTURAL DIPOLE will benefit the local population of Serres and Petrich as well as their wider area in economic and social terms, with the ambition to be a transferable practice and concept for many other cross border cities and areas.
Serres The listed building in the former military camp of PAPALOUKAS in Serres will be restored and converted to a Thematic Museum which will house the modern art collection of Constantin Xenakis works. The Thematic Museum Constantin Xenakis in Serres will be a Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) and will be extensively disseminated. The Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) will contribute to nearly zero energy consumption cost, thus low operating cost of the Museum. Via the mimetic process it is expected that the first Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB) of the area, will be extensively adopted by others in South East Balkans. Before After
The Artist Constantin Xenakis Constantin Xenakis was born in Egypt, has lived in Paris and Athens since 1955 and has performed a large number of solo and group exhibitions, shows, activities, monumental constructions. He has chosen Serres to donate a great part of his collection. The "Xenakis Donation" includes works from all periods and artifacts of the artist.
Art works of Constantin Xenakis
Petrich In Petrich, a building existing in the former military camp will be restored and converted to a new Museum of Petrich which will host valuable collections of archaeological, historical and other objects that are currently exhibited in the Historical Museum of Petrich. The restoration will follow low energy consumption and accessibility principles. Before After
Historical Museum of Petrich
Exhibits from the Historical Museum of Petrich
Long term vision of CULTURAL DIPOLE The long term vision of CULTURAL DIPOLE project is the creation of two Cultural Parks which will house significant collections. In Serres, the Cultural Park will contain: 1) The Thematic Museum Constanin Xenakis, 2) The Municipal Thematic Museum of Serres, 3) The Intertemporal Museum of Serres to be created at a concept similar to the one in Petrich exhibiting findings from Prehistory to modern times, 4) Folk art Museum, 5) A botanical garden, 6) Other exhibition buildings In Petrich the future Cultural Park will consist of: 1) The renovated building that will house and socialise the treasures of Petrich, property of the current Historical Museum, and the future findings from HERACLEA SINDICAE and the surroundings of Petrich in permanent and temporary expositions. The building will also provide room for future art installations, handicraft ateliers, 2) A revitalised park around the Museum, where will be situated open exhibition sites for historical and art assets. The effects of the full realisation of the Cultural Dipole will be catalytic for the whole interborder area in social, economic and historical terms.
Thank you! Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Civil Engineering Department Transport Systems Research Group University Campus, Faculty of Engineering, 54124 Thessaloniki, GREECE Tel: +302310995796 Fax: +302310995789 E-mail: naniopou@civil.auth.gr www.tsrg.gr