The transnational application “Places of Peace” for the European Heritage Label (EHL) was submitted on 28 February to the European selection by the Government of Croatia, the Member State of the European Union where it had been submitted for evaluation in the national phase.
The current submission to the European selection was already expected by the promoters of the candidacy given the unconditional support expressed since the beginning of its preparation by the Croatian Government through its Ministry of Culture and the Croatian National Coordinator of EHL, Ms. Anuška Deranja-Crnokić.
The European Heritage Label, established in 2011 by a joint decision of the European Parliament and the European Commission, aims to distinguish “sites that symbolise important stages in the creation of today’s Europe and the role they have played in the history and culture of Europe“. The “Places of Peace” application is a transnational application which includes 7 sites associated with the signing of Peace Treaties located in 6 Member States of the European Union: Monastery of Saint Francis of Zadar (Croatia), Park of the Historic Fountain of Kaynardzha (Bulgaria), Paço dos Henriques of Alcáçovas (Portugal), Convento de San Francisco/Historic Complex of Alcañices (Spain), Convention House of Évora Monte (Portugal), House of Peace of Vasvár (Hungary) and Trencin Castle (Slovakia). The two German sites initially planned to be included in this application (Hubertusburg Castle and Altranstädt Castle) were forced to withdraw due to bureaucratic procedures and other constraints of the German State.
The application highlights the importance of the Intangible Heritage associated with these sites – Peace – as well as the way in which they combine this Heritage with the active pursuit of promoting a Culture of Peace and the fact that all of them are currently accessible to the public, housing various facilities: interpretation centers, art exhibitions related to their Heritage, public libraries, tourist offices, conference rooms and auditoriums, among others.
The application is coordinated by the Municipality of Zadar, Croatia, and after the submission to the European selection process, it will now go through a phase of verification of its eligibility and then a qualitative evaluation phase, carried out by an International Panel of Experts appointed for this purpose by the European Commission.
The “Places of Peace” application was sponsored by the European Network of Places of Peace (ENPP) since the vast majority of public entities that currently manage the candidate sites are members of this European Association, which is based in Portugal, in the historic town of Évora Monte.
