A few dozen children from the Basic Education Schools of Caldeiro and Mata (Estremoz) and Évora Monte participated throughout the morning of May 27th in a set of activities commemorating the 190th Anniversary of the Évora Monte Convention, in an initiative organized by the Teachers Ana Basaloco and Sílvia Cuco, from the Education Department of the Municipality of Estremoz.
The activities took place in the Historic Center of Évora Monte (Portugal) and the children had the opportunity to watch a video about the Introduction of Liberalism in Portugal in the Torre/Paço of Évora Monte, they visited the Exhibition “Celebrating Peace” in that space and the Interpretative Center of Convention of Évora Monte installed in the House where the Convention was signed on May 26, 1834 and they made a short visit to the main points of heritage interest of the site.
This initiative had the support of the European Network of Places of Peace (ENPP) which was represented by its President, Professor Eduardo Basso and comes as a result of the ERASMUS+ Training Course carried out by ENPP in Bulgaria in October/November 2023,
in which the two teachers responsible for its organization participated.
On the initiative of the European Network of Places of Peace (ENPP), the exhibition entitled “Celebrating Peace” was inaugurated on the 24th of May, which will be open to the public in the Torre/Paço de Évora Monte (Portugal) until the 16th of June, during the opening hours of that space.
The Exhibition “Celebrating Peace” was organized by the Department of History of the School of Social Sciences of the University of Évora (Portugal), under the coordination of Professors Mafalda Soares da Cunha and Ana Sofia Ribeiro and consists of 17 panels created by teachers and master’s and undergraduate students in History from that Department which address the theme of Peace from different perspectives and areas.
This ENPP initiative coincides with the period in which 190 years have passed since the date of the Signing of the Évora Monte Convention (May 26, 1834), the peace treaty that ended the Civil War that broke out in Portugal in the third decade of the XIX century.
Entry is free.
On the 4th and 5th of May, the city of Wageningen (The Netherlands) commemorates the German Military Capitulation signed at the Hotel De Wereld in that city and which led to the end of the Second World War (WWII) a few days later.
This year’s event has a vast program with military ceremonies, live music, meetings with war veterans and recreational and sporting activities.
The program for May 4th highlights the Silent Procession from the Church of S. João Baptista to the “Monuments of the Fallen”, the Fire of Freedom and the Freedom Race in which 2,500 athletes are expected to participate.
On May 5th, it will be the turn of the National Commemoration of the Capitulation of 1945 and the Freedom Parade that honors the international military cooperation that led to the defeat of Hitler’s armies.
Also on this day, the event “Children are in charge”, live music shows on 15 stages spread across the city and meetings between WWII Veterans with the population will take place. Great World War . The day ends with the “Freedom Meal” in which around 790 guests will participate at a 400 meter long table.
The Commemoration of the German Capitulation is an organization of the National Committee Wageningen45.
The transnational application “Places of Peace”, which integrates 7 sites located in 6 EU Member States, was approved by the Government of Croatia, the country where it was submitted to the national selection, and has already been submitted by the Croatian authorities to the European Commission for selection purposes at European level with the explicit approval of the Governments (Ministries of Culture) of all the countries in which the places that integrate it are located.
The “Places of Peace” application aims to award the European Heritage Label to the 7 places that constitute it, all of them European places where important Peace Treaties were signed: Paço dos Henriques (Alcáçovas, Portugal), Évora Monte Convention House (Évora Monte, Portugal), Historic Complex of Alcañices (Alcañices, Spain), Trencin Castle (Trencin, Slovakia), House of Peace (Vasvár, Hungary), Monastery of Sf. Francis (Zadar, Croatia) and Park of Histoical Fountain of Kaynardzha (Kaynardzha, Bulgaria).
It should be noted that all these places are part of the Places of Peace Route and that their management entities, all public entities, are members of the Association European Network of Places of Peace, which promoted the preparation and submission of the transnational application “Places of Peace”.
Approval is now awaited by the European Commission, which, if it becomes a reality, will allow not only to give European visibility to this 7 sites where Peace Treaties were signed, but also to carry out a series of actions to enhance the value of these sites.
The European Network of Places of Peace (ENPP) was present at the 1st Edition of the “Peace4Culture Partners Forum” which took place on December 2nd at the University of Baku, in the capital of Azerbaijan, at the initiative of the Minister of Culture of that country, Mr .Anar Karimov. The ENPP representation was in charge of its President of the Board, Eduardo Basso, who presented a paper entitled “European Network of Places of Peace – An example of multilateral cooperation in Europe” during the 3rd Forum Plenary Session entitled “The Peace and Security Challenges: building multilateral cooperation“.
The Forum’s inaugural session was attended by, among others, Mr. Hikmat Hajiyev, International Policy Advisor to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Anar Karimov, Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan and Mr. Miguel Ángel Moratinos, High Representative of the Nations United for the Alliance of Civilizations.
At one of the breaks in the sessions, guest speakers and moderators were welcomed by the Head of the Organization of Muslims of the Caucasus, Grand Mufti Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade.
On the second day of presence in Azerbaijan, the ENPP representative joined a group of speakers and moderators on a visit to the city of Shusha, considered the Cultural Capital of Azerbaijan and which was occupied by Armenia from 1992 until 8 November 2020, when was released by action of the Azerbaijani Army. On this visit, it was possible to observe the degree of destruction caused by the War between the two countries and the Armenian occupation, but also the gigantic effort that the Government of Azerbaijan has already made and continues to make to recover the Historical and Architectural Heritage of the city of Shusha.
With the accomplishment of the 1st “Peace4Culture Partners Forum“, the Government of Azerbaijan kicked off a broader initiative, the “Peace4Culture Call“, which will implement other projects under the general theme “Peace4Culture” to be launched soon.
In the Photo: An aspect of the Closing Session of Peace4Culture Partners Forum with Mr. Anar Karimov, Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan
On September 21st the bells will ring across Europe
This Tuesday, 21st of September, celebrates 40 years of the institution by the General Assembly of the United Nations of the International Day of Peace.
To mark this date, the European civic association “Europa Nostra” has launched a Europe-wide initiative called “Ringing the Bells for Peace&Heritage” which consists of a simultaneous ringing of bells at 12:00 (Time of Central Europe) in hundreds of towns and cities across Europe, also coinciding with the 2021 European Cultural Heritage Conference in Venice (Italy).
Since this initiative fits into the main objectives of the association, namely with regard to the dissemination of a culture of peace and the defense of the Heritage of Peace, the European Network of Places for Peace (ENPP) joined the initiative of “Europa Nostra” and encouraged its members to actively participate in it on 21 September.
Thus, at the same time as many other places in Europe, the bells will also ring at least in the following places in our Network: Alcáçovas, Portugal (Igreja Matriz), Évora Monte, Portugal (Igreja de S. Pedro), Hubertusburg Castle, Wermsdorf, Germany (Catholic Church), Trencin, Slovakia, Zadar, Croatia and Kaynardzha, Bulgaria.
Anyone wishing to join the initiative in these places will simply publish a photograph or video captured during the period in which the bells will ring on Social Media, mentioning the hashtag #Ringingthebells.
As announced, a new exhibition was inaugurated last Saturday, September 11, at Hubertusburg Castle (Wermsdorf, Germany) entitled “My Hubertusburg” in a joint project by the Municipality of Wermsdorf and the Dresden State Art Collection and will be on display at that space until November 7th.
The Castle of Hubertusburg, whose Friendship Association is a founding member of the ENPP, is located in the region of Saxony and was the scene of several important historical events, including the signature of the “Peace of Hubertusburg” that ended the Seven Years’ War, one of the bloodiest European wars.
For these reasons, but also for the various uses that this Castle has had since its construction, there is a very deep connection with the population of the German city where it is located (Wermsdorf) and the exhibition now inaugurated is intended to be a showcase of stories, memories, feelings and relationship of the people of Wermsdorf with “their” castle. Therefore, the exhibition consists of around 100 objects from private owners in Wermsdorf as well as various works of art from the Dresden State Collection, complemented by a presentation of the history of Hubertusburg Castle.
The exhibition is divided into 6 rooms of the Castle of Hubertusburg, each of them subject to a theme, and one of these rooms is entirely dedicated to the importance of this Castle as a “place of peace”, to the work of its Friendship Association and its connection to the European Network of Places of Peace since its foundation in 2010. This room is decorated with the well-known phrase by Rosa Luxemburg “I feel at home all over the world where there are clouds and birds and human tears” and an audio recording is available in which Ulf Müller, member of the Hubertusburg Castle Friendship Association and Vice-President of ENPP, explains the work of his Association related to peace, namely its activity as a member of the European Network of Sites for Peace (ENPP).
This exhibition, which precedes a vast set of initiatives and exhibitions already scheduled for the next 4 years, is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday, between 10 am and 6 pm.
The Municipality of Viana do Alentejo and the Association European Network of Places of Peace (ENPP), within the scope of a Protocol established between the two entities, today submitted to the Regional Directorate of Culture of Alentejo (Portugal) a transnational application for the European Heritage Label (EHL) with the common name “Places of Peace” which includes, in addition to the Paço dos Henriques, in Alcáçovas (Portugal), six more sites located in six Member States of the European Union, possessing a Common Immaterial Heritage since in all of them relevant Peace Treaties were signed.
The European Heritage Label (EHL), established in 2011 by Decision No. 1194/2011 / EU of the European Parliament and the European Council, aims to distinguish sites that represent a strong European symbolic value and which give visibility to both common European history and the construction of the European Union (EU) as well as the European values and human rights that underpin the process of European integration.
The application was submitted in the category of “transnational site”, that is, a site that combines several sites located in different Member States that focus on a specific theme and includes, in addition to Paço dos Henriques (Portugal) as the applicant coordinater site, the Historical Complex of Alcañices (Spain), the Castle of Trencin (Slovakia), the House of Peace of Vasvár (Hungary), the Monastery of S. Francisco of Zadar (Croatia), the Park of the Historical Fountain of Kaynardzha (Bulgaria) and the Cotroceni National Museum in Bucharest (Romania).
Photo: António Padeirinha (Municipality of Viana do Alentejo) and Eduardo Basso (ENPP)
