EUROPEAN HERITAGE DAYS TO START IN ARMENIA FROM ZVARTNOTS HISTORIC-ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESERVE-MUSEUM

Noyan Tapan
Sept 07 2006

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN. This year the European Heritage
Days will officially start on September 21, at Saint Petersburg
Hermitage museum.

Armenia will join this European cultural event on September 9,
with the event to be held at the Zvartnots historic-archaeological
museum. The European Heritage Days will be held in Armenia under the
heading "Glance at the Middle Ages."

As RA Deputy Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs Gagik Gyurjian
informed journalists at the September 7 press conference, this
year Armenia will not take part in the events to be held in Saint
Petersburg. In Gagik Gyurjian’s words, the European Heritage Days
held under the aegis of the European Union since 1999 every year
from August to November unite 48 country members of the European
Cultural Convention. Thanks to joint work of 15 years this initiative
is indisputable success. In his words, only last year 37 thousand
monuments and sights appeared in the pivot of this All European
cultural campaign uniting 21 mln 700 thousand citizens who familiarized
themselves and became witnesses of European cultural values common
to everybody. The deputy minister said that the first and foremost
aim of the European Heritage Days is to propagandize tolerance among
neighboring countries and peoples in order to prevent any kind of
vandalism and extremist actions. Last year manifestations of vandalism
and extremism towards Armenian historic-cultural values took place
in Armenia’s neighboring countries, which were condemned by the EU
member countries.