The restoration of an Armenian church, which had fallen into ruins in south east Turkey, is among the winners of the 2015 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards, announced today, 14 April. The Church of St Giragos in Diyarbakir, an area of Turkey now populated largely by Kurds, has been rebuilt thanks to the efforts of members of the Armenian community, concerned individuals and the local authority. The judges of the award for outstanding conservation projects across Europe said: “The efforts to restore the main church of the Armenians in this place, after the exile of its people, is an outstanding act of reconciliation for the city and its citizens.”
The church, parts of which may date back to the 17thcentury, is one of two Armenian religious buildings to be recognised this year. The winners include the Armenian Church and Monastery in Nicosia, Cyprus. The project to restore the gothic structure was undertaken by Armenians, Greeks and Turkish Cypriots working together with international experts. The judges described it as an outstanding example of conservation and “an exercise in the even more challenging process of rebuilding a community.”
An Italian-Armenian education project based at the Polytechnic of Milan to train Armenians from Armenia as well as Syria and Iraq in cultural heritage preservation received a special award.
The Armenian churches are among the 28 award winners, which range from a 19th-century manor house in Norway, an online tour of St Mark’s in Venice, research into Asturian coalfields in northern Spain to Stonehenge and its new visitor centre in England. Seven of the award winners will be announced as Grand Prix laureates, receiving €10,000 each, at a ceremony due to be held on 11 June at the Oslo City Hall. The opera singer Plácido Domingo, who is president of Europa Nostra, will be co-hosting the ceremony along with the Mayor of Oslo.