A star in the European heritage constellation – the Turaida Museum Reserve has been awarded the European Heritage Label.
The Turaida Museum Reserve has received recognition from the European Commission – the European Heritage Label, which certifies that the heritage of the Turaida Historical Centre belongs to the common European cultural heritage and highlights the site’s significance within the context of European history.
The Turaida Historical Centre is a cultural heritage site covering 57.86 hectares, encompassing both natural and cultural spaces, as well as tangible and intangible heritage that characterizes a period spanning a millennium. As one of the oldest state formations in Latvia, the Historical Centre is preserved, maintained, and revitalized within today’s creative cultural processes. To ensure the preservation and further interpretation of the centre’s natural and cultural-historical values, the Turaida Museum Reserve was established in 1988, and in 1994, it was granted the status of a Specially Protected Cultural Monument. It is the only site of such significance in Latvia. The narrative of the Turaida Historical Centre’s heritage and its significance in both Latvian and European contexts is presented through five thematic complexes: the Folk Song Park, the heritage of the Gauja Livs, the Turaida Medieval Stone Castle, the Turaida Wooden Church and Church Hill (Baznīckalns), and the Turaida Manor Administrative Centre. The museum reserve’s open-air and indoor exhibitions tell a story of the harmony and interaction between nature and human activity in shaping the environment and historical processes from the 11th century to the present day.
The aim of the European Heritage Label is to strengthen mutual understanding and cultural dialogue among European citizens, especially the sense of belonging to the European Union (EU) among young people, based on shared values and elements of European history and cultural heritage, as well as an appreciation of national and regional diversity. The label promotes and provides new opportunities to understand our shared yet diverse cultural heritage, common history, and the values and significance of the EU. The European Heritage Label is awarded to sites that possess significant symbolic European value and characterize common European history and the creation of the EU, as well as the underlying European values and human rights of the European integration process.
The official European Heritage Label award ceremony will take place on June 13–14, 2022, in Brussels.
Excerpt from the email received by the Turaida Museum Reserve on April 28:
Dear Ms. Anna Jurkāne,
Dear Historical Centre of Turaida’s team,
From the European Commission, we are delighted to announce you that your candidacy to the European Heritage Label 2021 has been selected.
Your site has a symbolic European value and has played a significant role in the history and culture of Europe. The formal designation of the sites to be awarded the label, having due regard to the recommendations by the European panel will be officially adopted today April 28th, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. CET.
(..) Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, said: “Cultural heritage is Europe’s soul. These beautiful sites embody our rich history, they are geographical manifestations of who we are. The European Heritage label sites are amongst the greatest gifts Europe has to offer and it is our duty to preserve them at all costs.”
The selection of the sites for the attribution of the label has been carried out by the European panel of independent experts under the responsibility of the Commission.
From Commission’s Directorate General for Education, Culture, Youth and Sports in charge of the European Heritage Label and look forward to cooperating with you as new European Heritage Label site as well as with the National coordinator in your country.
Warm congratulations and kind regards,
Gabrielle Bernoville
European Commission
DG EAC – Education, Youth, Sport and Culture
Unit D2 Creative Europe”
More information about the European Heritage Label and awarded sites since 2013.
