The
idea to organize heritage days was born in France back in 1984 and was
initiated by the then French minister of culture Jack Lang. In several years
this event spread across a number of states in Western Europe to become so
popular, that in 1991 the European Council initiated, and the European Union
supported introduction of Europe-wide European Heritage Days.
The program aims to present cultural heritage to the wide public by
featuring some of its parts, which are normally not available for public
access and highlight one or another aspect of cultural heritage. Above all,
the program is expected to attract school pupils and encourage them to learn
more of culture and history of their own country and gain knowledge of
cultural heritage of other European countries. To support this idea, the
European Council in partnership with Catalonian (Spain) heritage specialists
organize children photography competition International
Monuments Photographic Experience, open for participation by all children.
This year Lithuanian school children participated in the competition for the
second time. The youth can also compete for the biggest award for the best
European Heritage Days project, which was worth 6000 euros in the year 2000.
Eligible are all youth groups, which present a European project, which meets
all requirements. The events under the program bring to light century-old
European cultural exchange, which was the foundation of current cultural
heritage of these states. Europe-wide this event celebrates its tenth
anniversary, in Lithuania it is organized for the seventh time. This year the
capital of the opening ceremony is Riga, which celebrates its 800-year
anniversary. The opening festivities attract numerous radio and TV companies
from all over Europe, providing best tourism promotion opportunities for the
host country and town, which uses the occasion to introduce its most valuable
and interesting heritage sites. It is a most impressive event in numbers of
visitors and participants. Those interested in cultural heritage visit 30 000
objects in 47 countries. The number of visitors already at 19 million keeps
growing. The event is gaining popularity in Lithuania too. The Department of
Cultural Heritage Preservation, organizer of European Heritage Days in
Lithuania, invites yearly to visit 50-60 cultural heritage objects.
Increasingly larger circle of Lithuanian citizens become interested in the
history of the country, in its cultural wealth and protection of it. Seven
years of organizing the event have covered many areas of importance in
Lithuanian cultural heritage, like mansions and palaces, historical parks and
gardens, technical heritage and other. The areas of wooden architecture,
cultural landscape and other are waiting to become subjects of the event in
the future.
This year European Heritage Days in Lithuania are scheduled for September
20-29 with a subject of fortifications. This area is of paramount importance
in the country which has a history century long wars, occupations, periods of
armed resistance and uprisings. It is the widest area of Lithuanian cultural
heritage spanning the period from the ancient times till the events of 1991.
It has to be underscored firstly because of its immediate relation to the
history of the nation and statehood, a public image of which was intentionally
distorted by the soviet authorities for many years. The manner of constructing
defensive fortifications had immediate impact on the history of the country,
and directly echoed its choice to defend its freedom and create or work
subjected to the will of others. Napoleon Bonaparte captured this difficult
dilemma by warning, that those who do not maintain their own army, will end
up feeding a foreign one.
For 700 years of a thousand-year history of the Lithuanian state, the
country was involved in combat, to mention just the wars against the Teutonic
knights, which had dragged for two centuries. It is difficult to think of
another country with a similar fate and history, at least in Europe. Lithuania
had lived through very few spells when there was time to thoroughly foster
national culture or arts; instead, each period brought a critical task to
defend the country from all kind of foes. Created under strained conditions,
this huge cultural heritage emerges as even more precious and interesting for
us today. Lithuanians can claim to be the only nation of all the Baltic gentes, who managed to create and defend their statehood through
taking good care to preserve and maintain their heritage of defensive
purposes. Good knowledge of this part of heritage will reveal to us the amount
of efforts, ingenuity and professional competence of our ancient fellow
citizens in their aspirations to protect the interests of the state and the
nation.
This year
European Heritage Days program in Lithuania is designed to focus on the
development of mound-hills, representing an important stage in the development
of fortifications, while on the other hand, stand in close relationship with
emergence of estates. Guided tours will demonstrate how the ancient buildings
of the period, castles steeped on mounds and serving exclusively a defensive
purpose, were in peacetime adapted for residential needs, while around 15-17th
century, which saw a different social-economic system establish itself, such
buildings climbed down the hills to give the beginning of the spread of
estates. This will take us to a different, also equally important branch, of
Lithuanian cultural heritage, the development of estates and mansions.
The tours will also highlight relationships of defensive fortifications
with other branches of cultural heritage, like sacred heritage and parks and
mansions (in particular, in the case of the ring of forts around Kaunas and
castles along the river Nemunas). It would be difficult to isolate
fortification sites from technical heritage and ancient methods of
communication. The guided tours will cover protection and modern application
of this type of heritage, peculiarities of castle restoration and new
functions, which such buildings are being allocated by the 21st
century. Homage will be done to the grand dukes, military leaders and
celebrated families of Lithuanian nobility, the people who had steered the
ship of the Lithuanian state. Among them are the Radvila family, who ruled and
lived in the glorious castles of Biržai and Dubingiai, the Chodkevičiai
family of Kretinga, and the
Sapiega family, the memory of which is still kept in the old parks of
Antakalnis in Vilnius and Liepalingis. Tours of medieval and later
fortification sites will be augmented by those contrived with no less
resourcefulness by the-just-gone century, and topped by a demonstration of the
current ones used by the Lithuanian Army.
This year European Heritage Days in Lithuania are expected to heighten
public awareness of ancient heritage and provide those interested with a
better insight into its value, while at the same time enlightening tours
should encourage the people to look at the motives that had inspired many
generations to invent and build things for the good of the state and the
nation.
Those interested are very welcome to attend the events of the European
Heritage Days. Suggestions and projects, interested individuals and groups are
welcome by the organizers at the headquarters of the Department of Heritage
Protection, at Šnipiškių 3, Vilnius. The organizers can be contacted by
phone at (22) 734256, 724084.
Alfredas Jomantas
Program coordinator in
Lithuania
