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CULTURAL HERITAGE CORNER

One important part of the realization of our project was the creation of the Cultural Heritage Corner. This was an initiative of our project that started firstly as an idea to celebrate the European Year of Cultural Heritage. In fact, it was started by the participants’ wish and their inner need to promote their cultural heritage and help each country to get to know each other’s civilizations and cultures better. In fact, by this way the students and the teachers gained a deep knowledge of places protected by UNESCO by visiting these places and learn historical information about them.

This corner was arranged by each participating school at any mobility. The intangible heritage of the five countries involved art, crafts, local products, food, clothing, folklore pieces of art, music. In that way the cultural heritage of each country came alive and remained in their schools to show the cultural heritage pieces that each country offered to hosting school giving the opportunity each visitor and new students to learn about these countries some historical and cultural information.

Lastly, the most important part of the Cultural Heritage Knowledge of this project was on the one hand the visits to the places of great cultural interest that represent heritage for humanity and on the other hand it gave the opportunity to the partners to attend performances related to the tradition of the cultural heritage of the place.

METEORA – A PLACE PROTECTED BY UNESCO

One of the biggest monument in Greece generally and in Thessaly region specifically is the rocks of Meteora. Meteora, on the northwestern tip of Thessaly’s plains, is an important geological phenomenon and one of the most important monuments of Christendom. The gigantic rocks, isolated from each other, some of which reach heights of 400 meters, are spread out in Kalambaka over an area of approximately thirty kilometers. The rocks that can be seen for miles and the caves attracted many ascetic monks and during Byzantium (12th century) Meteora transformed into an ascetic center, which took on greater dimensions in the 14th century and is considered the century in which orthodox monastic life in Meteora flourished.

Of the 20 monasteries that existed in the past, several were abandoned and are in ruins. At present ascetic tradition has been continued for more than six hundred years by six monasteries. The sacristies and libraries of the monasteries hold many byzantine and post byzantine artifacts of exceptional craftsmanship, ecclesiastic items (icons, reliquaries, wood carvings, jewelry, vestments, etc.) and a large collection of byzantine manuscripts and documents.

The petrified forest of Meteora welcomes thousands of visitors every year, who are amazed by the geological phenomenon, the architecture of the monasteries, byzantine art and the monastic uniqueness of the area. Apart from pilgrimage tourism, Meteora attracts many climbing enthusiasts to its inaccessible rocks.

Nowadays, the rocks of Meteora are environmentally protected by NATURA 2000 Network for their unique landscape and also they are one of the biggest Cultural Heritage Monument protected by UNESCO for their monasteries.