ERASMUS+ KA2

Traditional Settlements,
Cultural Heritage and
Sustainable Development

EDITED BY
JÁNOS PALOTÁS

FOUNDATION OF KNOWLEDGE
HÓDMEZŐVÁSÁRHELY
2018
 TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENTS, CULTURAL
HERITAGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
PARTNERS

Kentro Perivallontikis Ekpedefsis Filiaton, Filiates (Greece) –

Coordinator

Foundation of Knowledge, Hódmezővásárhely (Hungary)

ASPECT – Management and Intercultural Relations, Plovdiv (Bulgaria)

Shoqata Shqiptare e Ambientalisteve Industriale, Tirana (Albania)

Instytut Rozwoju Sportu i Edukacji, Warszava (Poland)

Razvojna agencija Sotla, Šmarje pri Jelšah (Slovenia)

Associazione Paesaggi Connessi, Sestu (Italy

Comune di Petrosino, Petrosino (Italy)

The publication has been published with the assistance of the Erasmus+ KA2 project called
“Traditional Settlements, Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development”,
number 2016-1-EL01-KA204-023477

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot
be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

2 aurore
 CONTENTS
CULTURAL HERITAGE OF EPIRUS-GREECE WITH EMPHASIS IN THESPROTIA 4
Kentro Perivallontikis Ekpedefsis Filiaton

THE WORLD OF SCATTERED FARMS IN HÓDMEZŐVÁSÁRHELY 16

Foundation of Knowledge

PRESERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 44

ASPECT – Management and Intercultural Relations

KRUJA CASTLE A CULTURAL AND TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENTS HERITAGE

AND ITS PRESERVATION MEASURES 66
Shoqata Shqiptare e Ambientalisteve Industriale

THE ROLE OF TOURISM IN SUSTAINABLE HERITAGE MANAGEMENT 86

Instytut Rozwoju Sportu i Edukacji

TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENTS, CULTURAL HERITAGE AND SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT IN OBSOTELJE AND KOZJANSKO REGION 100
Razvojna agencija Sotla

TRADITIONAL VILLAGES AND HOUSES IN SOUTHERN RURAL SARDINIA 116

Associazione Paesaggi Connessi

TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENTS, CULTURAL HERITAGE AND SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT 134
Comune di Petrosino

3
 CULTURAL HERITAGE
OF EPIRUS-GREECE
WITH EMPHASIS IN
THESPROTIA
Wri‚en by
Smyris Georgios
(Architect, School of Fine Arts, University of
Ioannina)
Ntelis Methodios
IAbbot of Holy Monastery of Giromerion)
Dimitriou Constanঞnos
(Infrastructure Engineer)

Adapted translaঞon from Greek: Athanasia

Krikoni, Teacher of English

EPIRUS –
GREECE

Copy ediঞng and photos by

Nikolaou Markos
Theodoridi Thalia
(Center for Environmental Educaঞon of Filiates),
Filiates, Greece)

4 aurore 4
 Coat of arms of Epirus

5

CULTURAL HERITAGE
OF EPIRUS-GREECE
WITH EMPHASIS IN
THESPROTIA
The protection and enhancement of the ar-
chitectural heritage is an obligation for the
Greek state and the result of the interna-
tional obligations of the country. Greece’s
participation in international organizations
(UNESCO, Council of Europe, ICOMOS, ICOM,
Europa Nostra) brought the country out of
isolation on these issues. A series of direc-
tives or internationally accepted principles
have been formally adopted or indirectly
influenced by these decisions and develop-
ments.
The concept of the cultural environment ap-
peared for the first time in the Greek legisla-
tion with the 1975 Constitution, where it is
clearly stated that “Monuments, traditional

6
Koulia Tower in Paramythia
 Folklor museum of Foiniki
areas and traditional elements are protected
by the State”. In this context, it is clear that
traditional settlements, the protection of
which is imposed by their architecture, their
unity or their integration in the landscape
and their particular value in terms of the his-
tory of art or science, are also included. Ur-
ban space and the countryside are homely,
encoded spaces that have come from uses
and habits, are not free and in no way emp-
ty. As we all understand, they are the result
of relations between economic activities,
social structures, cultural values, natural
factors and memory, in a constant dynamic
change with the man not as an observer but
as a factor of the society that he experiences.
With a more critical eye, the space is full of
memories, activities and experiences. It is
the one created through social, economic
values and environmental conditions from
life and culture. The real challenge nowa-
days is if we are able to find the relationship
with the earth and re-encounter with the
natural world to which we belong as living
organisms.
Since it is necessary to mediate a “built-in
model” for the transition from the existing
imperfect society to an ideal one, we should
work out how to build an integrated house
to support human and social identity, since
no one can be a citizen of the world or a sim-
ple person if he doesn’t belong to a place.
Thus, it is imperative that we be aware of the
indigenous tradition and the knowledge of
the past, and it is fundamental to preserve
the elements that ensure this knowledge.
Modern definitions of scientific areas ensure
the correctness of the methods by partly re-
moving the desired but inadequate, simplis-
tic approach to the above issues.
In the region of Epirus, the institutional
framework imposes control of the form and
the uses in 10 historical centers (settlements
or parts of settlements). We also have to add
a number of individual buildings, such as
142 buildings in the city of Ioannina, 26 in
7
the county and a number of others that are
under control due to legislation.
The framework is relatively adequate with-
out implying that it cannot be extended and
modified. But everything has a general un-
derlying principle. The question of “what are
the specifications for repair, maintenance,
rehabilitation of integration, has been liter-
ally replaced by the question: what are the
terms of construction” of new constructions,
a question which abolishes the concept of
conservation. In my opinion, a legislative
gap has been created, which is expanded
with the addition of new fragmentary de-
crees and opinions, thus creating a multifac-
eted reference system.
Moreover, the definition of “traditional set-
tlement” is not given in any legislative text
concerning its protection. This protection,
which is one of the essential objectives of
spatial planning and urban planning, is pri-
marily aimed at making apparent the unity
of cultural heritage and the links between ar-
chitecture, arts, folk traditions and lifestyles
at regional, national and European level.
Its protection is necessary due to folklore,
ethnology, social, technical, architectural,
industrial or historical, artistic or scientific
significance.
If we attempt to classify the various trends
that have been developed, we could discern
the following trends, of course, considering
that the imitations or neutrality, are the easy
solution for every legislator. Here we have
to add that the above comes from the need
to supply the architectural policy. With the
8
Ioannina
deep knowledge of the space to which we
are going to contribute, we will avoid slip-
ping into clichés and recipes. This of course
has two aspects: Reflection must be fruitful
on all four sides of the table which involves
the State bodies and legislation, users,
scholars and reviewers.
As far as the issue of religious monuments
and their prospect of development is con-
cerned, we should point out that taken for
granted the fact that from antiquity to today,
to almost all people, there is the belief that
the practice of one’s religion is more effec-
tive at places where there are statues, tem-
ples, relics of saints or miraculous icons and
in places where the most important events
of history took place, then we can under-
stand the tradition of worshipping and its
architectural unity.
Religious tourism as a consequence of such
worshipping expressions belongs to the al-
ternative forms of tourism, which goes be-
yond the usual pattern of holidays and in-
cludes the seeking for action and different
activities. The intense interest in “religious
tourism” and its possibilities of develop-
ment has for years concerned the tourism
policies of the various states and the rele-
vant bodies internationally. Since our coun-
try has so much religiosity, which is unique,
with the thousands of small and big monas-
teries and places that everyone would like
to visit, we have a sound means of devel-
opment. Especially the geographical region
of Epirus presents important prospects and
development opportunities, which are iden-
Chapel of Saint Minas Kokkinolithari
 The Holy Metropolis of Paramythia
tified both in the diversity of the alternative
forms of tourism and in the incentives given
by the state for the strengthening of the in-
frastructure in the region.
In the prefecture of Thesprotia, which to-
gether with certain areas of the neighboring
prefectures of Ioannina and Preveza, con-
stitute the Holy Metropolis of Paramythia,
a significant portion of visitors is interested
in touring and acquainting our Monasteries
and their historical monumental complex-
es, the way of life of the monks and the old
historians with exquisite frescoes and our
picturesque chapels. In the wooded areas
and on the slopes and steep summits of the
mountainous areas, but also close to the cit-
ies and the sea, monasteries and churches
offer exceptional and unique sights of archi-
tectural design.
Monuments of the Byzantine world and oth-
ers carry memories of the traces of Hellenism
and Orthodoxy in this turbulent area. There
are areas where a visit can perfectly be com-
bined with other activities such as visiting
archaeological sites, traditional settlements
or areas of special natural beauty and inter-
est. One example of this, which concerns
Thesprotia, is the historic Giromeri Monas-
tery in the area of Filiates. The Patriarchal
and Stavropigiaki Monastery of Giromeri
was built in the early 14th century and is sit-
uated 23 km far from Igoumenitsa. It is one
of the most important monastic centres in
Epirus. It served as the headquarters of the
Patriarchal Exarchate and Bishopric until the
end of the 19th century, with a major contri-
bution to Hellenism. Its Catholic, built in the
Holy Monastery of Giromerion
14th century and renovated in 1568, is one of
the most remarkable monuments of Byzan-
tine art with excellent wall paintings of the
16th century. Parts of wood-carved temple
and several heirlooms of different seasons
and of great artistic value are still kept in
good condition.
Other monuments are also located around
the monastery. These are the traditional
villages of Giromeni, Foiniki, Faneromeni,
Plaisio and Sideris, the beautiful villages
of Mourganas, with their abundant natural
beauty, the Folklore Museums of Tsamanta
and Foiniki and the mountainous range of
Kalamas. There are also small rivers in the
area, even the sea that is not far away, with
the well-known and attractive to all Sagiada.
Thesprotia is a prefecture of monuments
and places that can constitute a network
of tourist interest, which will contribute
significantly to the further development
of the area. These are the Agios Georgios
Kamitsanis Monastery dating from the 18th
century, with its wonderful Catholic , the
Monastery of Agios Athanasios of Vavouri
with its magnificent location, the Monastery
of Agia Marina Lykou near Haravgi, the Agia
Paraskevi Monastery from the 16th century
on the edge of Kalamas. Some others are
the picturesque Monastery of Panagia Spile-
otissa neighboring Vrosina and finally the
amazing Metochi of Agios Minas, the Meteor
of Epirus in Kokinolithari which is a part of
this network to the north of the prefecture.
But also the Paramythia area, with the his-
toric home of the Metropolis, is embellished
with a large number of ecclesiastical monu-
9
ments. The majestic temple of Panagia from
the 14th century on the edge of the city with
the nearby Byzantine baths, the magnificent
monuments of ancient Photios excavated
and constantly revealed, as well as the mod-
ern Metropolitan Church of Agios Donatos in
the center of the city, where part of Relics of
the patron saint, are important attractions
for visitors.
We should also mention the famous Souli
with the Temples and its castle, the historic
settlement of Osdina with the Five Church-
es, Gliki with its Middle Byzantine basilica,
Velliani with the historical Monastery of
Prodromos, the Paganias Monastery built in
17th century, Plakati with the Metamorpho-
sis Monastery and the Monastery of the Vir-
gin Mary in Michla, as well as the important
Agios Georgios Kamitsanis
1100
Five Churches
Monastery of Panagia Ragiou, which is in op-
eration after several years of abandonment.
We still have remarkable monuments in
Kaminis with the Catholic of Agios Dimitrios
Monastery dating back to the 13th century
and in Gardiki with the Catholic Agia Kyriaki
Monastery that has survived since the 14th
century. Unique in their form are the Her-
mitages, which are well preserved with the
most important one this of the Saint Nile in
Giromeri, where there are frescoes from the
14th century, the one of Boliana and the two
of Agios Arsenios in Velliani and Morphati.
Outside the boundaries of the Prefecture,
but within our Metropolitan Region, there
are other important monuments that com-
plement the ideological religious map. Oth-
er notable monuments are the Monastery
Metropolitan Church of Agios Donatos
Kalamas River Osdina
 Monastery of Panagia Ragiou
of Agios Dimitrios Kypselis with its amazing
architectural Catholic from the 13th centu-
ry, the unique Parga with its many churches
and the Vlacherna Monastery, and the Poun-
ta Monastery, outside Kanallaki, the only ac-
tive women’s monastery, where the tomb of
Saint Paraskevi is located.
Most of them, however, have the need for
saving initiatives and maintenance in order
to be highlighted and continue their history.
All the co-competent bodies must, without
delay, take on their responsibilities and act
in this direction.
When it comes to traditional settlements
and sustainable developments, we couldn’t
omit the restoration work of the two water-
mills in our region: First, the watermill of the
Duma family in Kristallopigi, Paramythia and
the watermills of the Balaura family in Rizo,
Filiates.
The watermill is the first work machine,
which humans made to take advantage of
the renewable energy sources. The dynamic
energy, produced by the drop of water, with
the help of this machine, turns into kinetic
energy. This energy puts in motion simple
machines in the beginning, and more com-
plex ones later on, meeting the needs of
people in the pre-industrial era. The water-
mills, which replaced the hand mills and the
animal-powered mills, perhaps are the most
important discovery, after the wheel, that
changed his life.
The first historical evidence of the existence
of the watermills dates from the historian
Stravon. The watermills were built at the
edges of the rivers, and in places which were
protected from the floods. They were usu-
ally small, rectangular stone-built buildings
covered with tiles, slabs or metal sheets. The
watermills, whose traces are all over Greece,
are over 20000. After the revolution of 1821
and the establishment of the New Greek
State, there was a record of 6000 watermills.
5500 of them were Turkish and were brought
to the Greek state, which gave them or rent-
ed them to private citizens. The profession
of the miller was one of the most lucrative of
this pre-industrial era. The operation of the
watermills was particularly high during July
and August, after harvesting. Then the mill-
ers worked day and night. The watermills
were directly connected with the social life,
since it was the place where a large number
of people from the surrounding villages was
gathered. There, they exchanged news from
11
the surrounding areas and commented on
the events that took place. Agreements on
work and affairs were made in the mill.
Following the structure of a common mill,
we observe that on the upper house there
was the house of the miller which consist-
ed of a room with a fireplace. There, the
tired passer-by, the hunter, and every kind
of “hunted” man found shelter. Due to the
long-lasting use of the watermill through
the centuries, fictional legends and stories
have been falsified. For this reason, peo-
ple believed that the mills were inhabited
by ghosts, goblins, witches and all kinds of
elves. In our area, there are many watermills
along the Acheron and Kalamas rivers and
their tributaries. Others have been restored
and others are in ruins.
The operation of a watermill is relatively sim-
ple, and is based on a series of transmitted
moves. The water is flowing to the mill from
the flume with momentum, and empowers
the paddle wheel. As it turns, it moves on an
axis, which in turn, turns the runner stones.
As stated above, we dealt with two watermill
complexes of our region. The first is the mill
complex of the Duma family in Kristallopigi
in Paramythia, and the second the complex
mill of Balaura family in Rizo in Filiates. Dur-
ing the stage of their study and restoration
we have strictly adhered to the principles of
environmental protection and respect for
history and tradition.
The DUMA family’s mill complex is located
about 1500 meters away from the Kristal-
lopigi springs in Paramythia, where there
are the headwaters of the mythical Kokitos
river. The initial owner and manufacturer of
the mill was the Italian engineer Pristinelas,
οr else called Frangos. It was later sold to the
Turks, and after the liberation from the Otto-
mans, it came down to the Duma family. Its
historical route begins in the 18th century,
and more particularly in 1715.
The entire building complex consists of 7 dif-
ferent buildings, of various geometrical di-
mensions, tied together harmoniously. They
are perched on a green hillside, below shad-
owy plane trees, harmoniously tied to the
12
environment and nature. The entire complex
of watermills is an excellent folk architecture
monument. At the top of the complex stands
the water tower which is 12 meters high.
Many of these buildings before restoration
were half deserted, abandoned and dipped
in the bushes and mosses and hardly anyone
suspected that these were buildings. In the
centre of the complex, just below the water
tower, there is the gristmill. On the ground
floor there is the gristmill and on the first
floor the house of the miller. They have been
interventions on the exterior of the building
and extensions on the first floor.
On the ground floor of the gristmill, there
is one big entrance for the animals, loaded
with grains to enter, and an exit door. The
parts of the flour mill and its function pres-
ent great interest. Its function is based on a
series of transmitted movements.
Restoration work carried out is as follows.
In the gristmill, externally and internally,
the walls were cleaned with sandblasting
to reveal the masonry. All the walls were fit-
ted with a strong mortar. The floor level was
formed, and it was over -coated with thick,
white porcelain slabs. Parts of the input and
output doors were removed for the purpose
of restoring them to the former condition
and wooden doors were built. Wooden pan-
els were placed on the ceiling of the gristmill
and the marble outdoor staircase was re-
placed with stones.
The steel roof at the home of the miller was
replaced with a roof made of wooden tiles
and four parallel reinforcement of the build-
ing’s load bearing structure. The entrance of
the house and the windows were replaced
with wooden window frames, and safety
rails were installed on the windows. Also,
various parts of the grist mill were filled in
order to operate properly.
The outer walls of the floor were coated
and painted in auburn (color of tiles). In the
gristmill area and to the west side, there is
a ground floor building, with a single roof,
where nozzles operate. In the past, the
housewives, in the villages, were weaving
onto the loom. These woven fabrics (flanked
rugs, capes, blankets), and all the clothes of
the loom were shuffled with the rotational
vortex to become more fluffy and soft.
In the pre-industrial era in Greece, the noz-
zles and the water mills were the most com-
mon hydro-powered installations. They
have made a significant contribution to the
economic and social life of the place. The
nozzle is a cone-shaped wooden bin. It looks
like a large barrel, which is buried deep into
the soil so that it is safe. Today’s nozzles are
troughs of concrete in the soil.
The restoration work in the nozzles was the
replacement of the roof, the reinforcement

Watermill Duma
and the cleaning of the masonry as well as
laying the floor with white thick slabs.
In the lower part of the complex, descending
one large stone staircase, there is the build-
ing where the mandane is installed. The ba-
sic function of the mandane is as follows:
The water, through the impeller, drives four
pestles. They are heavy wooden hammers
which rhythmically beat the woolen cloths,
intended for jackets, trousers, capes, etc to
tighten the knots and thread and give them
durability. Mandane has a special manufac-
turing interest since all of its components
are wooden.
In this area all the stoneworks were cleaned
with sandblasting and grooved with high
strength mortar. The roof was replaced with
a single-sided wooden tile roof and the sup-
14
Watermill Balaura
porting body of stonework was strength-
ened. The floor was overcoated with thick,
white slabs.
Next to the gristmill there is the warehouse,
where clothes were kept. In this building, all
the walls of stonework were revealed and
were cleaned with sandblasting, and the
roof was replaced with a new wooden tile
roof. A heavy, wooden door was placed at
the entrance and showcases for the exhibits
and wooden beads for the visitors were con-
structed. Next to the flour mill, there is the
warehouse with the flour.
The masonry of this building was cleaned
of the grooves, the floor was coated with
tiles and wooden frames were placed. At the
back of the gristmill, there are two buildings
which have historical value.
 Grika Bridge
It is a two-storey building, where on the
ground floor there is a vaulted construction
and on the floor there is a large room with
a fireplace. On the ground floor they stored
the tobacco after the necessary processing
was done. The floor was a guest house for
passers-by and customers of the mill. The
other building on the ground floor was used
as a storage place for the rice. In this build-
ing, there were reinforcements on masonry
bearing body. The roof was replaced, doors
and wooden windows were placed and the
floors were coated with white, thick slabs.
Interventions also took place in the exteri-
or area of the complex. Walls and benches
were repaired, yards and stairs were paved
and all the damages were restored. Trails
were made to allow the visitor to reach all
the laces and especially its highest point, the
water tower.
The whole complex has been illuminated
to highlight a great cultural heritage of our
country. All the above studies and work have
been funded by the ROPs of Epirus.
Regarding the other mill, the mill of Balaura
family located at Rizo, Filiates in a lush forest
of ancient trees, there are two buildings on
the right and left side of the road leading to
Rizo. These water mill buildings before the
interventions were in a semi-ruined-condi-
tion.
In the building where there is the flour mill,
the home of the miller was added which
communicates with the gristmill with a
wooden staircase. Wooden frames were
placed and the building was coated with a
quadruple wooden tiled roof. The flume and
the hopper were replaced. The building be-
low the street was in the same condition as
the building of the flour mill. On the ground
floor of the building there was the estab-
lishment of the nozzle. A floor was added
which was the house of the miller and it was
formed and has been repaired appropriately
to host exhibits of our folk culture. Around
the surroundings, necessary interventions
were made so that the place can be visited.
Watermills are monuments of our popular
cultural heritage and as such they require
the interest of the state and all of us.
15
 THE WORLD OF
SCATTERED FARMS IN
HÓDMEZŐVÁSÁRHELY

THE HISTORY OF
HÓDMEZŐVÁSÁRHELY 18

THE NETWORK OF SCATTERED

FARMS AS THE TYPICAL FORM OF
SETTLEMENTS ON THE GREAT
HUNGARIAN PLAIN 20

THE FORMATION AND

DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORLD OF
SCATTERED FARMS IN VÁSÁRHELY 23

THE FORMATION OF THE

FARMSTEAD CENTRES 26
Székkutas 26

HÓDMEZŐ- Kardoskút-Pusztaközpont
Mártély
26
27

VÁSÁRHELY – ARTIFICIAL FARMSTEAD CENTRES 27

HUNGARY
Ba da 27
Erzsébet 27
Kútvölgy 27
Szikáncs 27
Rárós 27

Wri en by PRIVATE AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS OF

Gábor Palotás THE WORLD OF SCATTERED FARMS 28
János Palotás Farmsteads: buildings for living and
(Founda on of Knowledge, Hódmezővásárhely, farming 28
Hungary) Farmstead Museum in Kopáncs 29
Farmsteads of our days in the outskirts
Photos: of Vásárhely 31
Piroska Guest House 31
Gábor Palotás

16 aurore 16
READING CIRCLES 31

SCHOOLS 32
The school in Csomorkány 32
The school in Bodzáspart – open-air school 33
The school in Mártély 33
The school in Sóshalom, reading circle 34
The school in Mátyáshalom 34

WINDMILLS 35
Papi wind-mill 36
Imre Késmárki wind-mill 36
Piroska wind-mill 37

CHURCHES 38
Szent Adorján-templom (St. Adrian/Hadrian’s Church) 38
Szent Mihály-templom (St. Michael’s Church) 38
Székkutasi Református Egyházkösség temploma
(Church of Székkutas Calvinist Church District) 39
Kardoskúঞ evangélikus templom
(Lutheran Church of Kardoskút) 39
Csomorkányi templomrom
(Csomorkány church-ruin) 42

RAILWAY STATIONS 28
Railway staঞon in Mártély 42
Railway staঞon in Székkutas 42

REFERENCES 42

Coat of arms of Hódmezővásárhely

17

THE HISTORY OF
HÓDMEZŐVÁSÁRHELY
Hódmezővásárhely can be found in the
south-eastern part of Alföld (Great Hungari-
an Plain) at a distance of about 180 km from
Budapest. It has the second largest area
(487,98 km2) and its population is 44795
(2015).
The history of the town goes back to the Arpa-
dian age (10-13th centuries). In the 14th cen-
tury the villages of Hód and Vásárhely were
joined and by this Hódmezővásárhely came
to being by the former Lake Hód and in 1446
it was awarded the rank of a market-town
by János Hunyadi, governor, landlord of the
territory at that time. “Market-towns (or op-
pidium) is characteristic form of settlements
in the territory of Hungary including the
Great Hungarian Plain. Having gained privi-
leges from their landlords they composed a
kind of transition between villages of serfs
and free royal towns. Their basic privilege
was the right of keeping fairs and their name
suggested that, being located on open are-
as, fields just like villages, were not allowed
to build town-walls. At some places they
were surrounded by entrenchment or board
fence.” (Mrs. Gál, 2016)
After 1541 when the country got torn into
three parts the situation of the town be-
18
came disordered for a long time and it was
only in 1552 that it became part of the ter-
ritory under Turkish rule, which surrounded
it. During two later military expeditions of
the Turkish the area was devastated by Tar-
tar predatory troops and as a result of this
several villages belonging to Vásárhely such
as Fecskés, Földvár and Solt in 1566, Batida,
Csomorkány, Férged, Gorzsa, Körtvélyes,
Mágocs, Sámson, Szőlős, Pereskutas, Rárós,
Rétkopáncs, Tótkutas and Újváros in 1596,
became depopulated and disappeared for
ever. Hódmezővásárhely might have been
able to remain due to its location near
Lake Hód and it became the only perma-
nently populated settlement in the whole
surrounding lowland plain. This fact con-
tributed significantly to its further growth
concerning population and size.
At margin areas Turkish administration did
not make efforts to obtain absolute suprem-
acy, they were satisfied with keeping mili-
tary power and collecting taxes. Vásárhely,
being a “khas” town, was allowed to pay
taxes for the Turkish vilajet in a more fa-
vourable way, which was once a year in one
amount. Besides this it also paid taxes to the
landowners, who were parts of the Hungar-
ian ad-ministration surviving and existing
parallel with the Turkish rule. Although this
double-taxing was an exhausting burden
for the town, among these unclear mano-
rial conditions it was able to save its mar-
ket-town authority entirely and even to ac-
quire new ones. These were the following:
independent provision over cultivation of
the land and independent jurisdiction. In a
rather strange way it was the liquidation of
the Turkish supremacy in the 17th century
and driving out of the Turkish that caused
the greatest financial danger as it was near-
ly completely destroyed and it also became
depopulated for years.
It was only after the fall of the war of inde-
pendence of Rákóczi (1711) that a longer
peaceful period came. Károlyi family, who
became landowners in1722, guaranteed the
further autonomous development of the
town and ensured freedom of Calvinist reli-
gion. From that time on economic develop-
ment created a particular settlement-shape
instead of the former one liquidated in Turk-
ish times: an expanded area of scattered
farms was formed, which made a better ag-
ricultural use of the land possible and dur-
ing the times it became the dwelling-place
of thousands of people.
Following the compromise of 1867, in 1873,
it became a municipal town with a continu-
ously growing population. In 1890 it was the
fourth densely populated town of the coun-
try (with a population of 60,883 in 1900).
As a result of the consequences of the con-
structional “boom” the outlook of the town
changed considerably during the age of du-
19
alism. In spite of this it preserved its appear-
ance of a market-town: the central area of
the town was surrounded with a vast world
of scattered farms.
After World War II and the settling down of
the communist rule powerful industriali-
zation was started involving mainly light
industry, agricultural machinery and food
industry. The life of those living in scattered
farms was greatly influenced by forced col-
lectivization meaning the incorporation of
the land of small-holders, the demolishing
of the world of scattered farms and the liq-
uidation of the conditions of life in scattered
farms.
After the changing of the regime, in 1991
Hódmezővásárhely became a City with
County Rights. The political and economic
changes led to the disintegration of industry
in the town (the socialist large-scale indus-
try collapsed). At the same time intensive
infrastructural development began with the
aim of recreating the bases of industrial, ag-
ricultural, commercial and cultural develop-
ment.
20
THE NETWORK
OF SCATTERED
FARMS AS THE
TYPICAL FORM OF
SETTLEMENTS
ON THE GREAT
HUNGARIAN PLAIN
Detached farmsteads, whose first name was
shelter, originally used to mean a hut or a
tent made by herdsmen or hunters built for
themselves on the pasture or in the wood.
Later, typically on the Great Plain, this name
was used for smaller farms that made the
economic management of the land among
the buildings possible. According to its
classical interpretation the farmsteads are
scattered, private-ly owned settlings with
dwelling- and farm-buildings, lying in the sur-
roundings of a vil-lage/community and mak-
ing the cultivation of lands in the outskirts
possible. According to its orig-inal meaning,
scattered farms used to be temporarily in-
habited at first, mainly during the summer
periods while during winter-times they were
meant to help animals spending the winter.
Later on, when agriculture became more in-
tensive, scattered farms were converted into
the permanent dwelling-place of the farmer/
smallholder and his family.
Scattered farms appeared typically in the
wide outskirts of market-towns from the be-
ginning of the 18th century as small spots
populating the previously uninhabited low-
land plain, or “puszta”, used only for grazing
up to the time, and drawing it into cultiva-
tion in a more and more intensive way. The
pre-condition of this course of proceedings
was the landed property of peasants or at
least the possibility of farming lease ensur-
ing free use of the land. “Market-towns re-
deemed land from land-lords uniformly so
the right of possession was enforced by the
town community. (…) The so-called civis
society consisted of smallholders, wealthy
peasant farmers and free citizens, who had
the free right of moving and inheritance.
They were allowed to employ cotters, who
owned neither land nor live-stock, on their
pastures and lands.” (Mrs. Gál, 2016.) At
places where all this was not ensured (areas
where socage conditions stayed for a long
time) the same settlement-shaping process
that had existed in the peasant-towns on
the Great Plain for one and half a centuries
started only after the emancipation of serfs
(1853).
“Taking the conditions of the 20th centu-
ry as a starting-point, researchers of set-
tlement-geography as well as some of the
historians used to believe for a long time
that scattered farmsteads came into being
through the decay/disorganization of “huge
villages”, which were formed during the
Turkish rule and had wide boundary and
through the people’s “settling apart”. At the
same time farmsteads were considered to be
scattered settlements inhabited permanent-
ly, that is the categories of the European set-
tlement systems were adapted to them. Lat-
21
er, especially after the researches of István
Győrffy and Ferenc Erdei, it became clear
that farmsteads used to be parts of the exter-
nal boundary of the divided peasant-town”.
(Sources: Települési szórványok – Tanyák)
The formation of scattered farms
• Middle of 17th–19th centuries: Scattered
farms are lodgings belonging to mar-
ket-towns and were formed at places
where agricultural areas were far from
the town and it was impossible to cul-
tivate the land and supply animals with
food by commuting there daily. Farmers
used to build lodgings for themselves for
their stay during the time of agricultural
work (that is from spring to autumn) and
having finished work (after harvest) they
returned to their houses in the town.
• 1850 – the end of 19th century: Agri-
cultural production became more and
more intensive resulting the necessity of
spending more time in scattered farms
(keeping animals in sheds/stables in-
stead of grazing, growing hoed plants,
besides growing of corn, wine and fruit
22
production ap-peared). The owners of
these farmsteads still did not become
permanent dwellers there but hired la-
bourers did, and they spent the whole
year living there cultivating plants and
breeding animals in the summer and
looking after the animals in the winter.
• The beginning of 20th century – 1945: As
a result of the more intensive agriculture
farmers owning land started to move
there. By this the social circle of those
living there permanently was created.
They were no more connected to city-life
in the same way as farmers of the previ-
ous cycle.
• 1945–1990: Changes came in two direc-
tions in this period. As a result of the
distribution of land after World War II
75000 scattered farms were built typi-
cally on small and medium-sized peas-
ant estates (5-10 holds: 1 hold equals
0,57 hectares/1,42 English acres). After
1950 power-ful collectivization started
resulting these estates becoming parts
of co-operatives and disap-pearance of a
 huge proportion of the scattered farms.
• From 1990: Scattered farms have their
Renaissance. This can be connected
with the restart of the privately-owned
agricultural production, but at the same
time a lot of people buy estates with
farmsteads with the aim of recreation
(weekend or free-time farmsteads, but
“farmstead-tourism” as a service has
also appeared).
THE FORMATION
AND DEVELOPMENT
OF THE WORLD OF
SCATTERED FARMS IN
VÁSÁRHELY
Farming in scattered farms goes back to
the beginning of 18th century in Hód-
mezővásárhely. Serfs (villeins) used to keep
animals on land given by landowners and
later on they started cultivating the land on
these animal-keeping shelters. Grazing went
on pastures on the “puszta”, animals stayed
in the scattered farms only in the winter.
During that time farmers used to live in the
town, farm hands and/or single members
of the family took care of the animals. By
1761 a vast system of scattered farms was
formed around the town, which can be ob-
served well on the first military map of the
area made between 1780-1784. A character-
istic feature of this period is that farming ac-
tivity moved to the outskirts, but social life
stayed in the centre of the town. The area of
scattered farms and the town had a strong
connection between them, the owners lived
their (civil) life in the town, but their agricul-
tural activity was done in the areas outside
the town. The odd thing in this type of settle-
ment structure is the lack of villages (where
social life and farming is not separated, but
in unity).
In the second stage of development keeping
23
animals in sheds/stables spread instead of
the grazing (extensive) method. This way
of farming required somebody (farm hand,
member of family, etc.) to stay permanently
in the farmstead. In this period farmsteads
had already become permanent dwell-ing-
places of those working there. So the dou-
ble-type way of life, which was so typical
previously, disappeared. During this time,
after the constitutional emancipation of
serfs, cultivation became even more inten-
sive and because of this more workers were
needed in scattered farms resulting in the
growing number of farmsteads and those
living there. This process was promoted by
the regula-tion of River Tisza, the draining
and ceasing of the wet flood areas, which led
to the radical growing of the outskirts of the
town as well as the growing number of scat-
tered farms. There were more and more fam-
ilies living in farmsteads, who did not own a
house in the town, they were only con-nect-
ed to the town through their families (par-
ents, relatives). It is important to mention
24
that the town remained the only scene of so-
cial life. Beyond their families, people living
in the outskirts were bound to the church,
holidays/feasts and fairs/markets. At the
same time they often did not have any rela-
tionship with their own neighbours.
In the third stage of development the inten-
sive way of cultivation continued, the world
of scattered farms did not increase with
new land. Having inherited the property the
young farmer moved to the farmstead with
his family as he had no house in the town.
Farmsteads used to be found scattered in
the outskirts of Vásárhely, lying about 1-3
kms from each other. Their connection with
the town became looser and looser and con-
nection with all those living in the outskirts
became stronger and stronger. People living
in scattered farms were mostly from among
the poor, for them raising the claim to hav-
ing a house in the town appeared in their old
ages.
In the 1920’s and 1930’s there used to be
5517 scattered farms in an area of 132000
cadastral yokes/acres (= 6823.95 square
yards = 1.412 acres) in the outskirts of Hód-
mezővásárhely. Size of estates:
• most of them were between 5-50 holds
(1 hold = 0.57 hectares or 1.42 English
acres),
• only 21 estates were of 200-1000 holds,
• there was no estate with a bigger area
than 1000 holds.
After 1945 as a result of the agrarian re-
form 1066 families were given land in Hód-
mezővásárhely, 6022 cadastral yokes/acres
were shared out among them (the average
size being 5 holds). They built new farms on
their estates (in 1950 there used to be about
7000 scattered farms around the town).
The world of scattered farms around Hód-
mezővásárhely was condemned to death by
the collectivization (creation of Soviet-type
co-operatives) starting in 1948 (and last-
ing until 1960). Lands around the scattered
farms were regrouped (ploughed into one)
and only an area of 800-1600 square-fath-
oms (one square-fathom = 3,57 m2 = 38,32
square foot) could be left for the use of those
living there. Between 1957 and 1987 it was
prohibited to build or reconstruct scattered
farms. Farmstead centres were assigned for
people living there. Together with the disap-
pearance of possibilities for life and work,
migration started from the farmsteads to the
farmstead centres, villages and towns where
people could find possibilities for living and
workplaces. Cultivation on farm-steads was
replaced by large-scale production in co-op-
eratives. People living there found jobs ei-
ther there or in the industrial works and
factories of cities. As a consequence of this
the deserted farmsteads (which were mostly
built of adobe) started to decay.
In the 1980’s changes came in this process,
which, after the transformation of the polit-
ical system (1990), became stronger. In the
beginning people living in the town bought
farmsteads to use them as weekend-hous-
es or to have hobby-gardens, etc. and after
1990 there were possibilities again for pri-
vate-farming, which brought positive chang-
es for the conditions of farmsteads as well.
25
Farmstead-types of our days in Hód- station it was suitable for the role of a farm-
mezővásárhely: stead centre. In 1914 26 building sites were
• farmsteads for living: people living there parceled out, houses were built on them,
do not do any production, they work in which became the centre of the later settle-
the town or somewhere else, only live in ment. The village started to develop during
the farmstead, the 1950’s partly because of the fact that the
• smallholders’ farmsteads: the owners communist direction considered it to be a
produce for their own needs, make their socialist model village.
own living at another workplace or are
pensioners,
• farmsteads for tourists: the owners pro- Kardoskút-
vide touristic services for inhabitants
of town interested in village and coun-
Pusztaközpont
try-life,
• farmstead farms: with actual agricultural Also in 1892 the administrative unit start-
production. ed its work in similar conditions in Pusz-
taközpont lying at a distance of 5 kms from
the present-day Kardoskút. In 1893, at the
THE FORMATION railway-line between Orosháza and Mezőh-
OF THE FARMSTEAD egyes, a railway-station was constructed
in Kardoskút, where a platform for loading
CENTRES pigs and cattle was also built (from this time
on animals from the farmstead centre were
By the turn of the 19th-20th centuries three transported here). Neither the centre in
farmstead centers had developed: Székku- Székkutas nor the one in Kardoskút worked
tas, Kardoskút and Mártély, which became
independent villages later on and sepa-
rated from the administrative area of Hód-
mezővásárhely. Because of these changes
the area of the town decreased with 48000
cadastral yokes/acres and the population
with 10000 people. In all the three cases the
double role of the developing railway (and
railway stations) and the churches can be
observed: they are signs of the advanced
stage of settlements and promoted them to
become independent.

Székkutas
From 1892 a transferred administrative unit
started its work in the settlement, which had
the name Vásárhelykutas at that time. The
civil-servant, the doctor and the veterinary
coming from the town spent two or three
days weekly at a rented farmstead. Later
on gendarme service was also established.
Székkutas lies near the railway-line between
Szeged and Békéscsaba and with its railway

26
during World War I. Work there started again
(together with the one in Mártély) only in
1921. In 1949 Kardoskút became an inde-
pendent community. Oil and gas fields were
found in its neighbourhood, it is lying on the
terri-tory of the Körös-Maros National Park,
Lake Fehér, the place of rest for birds of pas-
sage, that is cranes, is situated in this area.
Mártély
It started working in 1921. It is situated 7 kms
from Hódmezővásárhely so a strong connec-
tion was created between Mártély and the
town. Because of the dead arm of River Tisza
Mártély is an important resort-place for peo-
ple living in the town. The colony of artists
which is working efficiently there is an im-
portant link for both sides.
ARTIFICIAL
FARMSTEAD CENTRES
In 1949 (taking the points of the socialist ag-
ricultural reorganization into consideration)
they took the measure of the areas which
could be suitable for new farmstead centres.
In Hódmezővásárhely, about 7-10 kms from
each other, five such centers were marked
out (Batida, Erzsébet, Kútvölgy, Rárós,
Szikáncs). Four of them were built, but the
fifth, Rárós, was not. Having made the deci-
sion the new farmstead centres were built at
the beginning of the 1950’s in a short time,
within about 2-3 years. These artificially cre-
ated settlements were rather similar in their
appearance: chessboard-like arrangement
with public institutions on the main square
and living-houses can be found in the paral-
lel streets opening from there. The inhabit-
ants worked mostly in the local co-opera-
tives.
Batida
In the 12th century there used to exist a set-
tlement called Gorzsa on the territory of the
farmstead centre. Batida is lying in the flood
area of River Tisza, which area had been
drawn into agricultural cultivation after the
regulation of the river. The co-operative,
Gorzsai Állami Gazdaság (at present: Gorzsai
Mezőgazdasági Zrt.), was established rela-
tively early.
Erzsébet
Before the Tartar invasion there used to exist
a village called Erzsébet in this area. Its soil
is far in quality behind that of Batida. During
the time of development a school, a nursery
school and a house of culture was built. Peo-
ple could find jobs in the local co-operative.
Kútvölgy
Building up of the farmstead centre began
at the end of 1949. In the 1920’ a tuberculo-
sis sanatorium was built in Kútvölgy, but it
did not have a real contact either with local
people or with the farmstead centre. It oper-
ated as a set out part of the hospital of Hód-
mezővásárhely (later on it was transformed
into a home for the aged).
Szikáncs
It can be found in the flood area of River
Tisza and River Maros being used as a pas-
ture and hay-field. Considering traffic it has
a good position, both the high road going
to Makó and the railway line pass the farm-
stead centre.
Rárós
It used to be an active settlement until 1456,
later on it decayed. The indicated farmstead
centre did not possess the infrastructure
necessary for the process of construction
(building materials, transport, etc.) so peo-
ple were unwilling to move there and as a
result of this the centre was not built.
27

PRIVATE AND
PUBLIC BUILDINGS
OF THE WORLD OF
SCATTERED FARMS
Farmsteds: buildings
for living and farming
Buildings in the boundary originally used to
have the purpose of protecting animals or
to serve for feeding them, that is pigsties,
barns, sheds, etc. However quite early lodg-
ings-like buildings appeared as well (firstly
only for the personnel supplying animals
with food or for the random ac-commoda-
tion of the farmer). These buildings of the
beginning presumably used to consist of
one single unit and later on they might have
been equipped with an oven (making per-
manent stay possible in winter-time). During
the following history of development, with
animal-keeping becoming more and more
intensive and with the start of ploughland
cultivation, the buildings made permanent
staying more and more possible and in the
end they became the permanent lodgings
for whole families. According to this farm-
steads had been enlarged by the 18th-19th
centuries or had been built to a function-
al arrangement, which had met these de-
mands.
Architecturally neither dwelling-houses nor
farm-buildings brought anything new com-
pared with the general popular building
practice, although in the course of time they
differed more and more from the houses of
wealthy farmers having burnt-brick facades
and dry gateway built in close order. These
differences, however could be noticed in
the towns as well: most of the houses built
inside the towns kept the characters of vil-
lage-houses thus keeping the relationship
with the buildings of the scattered-houses.
The use of more simple and traditional ma-
28
terials indicated a difference in rank and
wealth, too and at the same time the world
of construction was not sharply different in
towns and scattered-farms. On the other
hand as time passed, development in build-
ing technology could be detected in the out-
skirts as well, cob walls were replaced by
walls made of adobe bricks and in-stead of
roofs covered with reeds there were more
and more roofs covered with tiles.
From first to last economical and reasona-
ble shaping and maintenance stayed a basic
aim as this could result people living there in
being able to get a house in the town in their
old ages passing the scene of work and life
in the farmstead to the younger generation.
Permanence is even more typical consider-
ing the arrangement by their ground-plan
and their functional form: the most wide-
spread type of the Hungarian popular ar-
chitecture, the so-called middle-Hungarian
kind of houses, characteristic of the whole
area of the Great Plain was the most typi-
cal. Besides the use of materials mentioned
earlier, which was supposed by the natural
sources of the Great Plain, its determining
character was its division into three parts.
The central element was the kitchen, first
with an oven and later with a range. It could
be preceded by the porch functioning as a
hall opening from the direction of the en-
trance located in the middle of the side of
the house. The rooms opened in two direc-
tions from here or directly from the kitchen.
One of them was meant for the guests (clean
room) while the other served as the sleeping
place for the whole family. The main scene
of family-life was the kitchen, which, besides
cooking, was the spot of eating meals and
common family programmes that were of-
ten in connection with economic activities.
This basic type could be enlarged backwards
often with the help of a further kind of hall
through the porch, which was made closed
or left open.
The arrangement beyond the above men-
tioned mostly differed from those in vil-
lages or towns because the farming estate
itself had a different form, size and bases,
even the typical buildings were situated in
a different way than in the more densely
populated, more urbanized surroundings.
While in the classic settlement-types with
traditional development the street was the
primary organizing system: houses joined
it uniformly with or without a front-garden,
typically in a vertical system, built on one of
the estate border or in a closed line, for farm-
steads built within the estate central posi-
tion seemed the most ideal from the very
beginning and so they were much larger and
mostly square-shaped, lying at a huge dis-
tance from each other. So the “puszta” was
inhabited with even density and only a small
area was left even for locally appearing de-
velopment of urbanization.
In the middle of the occupied farming es-
tate there was the yard, in whose (typically
north) side the dwelling-house was locat-
ed and usually the stables, pigsties of an-
imals could be found near them, in a row
according to their sizes. On the other side
of the farm other farm-buildings were built
in a similar row: feedstuff, manure, etc. The
other ends of the farmstead were also often
built in result-ing a U-shaped or frame-like
arrangement. These buildings with a width
of 5-6 metres followed each other in a rea-
sonable system, without any complicated
connection and preserving their shape with
saddle-like roofs and gables.
Farmstead Museum in
Kopáncs
• Kopáncs: 01521/2 topographical num-
ber.
• 6800 Hódmezővásárhely-Kopáncs, farm-
stead No. 3440
• GPS: 20,262 46,377
• Telephone: +36 (62) 533 317: +36 (62) 533
318, +36 (30) 506 0780
• Opening hours: 13:00-17:00 between
15th March and 15th October
It belongs to Tornyai János Museum in Hód-
mezővásárhely. Kovács-farmstead, which
was built around 1890, was restored in ac-
29
cordance with the conditions of the 1920’s.
The small-holder’s farmstead of six holds (1
hold = 0,57 hectares or 1,42 English acres)
dealt with cultivation of corn and ani-
mal-breeding. The living house consists of
a room, a kitchen and a pantry with a large
earth-enware oven shaped like a rick. The
following farm-buildings can be found there:
a stable for horses and cattle, a shed with a
roof, a summer manger, a granary for crops,
a barn for storing maize, a granary, pigsties
and henhouses, a shadoof and a coach-
house. In the stable and in the shed added
to it all the working tools of a farmstead can
be found. (Source: Kopáncsi Tanyamúzeum,
Hódmezővásárhely)
The museum opened in 1975. All the furni-
ture, equipment and fittings, working tools
which it is fitted with were collected by Tibor
Szenti and Antal Juhász, ethnographic re-
searchers, from existing farmsteads.
The farmstead museum had been recon-
structed from 50 million forints and it was
reopened on 24th May 2015. Victoria Ter-
30
endi, ethnographic researcher, said: “The
aim was to create a place where interesting
programmes, which are important both for
families and for Hungarian culture, could
be held. The exhibition calls the attention
to the fact that farmsteads were not mere-
ly farming centres. It passes the intellectual
treasure and knowledge possessed by our
forefathers.”
Tibor Szenti said in his opening speech:
“People used to be self-supplying: they pro-
duced raw materials necessary for crafts
– from leather to wood-carving everything
was made by them – they produced food-
stuff for the animals and had a good knowl-
edge of agriculture. This wonderful area was
called Mother Earth”, said the ethnographer
underlining the importance of family ties:
“under one roof a generation with one more
bread used to live.” (Source: Hagyományőr-
ző programokkal nyílt meg a Kopáncsi Ta-
nyamúzeum)
Farmsteads of our
days in the outskirts
of Vásárhely
There are still a lot of people living in the
world of scattered houses even in our days:
they do farming, use them for recreation,
cultivate hobby-gardens, provide touristic
services, etc.
Piroska Guest House
• Sándor Kenéz
• 6821 Székkutas, I. ker. 23.
• Telephone: +36 62 293189, +36 20
4422003
• E-mail: piroska.puszta@freemail.hu
• Web: Piroska vendégház
READING CIRCLES
István Széchenyi was one of the greatest ini-
tiators of the reading circles taking western,
mostly English and German patterns as ex-
amples, but their importance and mainly the
need for they establishment remained even
with the end of the reform age and the fall
of the war of independence both in cultural
and in political sense. It was especially true
in Vásárhely, where their stage of organiza-
tion and spread was perhaps the highest. For
the more wealthy there used to be different
kinds of associations such as casinos in the
second half of the 19th century. In the world
of scattered farms reading circles used to
represent the only social organizing power
resulting the formation of closer neighbour-
hood relations and common representation.
Reading circles subscribed to magazines to-
gether and their members could read them
or they read out for each other as reading
skills were not general. Besides these they
organized events, had lectures, organized
communities. They were spread quite even-
ly with one in every 2-5 square-kilometre
and could be found in the neighbourhood of
schools, which were spread similarly or were
built together with those.
Architecturally they did not have any homo-
geneous organizing principle as they were
established individually, on self-contained
initiatives. Presumably they could be trans-
formed from simple farm-stead-buildings,
which in the second half of the 20th centu-
ry either got inhabited again or started their
slow decay, perhaps were demolished.
31

SCHOOLS
In the area of scattered farms the first schools
established in 1855, thanks to the town, “in
Rárósi and Erzsébeti roads as well as on the
Mártély side”, says Sámuel Szeremlei, one
of the historians of the town. Presumably in
the case of the Rárósi school this refers to
the Szőrháti, in the case of the Erzsébeti to
the Cirjákparti (later inner Erzsébeti) and in
the case of Mártély to the Tegehalmi schools
or their predecessors, at least sources from
1858 seem to prove this. During the follow-
ing decades the number of schools slow-
ly increased, the less suitable character of
the buildings so typi-cal in the beginning
changed in the direction of standardization
according to their function, which meant
that the new buildings had already been de-
signed and built for school purposes. These
took the role of temporary rented properties
in simple farmsteads, which were often too
small.
In the beginning schools were built and run
by the town, but they were under church
supervision: besides the protestant the
catholic church also took part in this task.
Schools built by the church only appeared
in the 1890’s, but supervision could be per-
formed less and less successfully. There
were several so called black market schools,
which was run by associations established
by parents. In the denominational and black
market schools conditions were worse than
the average and as a result of this in the last
decade of the 19th century people living in
farmsteads typically urged the establish-
ment of schools run either by the settlement
or by the state.
In 1903 every school, except for one, in the
town (22 owned by the town and 4 rent-
ed properties) got inspected by the town,
but the maintainer remained the town and
building more new schools stayed the duty
of the town. During this period processes ac-
celerated and by 1910 teaching went on in
36 schools already, 22 of which were newly
built. This number increased to 48 by 1940
and after the world war there more were
32
established. In the second half of the 20th
century the role of schools in the scattered
farm area was pushed into the background
and by the end of the 80’s, beginning of the
90’s nearly all of them were closed, many of
them transformed or even pulled down.
Several of the buildings which stayed in
good condition were restored and given a
suitable function, mostly in connection with
their original purpose, during the past years.
This happened in the case of the schools in
Sóshalom, Bodzapart as well as Mártély (and
hopefully the building in Mátyáshalom, dis-
ordered for the time being, is facing a simi-
lar restoration). Homogeneous external ap-
pearance and similar or completely unified
ground-plan arrangement is typical of these
schools with protection as monuments as
if they really had been built on the basis of
standard planning. A good explanation on
this might be that except one all of them were
built between 1903-1910, which was the pe-
riod bringing the greatest prosperity (the
one in Mátyáshalom was built a few years
earlier). Considering their outlook they can
all be characterized with longitudinal mass,
a simple saddle-like roof and unplastered
brick-architecture with unified decoration
on the eaves and along the ridge of the roof.
A permanent element is the shield of the
town that had built and maintained it made
of ceramics and always placed in the middle
of the longitudinal facade parallel with the
street thus crowning the line of spacious ap-
ertures for windows.
The school in
Csomorkány
• 46° 26’ 15,5” É - 20° 31’ 41,7” K (near the
Csomorkányi church ruin)
Teaching started in1906 in the school of
Csomorkány, in a rented building. The new
school-building built near the church-ruin
was opened in October 1910. The last school-
year finished in 1968-69 in the school. Then
1 first-class, 1 second-class, 4 third-class and

1 fourth-class student attended the school.
The building was pulled down in 1973 and
only a monument shows its place in our
days.
The school in
Bodzáspart – open-
air school
• 3 kilometres from the end of Zrínyi street
• 46° 24’ 07” É - 20° 15’ 44” K
• Telephone: +36 62 245 877
It was built in 1906. Records about its estab-
lishment exist from the beginning of 1903.
(Source: Koncz S. 2005)
It finally closed in 1986. In 2004 the build-
ing was restored from EU sources and in
our days it works as a unit of Varga Tamás
Általános Iskola / Tamás Varga Primary
School) “The old school lying in the green
belt and resounded only with warbling of
birds gives place to several programmes of
the school and the town for nature-lovers.”
(Source: Bodzásparti iskola)
The school in Mártély
• Mártély, Fő utca 45. (45 Main street)
There is no data about its establishment, but
it used to work as a catholic school in 1878-
79 already. There had been a decision about
the construction of the present school-build-
ing, which was com-pleted in 1907. (Source:
Koncz S. 2005)
In 2013 the old buildings were transformed
and an open-air school was made. There
is possibility for the accommodation of 42
people at the same time. Water-block and
a lounge, a playground, a sportfield, a spot
for laying fire and an oven also belong to it.
(Source: Erdei iskola)
33

The school in
Sóshalom, reading
circle
• Sóshalom: 0556/8-10 topographical
number
• Kutasi dűlő, Tanya 1627/farmstead No.
1627 (near the road No 47 between Hód-
mezővásárhely and Székkutas)
• GPS: N 46°, 28,728’ - E 20° 28,764’
It was built in 1909. It is one of the most
beautiful school buildings of the outskirts.
In 1950 a second classroom was added. Until
the beginning of the 1920’s it used to be re-
ferred to as Kutasi school, the name sóshal-
mi was given to it only later (its name was
34
changed in January 1925 as it can be found
near Sóshalom and the railway station near
the school also had the same name). It can
be found 15km from the town near the road
between Hódmezővásárhely and Székkutas.
(Source: Koncz S. 2005)
It functioned as a school until 1985. Then
the Sóshalmi Reading Circle got a classroom
there where they can arrange programmes
even today. (Source: Átadták a megújult
Sóshalmi Olvasókört)
The school in
Mátyáshalom
• GPS: 46° 26’ 31,3” É - 20° 28’ 16” K
It can be found 13 km from the town. Earlier
it used to be called school in Csomorkány,
school No. 2 in Csomorkány or school in the
outskirts of Csomorkány. It has been called
school in Mátyáshalom since 1898 as it is sit-
uated at the end of a large unit of fields in
Mátyáshalom. The present-day building was
erected in 1900. (Source: Koncz S. 2005)
In 2008 it became protected as a historic
building. Today it is empty, falling into de-
cay, in a bad need of renovation and get-
ting a new function. (Source: Megújul a má-
tyáshalmi iskola)

WINDMILLS
Windmills were the most monumental prod-
ucts of popular architecture in the area of
scattered farms around Vásárhely, whose
construction needed serious knowledge of
carpentry and locksmith’s trade. A special
trade, the trade of mill-masters, had been
created for their construction who were spe-
cialized for building them. In Hungary most
mills driven by wind were built between the
Rivers Duna and Tisza and in the southern
part of the territory east of the River Tisza.
Their role was especially important in the
outskirts of market-towns with wide areas
around them where they appeared scattered
evenly. They started to become wide-spread
at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1808
there used to be only 3 of them in the sur-
roundings of Hódmezővásárhely while the
number of ordinary mills was 86 and there
were 16 water (boat) mills.
In contradiction to ordinary mills driven by
animals, windmills were based on wind as
free source of energy. As the work done with
the use of animals had to be paid for, the
poor, who did not have any animals, could
not have grinding done with their own ani-
mals and preferred cheaper grinding done
in windmills. In connection with this having
a windmill built was worth for the miller be-
cause they got their money back through
the increase of the business.
The spread of windmills accelerated highly
in the second half of the 19th century trying
to keep up with the prosperity of crop-grow-
ing, which started at that time. Although
mills driven by wind had a serious rival with
the appearance of steam-mills, these (falling
far behind the European trends) started to
spread in our country in a large number only
very late. On the Great Plain, besides the av-
eragely low level of industrialization, the lack
of the railway-net also hindered the more
devel-oped technology to become exclusive
as the coal needed had to be transported
to the spot continuously. Although with the
time passing more and more steam-mills of
great capacity were established and could
produce flour and coarse meal more effec-
tively (and without depending on the weath-
er), their number used not to be enough still
for a long time and so they were not able to
meet the requirements of the inhabitants
living in scattered farms. Because of this the
hegemony of the wind-mills stayed until the
end of the 19th century. Around 1870 there
were 47 of them and their number might
have increased one and a half times by the
end of the century and even in1924 at least
21 of them were in function (more than half
of them in scattered farms). With the com-
plete decline of the importance of wind-
mills so profitable at earlier times, they were
first let out by their wealthy owners and later
sold usually to the miller working there.
Considering their structure on the Great
Plain and in the surroundings of Vásárhely
mostly the Dutch-type wind-mills with more
levels and with low or with the more modern
upper drive were spread, but less frequent
types with middle-drive must have been
built as well. In Vásárhely the mills were
typically built of bricks or at least the outer
part of the adobe walling was trimmed with
bricks because of the nearby brick-works.
The structure of the mill, from the shovels
35
to the inner mechanism, was made of wood Imre Papi, the last miller of the wind-mill
with iron contact elements at places. The near Erzsébeti road, had been able to make
number of the sails was typically four in this his living from this job until the end of the
area, the six-sail type was less spread here. 1950’s.
In the surrounding of Vásárhely 3 wind-
mills have remained: Papi wind-mill, Imre
Késmárki wind-mill and Piroska wind-mill.
It is only Papi wind-mill near Erzsébeti road
that has a safe future hav-ing protection as
a monument and being the property of the
town museum it can be visited in a con-di-
tion nearly ready for working even today.

Papi wind-mill
• Erzsébeti road: 0231/1 topographical
number (7 kms from Hódmezővásárhely)
• Hódmezővásárhely, Tanya 2310. (Farm-
The wind-mill is the exhibition area of Torn-
stead 2310)
yai János Museum. (Source: Papi-féle szél-
• GPS: 46.4104462215, 20.4612721572
malom)
• Telephone: +36 (62) 533 317, + 36 (62)
533 318 (it can be visited if registered)

It was built by Bálint Csánki in 1856. It got

into the possession of the Papi family in
1891. In 1962 it was declared a historic build-
ing. It is frustum of cone-shaped with four
sails and its lower diameter is 9,7 m, the up-
per diameter is 5,6 m, the height of the walls
is 8,8 m, its roof can be turned round with
a radius of 3 m and a height of 2 m, cone-
shaped. In the inner structure of the mill
there are four floors called as follows down-
wards: gear wheel bench, fast-wheel bench,
stone-bench, flour-bench. At the turn of the
19-20th centuries with the pushing forward
of the artificial mills, the importance of the
wind-mills working in the area of scattered
farms gradually decreased. In spite of this
Imre Késmárki wind-
mill
• Mártély, Tanya 24. (Farmstead 24)
• GPS: N 46° 29,216’ - E 20° 14,692’
• It is in a private area so it cannot be vis-
ited
It was built in the middle of the 19th centu-
ry at a distance of about 1 km from the vil-
lage. Its owners (following the one who had
it built): Sándor Kis and then Imre Késmárki
(from1913 on) millers. The sail of the wind-
mill broke in 1953 and it lost function. In
1966 Ferenc Szalai painter-artist living in
Hódmezővásárhely bought it. Its furniture

36
and fittings were kept and part of the mill-
er’s house located near it was transformed
into a studio. (Source: Késmárki Imre-féle
szélmalom)
Piroska wind-mill
• It can be found in the eastern outskirts of
Székkutas
• GPS: N 46° 30,488’ - E 20° 33,008’
Sándor Szabó, smallholder, built it on the
basis of a special style-design made by
Kálmán Leibert (the date is carved even in
the beam of the building). For a long time
local people called it Szabó wind-mill after
its owner. At the beginning of the 20th centu-
ry a shop and a workshop used to func-tion
near the mill. In 1892 the reading association
of Pusztakutas was formed in the mill. Occa-
sion-ally Hangya Szövetkezet (Co-operative
Ant) of Vásárhelykutas also had its meetings
there. In 1945 it was severely damaged in a
big storm. Until 1950 it still had worked with
electric motor. In the mill, which has no fit-
tings in our days, articles in connection with
the contemporary life of peasants can be
found. At present it is privately owned, but
its owner left i t to its fate. (Source: Java-
slat a „Szélmalom” Javaslat a „Szélmalom”
települési értéktárba történő felvételéhez)
The mill was made world-famous by the
book “Gyakran gondolok Piroskára / I often
think of Piroska” (Ich denke oft an Piroschka)
by Hugo Hartung, which appeared in 1954.
The mill together with the railway station is
an important scene of the book.
37

CHURCHES
The four churches built in the area of scatte-
red farms around Vásárhely in the first part
of the 20th century mark the strongest focus
of development of settlements on the “pusz-
ta”: they appeared in the farmstead centres,
which originally developed from the mic-
ro-settlements of individual farm-steads, in
order to meet the religious requirements of
the inhabitants increasing in their number
con-centratedly. Mártély, unlike the predo-
minantly Calvinist Vásárhely, had always
stayed catholic so it obviously got a catholic
church. In Székkutas Calvinist and catholic
churches were built at the same time while
in Kardoskút, which is at a ddistance of 10
km both from Tótkomlós and Orosháza, pro-
bably due to the Slovakian roots of the po-
pulation, a Lutheran church was built. After
World War II, during the communist era, the
38
atheist state administration did not intend
to build any church buildings when desig-
ning the area of the artificial farmstead cent-
res (1949-1950).
St. Adrian / Hadrian’s
Church
• Mártély, Fő utca 70. (70 Main street)
• Telephone: +36 62 346 289
• Personage: Mártély, Fő utca 66. (66 Main
street)
The foundation-stone of the church had
been laid in 1910. Its consecration was in
1911. Spiritual activity was provided from
Hódmezővásárhely. In 1930 it became an in-
dividual parish. In 1961 it was renewed and
in 1962 electrified. Since 1975 service is be-
ing delivered from outside again. (Source:
Szent Adorján-templom / St. Adrian/Hadri-
an’s Church)
St. Michael’s Church
• Székkutas, Szabadság utca 3. (3 Szabad-
ság street)
• Telephone: +36 62 228 052
It was built in 1924-25 and consecrated in
1925. It had been designed by Károly Kruzs-
licz, architect from Hódmezővásárhely, and
built by Ferenc Tóth Kovács, master-builder.
At the beginning spiritual service had been
delivered from Hódmezővásárhely. From
1st January 1928 registration was done in-
dependently and from 1st October 1936
the personage became independent. It was
renewed and enlarged on more occasions
(1956, 1965, 1975). In 1980 the church got a
new exterior (rock-flour coat of plaster, blue
tower-casque). In 2013 it had a complete
renovation (complete replacing of the out-
side plaster and the roof, entrance suitable
for the handicapped, parking place for the
handicapped, restoration of a part of the co-
lour(ed) glass windows) on EU support. In
1987 it stopped to be an individual parish, at
present service is delivered from Hódmező-
vásárhely. (Source: Szent Mihály-templom /
St. Michael’s Church)
Church of Székkutas
Calvinist Church
District
• Székkutas, Erkel Ferenc utca 22. (22 Fe-
renc Erkel street)
• Telephone: +36 62 293 110
The foundation-stone of the church had
been laid on 23rd September 1925 and it
was consecrated on 17th October 1926. Mi-
hály Elek donated his farmstead of 64 holds
(1 hold = 0,57 hectares or 1,42 English acres)
to the church for the construction. Besides
him dozens of private persons and civilian
organizations supported its building. There
are seats for 200 people in the inner space
of 9 x 16 m. The organ was made by István
Barakovics in 1936. (Source: A székkutasi re-
formátus templom 90 éve / 90-year history
of the Calvinist church in Székkutas)
Lutheran Church of
Kardoskút
• Kardoskút, Tanya 303. (Farmstead No.
303)
• GPS: É 46° 29’ 49” - K 20° 41’ 59”
• Telephone: +36 68 412 402
39
Its foundation-stone had been laid in 1937
and it was consecrated in 1938. In the coun-
try it used to be the first Lutheran church in
the area of scattered farms. (Source: Kar-
doskút - Evangélikus templom / Kardoskút
- Lutheran Church)
Csomorkány church-
ruin
• GPS: É 46° 24’ 51,75” - K 20° 21’ 18,43”
The village of Csomorkány had been first
mentioned in documents in 1231. During the
14th century the settlement being the land-
ed property of the Hunyadi-family devel-
40
oped into a market town. In 1596 as a con-
sequence of the Turkish ravage it had been
definitely destroyed and never again had it
been rebuilt.
The church of Csomorkány may have been
constructed in the last third of the 13th cen-
tury in Ro-man style. At the turn of 13-14th
centuries it had been reconstructed and en-
larged in gothic style. It used to be a long,
narrow building with gothic reticulated vault
and counterparts. After the ravage in 1596
the ruin was strengthened in the 1830’s.
The archeological digging up of the church
started in the last decade of the 19th century
and it has been restarted on more occasions
since then. (Source: Hódmezővásárhely-cso-
morkányi egyház)
41
RAILWAY STATIONS
At the end of the 19th century three new
railway-lines passing Hódmezővásárhely
and its outskirts were built: one main line
and two branch lines. The Szeged-Békés-
csaba section of the main railway-line No.
135 was opened in 1870 by the Alföld-Fiumei
Vasúttársaság (Alföld-Fiumei Railway Com-
pany). Later, in1884 it became the property
of Magyar Királyi Államvasútak (Hungarian
Royal Railway Company) because of the na-
tionalization of the private company. The
Szentes-Hódmezővásárhely section of the
Szolnok-Hódmezővásárhely-Makó district
railway-line No. 130 (HÉV) opened in 1893
and the Hódmezővásárhely-Makó section
opened 10 years later in 1903. The last one,
the Orosháza-Mezőhegyes section of the
Mezőtúr-Orosháza-Mezőhegyes-Battonya
line No. 125 opened in 1893 and the con-
struction was completed by the Békési HÉV.
Railway station in
Mártély
• Mártély, Kossuth utca 7. (7 Kossuth
street)
• GPS: N 46,473293° - E 20,236157°
The building was made as the IV-class
type-design of the HÉV special style-build-
ings of year 1892, in 1893. The railway sta-
tion is in function in good technical state.
(Source: Mártély vasútállomás)
42
Railway station in
Székkutas
• Székkutas, Béke utca 2. (2 Béke street)
• GPS: N 46° 30’ 14,64” - E 20° 32’ 27,58”
It was built in 1870 at the time of the opening
of the railway-line between Szeged-Békés-
csaba. It is an important scene of the novel
“Gyakran gondolok Piroskára” (“I often think
of Piroska”) by Hugo Hartung) (the main
character is in love with the daughter of the
stationmaster). (Source: Székkutas vasútál-
lomás)
REFERENCES
• János Bárth: Szállások, falvak, városok.
A magyarság települési hagyománya.
Kalocsa, 1996, Kalocsai Múzeumbarátok
Köre.
• Ferenc Erdei: Magyar tanyák. Budapest,
1942, Athenaeum.
• Ildikó Horváth Gálné: A Hódmezővásár-
hely környéki tanyák és tanyaközpontok
a tér és idő összefüggésében. Budapest,
2016, ÉK Egyesület.
• István Györffy: A nagykún tanya. Buda-
pest, 1910, Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum.
• Helyi Érdekű Vasutak szabványtervei
(1–4.)
• Antal Juhász: A szegedi táj tanyái.
Szeged, 1989, Móra Ferenc Múzeum.
(A Móra Ferenc Múzeum évkönyve,
1982/83. 2.)
• Sándor Koncz: 150 éves a külterületei
iskoláztatás Hódmezővásárhelyen
• Mezőtúr–Orosháza–Mezőhegyes–Batto-
nya-vasútvonal
• István Nagy (főszerk.): Hódmezővá-
sárhely története a legrégibb időktől a
polgári forradalomig. I. köt. Hódmezővá-
sárhely, 1984, Hódmezővásárhely Városi
Tanács.
• Szeged–Békéscsaba-vasútvonal
• Szélmalmok
• Szélmalom
• Szenti Tibor: A tanya. Budapest, 1979,
Gondolat.
• Szolnok–Hódmezővásárhely–Makó-vas-
útvonal
• Típusépületek

43
 PRESERVETION AND
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT

PRESERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT 46

ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE –
ANCIENT TIME 47
The Roman Stadium 47
The Ancient Amphitheatre 47
The Odeon of Philippopolis 48
The Nebet Tepe Fortress 48
The Roman Aqueduct 49

ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE –
OLD TOWN 49
Kuyumdzhiev’s House 49
Balabanov’s House 50
Hindliyan’s House 51

PLOVDIV – Klian ’s House 51

BULGARIA
ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE –
MAIN STREET 52

ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE –
RELIGION 53
St. St. Konstan n and Elena church 53
„Sveta Nedelya” church 54
Wri en by The Holy Assump on Cathedral
Svetlana Mutafchieva (Uspenie Bogorodichno church) 54
(ASPECT – Management and Intercultural Relations, “Saint Ludvig” Catholic Cathedral 55
Plovdiv, Bulgaria) Dzhumaya Mosque 55
The Small Basilica of Philippopolis 55
Great Basilica of Philippopolis 56

ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE –
TOBACCO CITY 56

44 aurore 44
CRAFTS – KAPANA DISTRICT 56

CULTURE 57

ENTREPRENEURSHIP 57
Plovdiv Fair 57
Trakia Economic Zone 58

NATURAL RESOURCES IN PLOVDIV 58

Dzhendem Tepe (Youth Hill) 58
Bunarzhik (The Liberators Hill) 59
Sahat Tepe (Danov Hill) 59
Nebet Tepe, Dzhambaz Tepe, and Taksim Tepe - the Three Hills 60
Markovo Tepe (Hill of Marko) 60
The Rowing Canal (Rega a Venue) 60

PLOVDIV AREA 61
Winemaking 61
Bachkovo monastery 61
Assen’s fortress 62
Dairies 62

CREATING NEW TRADITIONS 62

PLOVEDIV 62
Milyo 62
Sasho Sweety 63
Plovdiv Together 63
GraffitI 63
The Seventh Hill 63

REFERENCES 63

Coat of arms of Plovidv

45
“Cultural and architectural heritage is an
integral part of the social life of a place.
Although social structures are constantly
developed, they are not necessarily contra-
dicting core traditional values of a place.
Alternatively, opposing completely to core
values of the past and tradition, can dramat-
ically affect core social and human values
that can vitally influence the existence of a
society and its social fabric. Hence, tradi-
tional settlements and buildings that can
be preserved constitute the link between
the past and the modern environment. The
maintenance and preserving of their exist-
ence is not a monumental action but it con-
tributes to the developing of stimuli which
facilitate us to perceive the historical route
and the continuity of our place.”
PRESERVATION
AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria
with a city population of 341,567 as of 2015
and 675,586 in the greater metropolitan
area. It has roughly 8 millennia history and
has been proclaimed the oldest continuous-
46
ly-inhabited city in Europe and the sixth old-
est in the world. The city is situated amongst
seven hills and is divided in two by the Mar-
itza River. On three of the hills was build an
Architectural and historical reserve – The
Old Town, which has preserved historical
layers from Prehistorical, Thracian, Hellenis-
tic, Roman, Byzantine, Middle Ages, Revival,
and Modern Times.
Actually, the city has changed its name many
times through its long history:
• Kendrisos/Kendros (presumed) 4000
B.C.
• Evmolpias/Eumolpia 1200 B.C. – the
Thracians named the city after their
mythical king Eumoplas, son of Posei-
don.
• Philippopolis 342 B.C. – Philip of Mace-
donia named the city after himself.
• Pulpudeva – when the Thracians won
their city back, they named it Pulpudeva,
which is a translation of Philippopolis.
• Trimontium – the Romans named the
city Three Hills when they took over in 42
A.D.
• Puldin/Ploudin/Pulden/Populdin – the
name given to the city after the fall of the
Roman Empire.
• Filibe – the city was known as Filibe dur-
ing the Ottoman Empire.
• Plovdiv – the name was first mentioned
in the 11th century but was replaced by
Filibe during the Ottoman Empire and
reinstated after the city’s liberation.
Nowadays Plovdiv combines a modern and
thriving city center with a quiet and laid
back Old Town, everything dotted with Ro-
man ruins. The city plan has one focal point
and that’s the Main Street.
ARCHITECTURAL
HERITAGE – ANCIENT
TIMES
The Roman Stadium
The Main Street is separated into two by the
Dzhumaya Square where the substantial
ruins of a Roman Stadium that could hold
thirty thousand spectators are on display
beneath the square. Build at the beginning
of 2nd century AD by Emperor Hadrian, near
the fortress wall. It was used for games sim-
ilar to Pythian Games in Greece. Sporting
events were usually accompanied by music,
poetry and art contests. Later in the 4th cen-
tury, this area was crossed by an Aqueduct.
Nowadays only one end of the Stadium has
been excavated and is accessible to the pub-
lic while the main arena is still under the
Main Street. It’s an open-air museum and
is frequently used as a stage for concerts,
small operas, and performances. There are
plans to expose the remains of the runway of
the Stadium building along the entire length
of the Main Street under a glass ceiling. The
seating is mainly under the buildings and
only visible in their basements. Some of
them offer public access to the ruins.
The Ancient
Amphitheatre
Uphill is The Old Town and there is the An-
cient Theatre. It is located on the Southern
slope of the Three Hills, in the saddle be-
tween Taksim and Dzhambaz tepe. Build
in 1st century AD by Emperor Trajan, it was
used until the 4th century. The open-air
spectator’s area includes 28 concentric rows
of marble seats, surrounding the stage (on
some of them still can be read the name of
47
the owner of the seat of honor).
Nowadays it is one of the best-preserved
theaters in the world. Completely hidden
and forgotten for centuries it was excavated
in the 70’s of the 20th century. It was care-
fully restored to its nowadays state. Fully
functional, the Ancient Amphitheater can
hold about 5000 spectators and is heavily
used for festivals and opera performances.
With its perfect acoustics, it’s one of the best
open stages.
The Odeon of
Philippopolis
There is another stage from the Roman pe-
riod in Plovdiv and that’s The Odeon of
Philippopolis. It’s situated near the Central
Square. It’s believed that the building was
originally used as Town Hall but later recon-
structions changed it to Theatre Building.
The Odeon had four construction periods:
from the 2nd century AD (during the reign
of Hadrian) when it was initially built to the
4th century AD, when it was abandoned. It
48
was a rectangular building which compris-
es typical elements for roofed theatres like
skene, orchestra, and a cave with 350 spec-
tator seats.
Nowadays the stage and seating of the Ode-
on is under the open sky and is used for small
performances and concerts. Future plans
include incorporating visitors’ facilities and
further restoration until the previously best-
known state of the structures.
The Nebet Tepe
Fortress
The oldest settlement of Plovdiv is on the hill
of Nebet Tepe (in the Old Town). The com-
plex was part of the fortification system of
the city and contains many historical layers
of its constant expansion and development
until the 14th century.
During a clearing of Nebet Tepe was discov-
ered a unique postern from Roman times
– a secret tunnel in the rock massif out of
the northern wall from the time of Justinian
the Great (6th century). According to certain
suppositions, Apostle Paul passed through
it. There is a preserved staircase in the tun-
nel, which led to the right bank of the river.
Historians believe that the Maritsa River ran
through it in the past. The river bed had been
so great that it occupied today’s Shesti Sep-
temvri Blvd. Storage reservoirs used in ene-
my sieges are also preserved. The rectangu-
lar water reservoir preserved until present
times attracts people’s interest with its size
and capacity of 300,000 liters.
In 2017 a team of archeologist started exca-
vating just below the top of the hill to reveal
the boundaries of the original fortress and
to gather as much information as possible
for the historical layers there. Future plans
include restoration of previous best-known
state (like the ancient theatre and roman
stadium) and permanent exposition and us-
age as a museum and open-air stage.
The Roman Aqueduct
Plovdiv has always been a big city with an
important role in the region, so in the 2nd-
3rd century, the Aqueduct of Philippopolis
was built. It was expensive and difficult to
construct so not many cities in the world
could afford it (there are just a few preserved
in the world nowadays).
The Aqueduct comprises of two main pipe-
lines (one of them 6 km long) supplying the
whole city with fresh water from the springs
in Rhodopa mountain. So in the 2nd century,
Philippopol already had a built pipeline net-
work, which supplied it with approximately
480 liters per second or 43 000 tons of water
annually.
A significant part of the western aqueduct
has been perfectly preserved and in the
1980s it was reconstructed. It can be now
seen on Komatevsko Shose Street, towering
over the busy city traffic. Parts of the Aque-
duct foundations, which later became part
of the city’s fortification system, are exhib-
ited in the new Presentation Centre of the
Ancient Stadium.
ARCHITECTURAL
HERITAGE – OLD
TOWN
A good example of integrating architectural
heritage is The Old Town (the oldest con-
tinuously living part of the city). It’s a living
museum of the type of National Revival ar-
chitecture that developed here (there were
regional differences) in the early to mid-
1800s. The residential buildings here are
exceptionally rich, most could be described
as mansions. Most revival houses are elab-
orately decorated. Walls, ceilings, and parts
of the façades were painted with floral mo-
tifs; ceilings, porches, doors, and furniture
were carved out of wood and painted. By the
mid 19th century Classicism infiltrated from
Western Europe and the Plovdiv, style is evi-
dent only as external decoration. Nowadays
the Old Town is an interesting mixture of pri-
vate houses, museums, hotels, restaurants
and antique shops. The complex also houses
headquarters of artists, writers, poets. There
are craft and art schools which made The
Old Town, not just beautiful remain from the
past but the living heart of the modern city.
Kuyumdzhiev’s House
Probably the most famous house in the com-
plex is the Kuyumdzhiev’s House. Built in
the remote 1847 by the master-builder Hadji
Georgi, it is now home to the Ethnographic
Museum.
Plovdiv Regional Ethnographic museum is
the second largest specialized museum of
this type in Bulgaria. It is an acknowledged
scientific-educational institution and an
attractive center for cultural tourism. The
museum was established in 1917 and since
1938 it has been located in Kuyumdzhieva’s
house, a cultural monument of national
significance. It is located near the eastern
gate of the town called Hissar Kapiia (Hissar
Stone Gate).
It is a typical representative of Plovdiv Re-
49
naissance symmetrical house, defined by
experts as a peak of Baroque architecture
in Bulgaria. The eastern façade of the house
was built upon the ancient fortified wall and
is an inseparable part of the ensemble of
Hissar Kapiia.
At the end of the 19th century the house
became a girls’ boarding school, and later
it turned into a millinery factory, a vinegar
factory, and a flour storehouse. In 1938 the
house was established as a museum and has
been open for visitors since 1943.
Nowadays the museum is a famous tourist
attraction. It offers a demonstration of tradi-
tional crafts and is a co-organizer and a host
of popular traditional festivals such as the
Annual Festival of Chamber Music, The Festi-
val of Classic Guitar, etc., as well as concerts,
biennials, fashion shows, theatrical plays,
book presentations and other kinds of per-
formances.
Balabanov’s House
The Balabanov’s House is another spectac-
ular example for the development of the
symmetrical Plovdiv house and is one of the
most lavish buildings whose spatial com-
position is characterized by the equal role
50
of two perpendicular axes, the one of the
ground floor and the one of the 1st floor. The
exclusively rich elaboration of the architec-
tural detail, of plastic and flat ornamenta-
tion, transcends the pure residential func-
tion and is similar to the features of a public
building.
The house was built in the early 19th centu-
ry and had three owners. Today it bears the
name of its last owner, the tradesman Luka
Balabanov.
The house was unfortunately demolished in
the 30s of the 20th century and was carefully
reconstructed in the 70s, based on photo-
graphic material and schemes, and under
the guidance of renowned Plovdiv archi-
tects.
Nowadays, the ground floor features a per-
manent exhibition of modern Bulgarian art.
The second floor, once having served for in-
viting guests, exhibits Revival period interior
and serves as a popular venue for the hold-
ing of cultural events - chamber music con-
certs, theatre performances, meetings etc.
The traditional “Balabanov’s House Music
Days” festival is held twice a year. There are
also two halls in the basement area, serving
for the organization of temporary art exhibi-
tions.

Hindliyan’s House
Hindliyan’s House was constructed in 1834-
35 by unknown builders and is one of the few
houses in the Old Town of Plovdiv, which has
preserved their original symmetric design.
Its owner Stepan Hindliyan is known as the
founder of one of the four wealthiest fami-
lies of Armenian descent in the town. He was
a prominent merchant, whose business at
the beginning of the 19th century frequent-
ly sent him as far as India, which is how he
earned the nickname of Hindliyan.
The house has a complicated plan, which
adheres to the symmetry only within the
frameworks of the inner space. The ground
floor is organized around a rectangular hall
which is open to three large rooms, a small
bay-window on the street`s side, an en-
trance to the bathroom, changing room and
one staircase to the second floor. The bath
was built following the oriental model, with
domes, vaults, niches, marble floor, a small
basin and floor heating with warm air.
The interior of Hindliyan’s House was rich-
ly decorated, walls and ceilings, by the two
master-icon painters Moko and Mavrudi
from Chirpan. Some of the wall paintings
have survived intact over the years. Paper
stencil was used for the first time here to
paint the standard motifs on the first floor
of the house. All the walls upstairs, includ-
ing the French-fashion niches, were painted
by hand, with the ceilings covered in color to
match the walls. A mirror image of the house
can be seen above the door of the storage
room in the yard, which serves both as deco-
ration and a blueprint of the house. Another
image above the kitchen door is considered
to serve the same purpose- it represents a
mirror image of the less formal part of the
house.
Nowadays the house is a museum and is
used for many cultural events.
Klianti’s House
The beautiful Klianti’s House is the most re-
cently restored – the oldest in the Old Town
Architectural and Historical Reserve. It is sit-
uated opposite Lamartine House, Antov’s
House and the Yellow School – all listed cul-
tural properties of national significance with
remarkable decorative systems.
The house was built in 1816 and was com-
pletely rebuilt in 1846 and the ground floor
was expanded to the north`, forming the
covered yard. The builders were the same
craftsmen who constructed The Holy Moth-
er Assumption Church. In 1882, the western
part of the house was destroyed and with
the division of the building, two separate
houses were differentiated. In 1920, part of
the southeast corner was “cut”.
Since 1949 Klianti’s House has been de-
clared „people’s monument of culture”, and
in 1995 – listed property of national signif-
icance. It has rich interior decoration and
unique architecture. The mural paintings
inside are polychrome with plant ornamen-
tation, bouquets, and vases with flowers. On
the walls, there are richly decorated niches,
cupboards, backgammon wooden doors.
Nowadays the house is municipal property
and is currently open for visitors.
51

ARCHITECTURAL
HERITAGE – MAIN
STREET
The city plan has one focal point and that is
the Main Street. That’s the main completely
pedestrian zone and it houses many theat-
ers, restaurants, galleries, shops and a lot
of town landmarks. Often, The Main Street
itself is defined as a landmark.
In 1896 a Master plan for Plovdiv was creat-
ed. The author of the Plan – Joseph Shniter,
predicted the central artery to be 50 meters
wide. It was from “Tsar Simeon” garden to
Maritsa bridge. The professional followed
the European models because he knew that
the city will grow and the Main Street will
assume even bigger movement. But most of
the city councils had houses that had to be
demolished because of the plan and finally
it was decided that the street will be 8 me-
ters wide from Maritsa bridge to Dzhumaya-
ta and 12 meters wide from Dzhumayata to
“Tsar Simeon” garden. Later when the tun-
nel under The Old town was build it became
completely pedestrian.
52
Nowadays it extends from the Central Square
to Novotel Plovdiv and has a total length of
2.1 km including the bridge, making it the
longest pedestrian street in Europe. Unlike
many historical places here almost every
site is within walking distance of it.
Most of the houses on the Main Street were
built in the early 20th century; their architec-
ture has elements of the Classicism, the Se-
cession, and the Postmodernism. One of the
emblematic buildings is Molle Hotel, built in
1911, designed by the Italian architect Mari-
ano Pernigoni.
The Main Street starts from the Central
Square and “Tsar Simeon” garden. The gar-
den itself has historical significance for the
city. It was created in 1892 by the Swiss
landscape architect Lucien Chevalas (1840-
1921) and is later declared a monument of
park art. For all his contribution to the city,
in 1901 he was declared an honorary citizen
of Plovdiv, and, also, is often referred to as
“the Minister of flowers”.
In 2014 the garden was renovated to resem-
ble its previous look from the time of the
First Bulgarian fair in 1892.
All fountains were restored and a Viennese
pavilion was built in the center of the park.
Its metal openwork construction is a replica
of the 1936-Central Pavilion. All this was pos-
sible with the help of archival photographs
and historical evidence from the Book of
the fair. The pearl on the crown of the park
is the renovated Lake with the Modern Sing-
ing Fountains. Nowadays the park is a focal
point for both tourists and local people.
The Main Street starts from the Main Square
with the Central Post Office whose basement
contains the remains of the Eastern Gate of
Philippopolis, continues over the main track
of The Roman Stadium and right next to its
restored end is the Dzumaya mosque. Just
behind the mosque is The Seventh Hill in-
stallation and then the Old Town. The Main
Street then became the Small Main Street
which passes by the Kapana District and the
Department Store ending with the pedestri-
an bridge over the river.
ARCHITECTURAL
HERITAGE – RELIGION
Places of worship have been built in Plov-
div since ancient times. Through centuries
many religions found their way to the city:
Neolithic people’s beliefs, Thracian and Elin-
istic, later Muslim, Christian, all of these –
and many more – had their shrines and plac-
es of worship, some of which still exist today.
Some temples have been restored and open
for the public as museums, others are still
popular places of worship. Nowadays Plov-
div is a cosmopolitan city of many religions
and their temples coexist peacefully.
St. St. Konstantin and
Elena church
The churches in the Old Town Architectur-
al and Historical Reserve have all been re-
stored and are preferred places for religious
ceremonies. Probably the most famous is
St. St. Konstantin and Elena. It is one of the
oldest Christian churches in the city of Plov-
div. It is situated in the heart of the complex,
right on the wall of the Acropolis.
In 304, at the place where the church is locat-
ed today, the martyrs Severin and Memnos
were beheaded for professing their Christian
faith. The church was built about thirty years
after their death. Throughout the years, the
temple was demolished several times and
then built up again. In 1810 the prominent
weaver of frieze from Koprivshtitza Todor
Moravenov along with Valko Chalakov from
Plovdiv managed to erect the ruined temple
to its present glory.
The newly built temple was one of the larg-
est of its time. It was built by the famous
master of Bratzigovo School, Petko Petkov –
Boz. The iconostasis of the church is unique
for its gilt and polychrome decoration. It was
made in Vienna by John Pashkula of the vil-
lage of Metsovo. He also carved the canopy
over the Holy See and the Bishop’s throne.
The first row of the iconostasis icons was
painted by the famous Bulgarian painter, Za-
hari Zograph. The old iconostasis icons also
date from 14th – 15th centuries.
In the ‘50s of the twentieth century, during
excavations beneath the apse of the church,
53
some attractions such as the rectangular
tower were discovered. It is associated with
the defense of the eastern fortress gate –
Hissar Kapia.
The temple has an icon gallery, where dif-
ferent examples of the icon art are present-
ed in a permanent exhibition. The works of
14th – 16thI century are the oldest and most
valuable in this exhibition, including the
old iconostasis icons of the church, existing
since before its restoration. There are also
works dating from 15th – 18th centuries. The
church is one of the few Plovdiv temples,
whose original frescoes are fully preserved.
The St. St. Konstantin and Elena church has
been functioning permanently since July
2007. A priest has been appointed and he
regularly performs ministrations and takes
care of the temple which is popular place for
wedding ceremonies.
„Sveta Nedelya”
church
The temple dedicated to Saint Nedelya was
built in the early XVII century. It was with
small dimensions and unassuming architec-
ture but with richly decorated iconostasis.
In 1829 the old building of Saint Nedelya was
demolished due to its bad structural condi-
tion and a temporary chapel was built, with
the iconostasis of the old church mounted
in it. The new St. Nedelya church was con-
structed by builders from Bratzigovo with
chief master the famous Petko Petkov – Boz.
The workmanship of the iconostasis was
probably assigned (about 1832-1833) to
Yane Spirov. The famous Debar masters,
Makrii Negriev Fruchkovski, and his broth-
ers, Gyurchin and Trayan, executed the em-
bossment of the column capitals – a fine
artwork similar to sculpting. The majority
of the icons were painted by the famous Za-
harii Zograph, Dimitar Hristov Zograph and
his son Zafir, later known by the pseudonym
Stanislav Dospevski. In 1893 the first bishop
liturgy in Bulgarian language was held in the
church “Sveta Nedelya”.
54
Nowadays the church is fully restored and
many of the original frescoes are preserved.
It is a popular place for worship.
The Holy Assumption
Cathedral (Uspenie
Bogorodichno
church)
The church dedicated to the Holly Mother,
Virgin Mary existed in the 9th century in The
Old Town. During the Ottoman invasion in
Bulgarian lands and after the conquest of the
city in 1371, the monastery near the church
was demolished and completely destroyed.
For years the church remains were forgotten
when in the period from 1844 to 1845, crafts-
men from Bratzigovo constructed a large
new church, built entirely of stone. The main
donor was Valko Chalakov (The Large) of Ko-
privshtitza, who settled in Plovdiv in early
19th century.
During the religious and national fights for
independence of the Turkish Invasion, the
St. Mary church played a crucial role. On
December 25, 1859, Christmas day, Plovdiv
Metropolitan Paisiy together with priest Zla-
tan, chairman of the temple, held a solemn
Holy Mass in Bulgarian for the first time (so
far Greek was the language of the church in
all Bulgarian churches). After the service, the
Bishop officially announced that his congre-
gation denies the Patriarch of Constantino-
ple.
Stanislav Dospevski is the creator of the roy-
al icon of Saint Mary with the Divine Infant
by the iconostasis, which he painted in 1875.
In honor of the 2000th anniversary of the Na-
tivity of Christ, the church was fully restored
and rebuilt. Nowadays the temple is a fa-
vorite place for wedding ceremonies.

“Saint Ludvig”
Catholic Cathedral
The Catholic Cathedral of Saint Ludvig is the
largest Catholic church in Bulgaria, named
after the King of France, proclaimed a saint
because of his exceptional virtuous and reli-
gious life, resembling the life of a monk.
The cathedral was designed and engineered
by Roman architect Alfonso, who was one
of the best connoisseurs of Gothic style and
architecture. Its foundations were placed
in 1858 by Bishop Andrea Canova and were
consecrated and finally completed on March
25th, 1861. The bell tower of Saint Ludwig
Catholic Cathedral was built with funds do-
nated by Pope Leo XIII in 1902. There is a
legend that three centuries earlier the place
was a small house, where Paulician worshi-
pers, who had accepted the Catholic faith,
used to gather.
A major fire in 1932 destroyed most of the
building, which was later carefully restored
to its nowadays looks.
The gravestones of the chairman by sen-
iority of the first meeting of the Eastern
Rumelian Regional Assembly, Archbishop
Francis-Dominique Renaldy and Bishop An-
drea Canova are placed in the middle of the
church. Another valuable object stored here
is a sarcophagus made by the famous Italian
sculptor Professor Gentile. The sarcophagus
is Princess Maria-Luiza’s, the wife of Bulgar-
ian Prince Ferdinand, the mother of Tsar
Boris III, and the grandmother of Simeon II
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Maria-Luiza was deep-
ly connected to Plovdiv and often visited
the city with charitable missions. She was
extremely religious and her godfather was
Pope Pius IX. Nowadays the cathedral is one
of the most beautiful buildings in the city
and an active place of worship.
Dzhumaya Mosque
Dzhumaya Mosque is the main Muslim
shrine in Plovdiv situated by the center of to-
day’s pedestrian zone, west of the Old Town.
The mosque was built on the site of St. Petka
Tarnovska Plovdiv Cathedral Church soon
after the conquest of the city by the Ottoman
army (1363-64). During the reign of Sultan
Murad II (1421-1451) the old building was
demolished and today’s mosque, called Ulu
Dzhumaya Mosque, meaning Main Friday
Mosque, was erected in its place.
The temple is one of the oldest cult Ottoman
buildings of the Balkans. Its construction
shows the influence of Byzantine and Old
Bulgarian architecture technique – two lay-
ers of bricks were built up after each layer of
stone. Unlike the later one-dome mosques,
the Dzhumaya Mosque is amongst the mul-
tiple-domed ones – nine covered with lead
sheets.
The amazing wall decorations inside the
mosque are filled with rich plant ornamen-
tation – twigs, flowers, and garlands, sand-
wiched between medallions with quotations
from the Koran. The frescoes probably date
from the end of 17th and beginning of 19th
century. Analogies of the external and in-
ternal architecture of Dzhumaya Mosque in
Plovdiv can be made with one of the oldest
Ottoman cult monuments in Bursa, Edirne,
and Sofia, built between 14th and 15th cen-
turies.
Nowadays Dzhumaya Mosque is fully re-
stored and is used as an active Muslim tem-
ple.
The Small Basilica of
Philippopolis
The basilica is located on Maria Louisa Blvd
off the center of Plovdiv. The ruins of the ear-
ly Christian church were found during con-
struction works in the area in 1988. The fine
mosaics of the Small Basilica were subject
to emergency conservation soon thereafter.
The temple was located on the eastern out-
skirts of the ancient city, close to the inner
face of the castle wall with a tower from 2nd
– 4th century. The church was near the east-
ern necropolis of the city and the martirion
55
of the 37 Philippopolis martyrs on the road
to Constantinople. The basilica was built in
the second half of the 5th century and con-
tained rich decoration.
In 1995 the basilica and the adjacent re-
mains were declared a national monument
of culture and in 2010 to 2013 careful con-
servation and restoration was conducted.
In 2014 The Small Basilica was opened for
the public and instantly became a popular
site for both tourists and locals.
Great Basilica of
Philippopolis
The Great Basilica is located in the central
part of Plovdiv, next to the Catholic Saint
Ludvig Cathedral and Maria Luiza Blvd. It
was built at the beginning of the 5th centu-
ry probably over an earlier building with a
similar plan which covered the space for two
insulae (quarters defined by four perpendic-
ular streets). It was demolished and aban-
doned, probably in 577.
The large size of the building, the rich deco-
ration of mosaics and the altar area organi-
zation suggest it was the Episcopal Basilica
of Philippopolis.
The remains of the basilica were discovered
during the construction of an underpass in
the mid-1980s. In 2014 a restoration project
which discovered and conserved the build-
ing’s ruins started. The unique mosaics were
removed to the Plovdiv Archaeological Mu-
seum.
The next step of the project is constructing
a protective building around the ruins. After
that, the mosaic will be restored and exhib-
ited. It will be part of a museum complex
including the “Saint Ludvig” Cathedral and
surrounding areas, which will be turned into
a pedestrian zone.
56
ARCHITECTURAL
HERITAGE – TOBACCO
CITY
At the end of the Main Street lies the Tobac-
co City. It is located on the southern side of
Ivan Vazov St., one of Plovdiv’s most beauti-
ful streets. The unique tobacco warehouses
were build during the economic prosperity
in the 1920s. Built in the style of the Vienna
Secession, neo-Classicism and Art Nouveau
the warehouses were designed by some
of Plovdiv’s most talented architects of the
period like Kamen Petkov and Dimitar Pop-
ov. They were commissioned by prominent
tobacco merchants and benefactors, such
as Dimitar Kudoglu, Anastas Kutsoglu, and
Tomasyan. Following the communist coup
in 1944, the warehouses were nationalized.
In 1962, parts of the movie “Tobacco”, based
on the novel by Dimitar Dimov, wеrе filmed
in the quarter.
Nowadays a large number of the warehous-
es have fallen into disrepair due to con-
flicting property claims. Despite being ac-
knowledged cultural-heritage monuments,
only some individual buildings were fully
restored and used. Some buildings are used
for art exhibitions and workshops.
In 2014 chain of events started to draw at-
tention to the quarter. In 2017 a project with
the Municipality and the owners of the ware-
houses was started aiming at restoring the
whole district and bringing it back as part of
the living life.
CRAFTS – KAPANA
DISTRICT
In the center of the city, near the Main Street
is the newly renovated Kapana District (The
Trap). The quarters emerged as a center for
craftsmen 5 centuries ago and in it were situ-
ated workshops of all guilds and from them
were formed several bazaars: tailor, leather,
saddlery, iron, coppersmith, goldsmith ba-
zaars and others. The former neighborhood
was destroyed by a major fire in 1907, after
which new buildings were built where many
legal and commercial firms were estab-
lished.
In 1980 started a new period of revival for
the district as a trade and craft quarters with
maximum preservation of the street net-
work. Many buildings were restored which
gained the status of the neighborhood to be
declared a Group Monument of Culture.
In 1981, a group of architects, designers,
and artists, under the leadership of Arch. An-
toaneta Topalova took part in the exhibition
“For More Beauty in the Living Environment:
Synthesis of Architecture with the Plastic
Arts”, where they presented a project for the
renovation of Kapana turning it into a mul-
tifunctional place for culture by preserving
its authentic outlook. This project had been
awarded a silver medal and a prize by the
Mayor of Madrid when it was presented at
the World Architecture Biennale in 1985.
The project was abandoned after the politi-
cal changes in 1989 but in 1995, the Munici-
pality of Plovdiv won a European project for
cooperation with the Republic of France in
the field of construction and management of
Кapana. The main point in the project called
“New Scenography of the Street Spaces” is
the public spaces. A team from Plovdiv, led
again by arch. Topalova, and a team from
the city of Dijon worked together with local
residents on the aesthetics of the neighbor-
hood and organization of transport, parking,
public services, waste collection.
Finally, from 2013 to 2017 the Plovdiv Munic-
ipality and “Plovdiv 2019” Foundation trans-
formed the quarter into an art center and a
district dedicated to creative industries. This
project was part of the artistic programme of
“Together” – the concept and motto Plovdiv
won the European Capital of Culture 2019.
The nowadays district is almost completely
pedestrian. What’s left of the old craftsman
quarter are the street names - like Kozhu-
harska (Leather Str), Zhelezarska (Iron Str)
and Zlatarska (Gold Str). The name of the
district itself is inspired by the many tangled
small streets which form a labyrinth. It now
houses a contemporary breed of café-bars,
clubs, galleries, workshops, ateliers, studi-
os, cozy restaurants, and shops, as well as
art spaces, and there is even a vinyl shop! All
these places fill Kapana with modern cultur-
al content not only with their daily activities
but also organizing events with social, eco-
nomic and cultural effect for the city, such
as concerts, exhibitions, festivals, forums,
art installations, screenings, workshops and
much more.
CULTURE
Plovdiv has a long history of festivals and
celebrations. Nowadays different events are
held all year round to celebrate traditions
and create new ones.
Most popular events are: the Night of Mu-
seums and Galleries – extremely popular
one, which had to extend to two or more
nights due to the heavy visitors’ interest in
all cultural sites, Kapana fest – fair held in
the renovated Kapana District presenting
both old and new crafts, Traditional Crafts
Fair, Opera Open – part of the opera season,
Shake that Hill – Rock festival held on the
Youth Hill, Days of Thracian culture, Hills of
Rock – Music festival, Plovdiv Jazz Fest, In-
ternational Folklore Festival, Trimontiada,
One Dance Week – contemporary dance fes-
tival, One Architecture Week – installations
and workshops for the people who want to
participate in changing their surronundings,
Balabanov’s house music days, Wines of the
Ages, Drone Up International Film Festival,
Young Wine Parade and many more.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Plovdiv Fair
In 1892 Plovdiv hosted the First Bulgarian
Agricultural and Industrial Exposition. That
57
was the beginning of the exhibition industry
in modern Bulgarian history.
Todays International Fair Plovdiv is the
successor of the First Exposition. The Fair-
ground is one of the largest exhibition ven-
ues in Southeast Europe. It is situated in an
area of 352,000 sq. m. The exhibition com-
plex consists of 17 multifunctional pavilions
best equipped for the arrangement and dis-
play of all kinds of exhibits. The exhibition
area amounts to 159,100 sq. m., the indoor
area is 64,500 sq. m. The modern Congress
Centre of the International Fair Plovdiv com-
prises eight multifunctional halls with 20 to
550 seats. Another 12 halls in various pavil-
ions are also available.
International Fair Plovdiv is the first fair or-
ganizing company in Bulgaria admitted as
a member of UFI - the Global Association
of the Exhibition Industry in 1936. Seven of
its events have fulfilled the high criteria and
have been approved by UFI. These are the
International Technical Fair, the Internation-
al Consumer Goods and Technologies Fair,
the specialized exhibitions AGRA, VINARIA,
MEDICUS, DENTO, GALENIA, PrintCom, and
Foodtech.
58
Trakia Economic
Zone
Trakia Economic Zone (TEZ) in Plovdiv is an
industrial and commercial area and one of
the biggest economic projects in Bulgaria. It
includes six major industrial zones in the re-
gion of Plovdiv with a total area of 10,700,000
sq.m. of which 3,250,000 sq.m occupied
area. More than 140 Bulgarian and multina-
tional companies operate in TEZ which emp-
loy over 12,000 people (as of 2015). Since
1995, TEZ has attracted over EUR 1.1 billion
of fixed-capital investments.
NATURAL
RESOURCES IN
PLOVDIV
Dzhendem Tepe
(Youth Hill)
Dzhendem Tepe is the highest of all the hills
in Plovdiv. Its relative height compared to
the average altitude of the city (164 m) is 143
m. The hill is located in the southwest part
of the city.
The Dzhendem Tepe is the first of the Plovdiv
hills declared a protected territory. As early
as 1970 the southern part of the hill with an
area of 3ha had adopted the status of a na-
tional landmark. Its aim is the preservation
of the natural habitat of rare plant species,
not typical for our flora, including Bulgarian
and Balkan relict endemic tutsan, Astragalus
physocalux, Genista rumelica.
In ancient times it was called the Hill of the
Dryad Nymphs. There was a huge statue
of Apollo in bronze on top of the hill until
Late Antiquity. In the early Christian era,
there was located a large three-nave basili-
ca, which was built on the site of the pagan
statue demolished by the Christians. During
the Ottoman period, it was named Dzhin
Tepe (the Hill of the Spirits), which gradually
changed to Dzhendem Tepe.
Nowadays there is a large park on the Youth
Hill, with a mini railway for kids. The place is
very popular for recreation and even hosts a
few festivals.
Bunarzhik (The
Liberators Hill)
Bunarzhik is the second highest of the seven
hills. Its name comes from the Ottoman word
Bunar (a well), because of the numerous wa-
ter sources. In Roman times it was known
as the Hill of Hercules, as there was a large
statue on the top. The hill is a favorite place
for relaxation and picnics of Plovdiv citi-
zens and it is declared a natural landmark.
The first forestation was carried out along-
side the construction of the monuments of
Russian Liberators and of the Soviet Soldier,
known locally as Alyosha in 1881. In 1901 the
first open-air restaurant, known for its ‘frog
legs’ specialty, was built. After World War II
the Summer Theater was built on the hill’s
outskirts.
Sahat Tepe (Danov
Hill)
Danov Hill (Sahat Tepe) is located in the
center of Plovdiv, west of the Main Street. In
59
the first modern city plan, drawn by Joseph
Schnitter, the hill was named the Hour Hill,
because of the Clocktower on top dating
back to 17th century. It is believed that in
Roman times on the top of the hill there was
a temple of Venus with a sundial. Today the
hill is used as a park for relaxation and gath-
erings of musicians.
Nebet Tepe,
Dzhambaz Tepe, and
Taksim Tepe – the
Three Hills
The Architectural and Historical Reserve
Old Town is situated on the Three Hills. The
ancient fortress is on Nebet Tepe. On Dzam-
baz, which is called like that because of the
steep cliffs on the southeast, where acrobats
and rope tricksters used to give their per-
formances in the antiquity, is situated the
Ancient Amphitheatre. The name of Taksim
Tepe comes from the word Taksim (Arabic for
“distribution”), which refers to the place as
a distribution center of the ancient city. The
waters of the former Roman aqueduct were
collected here and then they were released
60
in different directions across the Three Hills.
Markovo Tepe (Hill of
Marko)
Markovo Tepe was the seventh hill of Plov-
div. It was destroyed in the course of a pe-
riod from the late 19th to mid-20th century
and the material was used as pavement for
the streets in Plovdiv. The site stayed empty
for many years when in 2016 a large public
and commercial building opened there.
Recently the city “regained” its Seventh Hill
with a project that immortalizes writers, who
created their works in Plovdiv, with paving
stones from the destroyed Markovo Tepe.
The Rowing Canal
(Regatta Venue)
The rowing Canal is a sports facility located
adjacent to the Recreation and Culture Park,
near Maritza River. Its the largest of its kind in
the Balkans and rowing competitions can be
held there. The channel is 2 200 meters long,
120 meters wide and three meters deep. The
spectators can enjoy the sports events from
the renovated 800 seats grandstand.
A bridge crosses the Rowing canal. On its rail-
ings, there are hundreds of locked padlocks
which symbolize the “locked love of young
and old ones” as the keys lie somewhere on
the bottom of the canal. The Rowing Canal
is surrounded by jogging and walking alleys,
as well as a cycling alley. Sport fishing com-
petitions are also held here. But apart from
these events, the fishing in the canal is strict-
ly prohibited.
PLOVDIV AREA
Winemaking
The area around Plovdiv also offers some
very good examples of sustainable develop-
ment. Bulgaria especially the Thracian Val-
ley has a rich history of winemaking, so the
tradition is being kept alive and has been de-
veloping in more than 20 boutique wineries
in an 80 km radius from Plovdiv. Daily wine
tasting tours around them are the perfect
way to popularize the local variety Mavrud
which the sommeliers assess as the Bulgar-
ian variety with the highest potential for in-
ternational recognition. Those tours offer
plenty of opportunities to see and even ex-
perience some of the cultural heritage sites.
Bachkovo monastery
Bachkovo monastery is the second larg-
est monastery in Bulgaria, located in the
southern part of the village Bachkovo, 10 km
south of Asenovgrad. It was founded in 1083
by the Georgian Gregoriy Bakuriani, who do-
nated the land. It is thought that after the fall
of Bulgaria to the Ottomans at the end of the
14th century, Bulgaria’s last patriarch Eftim-
iy was exiled to the Bachkovo Monastery.
61
The monastery holds a silver-plated icon
from 1311 known as The Holy Mother of God
Icon. It is believed to have miraculous pow-
ers. The monastery has a large collection of
icons, silver plated covers for copies of the
Gospels and other works of art from the 16th
to the 19th centuries. Treasures from the
17th century include a carved wooden icon
stand with gold ornamentation and the ca-
thedral’s royal doors.
The monastery is still functioning, and visi-
tors have the option of overnight accommo-
dations. The place is very popular for cere-
monies – weddings, christenings, etc. The
monastery and the area around are devel-
oped tourist site. There is a museum where
some of the oldest artifacts connected with
the history of the monastery are on display.
Also, the path leading to the monastery is
lined with small shops and stands that sell
everything the Rhodopa Mountain can of-
fer – herbs, fruit, homemade jam and dairy
products, ceramic items, wood carvings and
much more.
Assen’s fortress
Near the Bachkovo Monastery is located As-
sen’s fortress – the ancient fort that guard-
ed the entrance to the Thracian Valley once
known as “Petrich”.
It first appeared in history books during the
11th century as part of Bachkovo monas-
tery. The earliest archaeological findings
date from the time of the Thracians, the area
of the fortress being also inhabited during
the Ancient Roman and Early Byzantine pe-
riod. In the 13th century, the site was con-
siderably renovated and went on to play a
significant role under the rule of Tsar Ivan
Assen II, from whom Petrich would adopt its
more common name: ‘Assenova Krepost,’ or
‘Assen’s Fortress.’ In the 14th century, it was
completely destroyed by Ottomans and only
the Church of the Holy Mother of God par-
tially survived and later was fully restored
by the local Orthodox community. It has
remained in religious use ever since. Nowa-
days the site is open to tourists.
62
Dairies
The nearby Rhodopa Mountain offers per-
fect opportunities for rural tourism. A good
example is Rodopa Milk Dairy. It was found-
ed in 1993 with main activity milk process-
ing. Located in an ecologically clean area,
the dairy can meet hygiene and technology
standards at European level. As well as pro-
ducing traditional Bulgarian dairy products
they specialize in alternative and eco-tour-
ism and provide their visitors with the op-
portunity to observe the production process
in the enterprise, as is the practice in Alpine
dairies. The Milk House complex established
adjacently to the dairy, offers all the con-
veniences and comfort, dairy specialties and
surprises.
CREATING NEW
TRADITIONS
Ever changing and constantly developing
the city has its old and new “tokens”. Mon-
ument or installations which contain small
mementos, inside jokes even, of people of
Plovdiv.
PLOVEDIV
The sign PLOVEDIV, is mounted on one of
the houses in the Old Town, visible from the
Stanislav Dospewski Street. In 2011 Milen
Gelishev and Simeon Todorov completed
it within the Night of Museums and Galler-
ies – Plovdiv, in the program “City and pub-
lic spaces”. It presents how contemporary
people see the city, their vision for commu-
nication and the creative ways to name and
brand the place they live in. It became pop-
ular very quickly and added one more name
to the already long list of names for the city.
Milyo
On the Main Street, at the foot of the Kamen-
itza stairs, sits the statue of Milyo. He was
not some great historical figure but simply
the town’s idiot. He was goodhearted and
known and loved by everybody in his time.
Often used as a model for artists and pho-
tographers he has already numerous por-
traits but his statue made him one of the
symbols of Plovdiv.
Sasho Sweety
Near the church of St. Petka is the Statue of
Sasho Sweety. Well known and loved jazz
musician, he was popular for his jokes with
the regime.
Plovdiv Together
The sign Plovdiv Together in The Main Street
was erected for the European Capital of Cul-
ture – Plovdiv 2019. It quickly became a pop-
ular place for selfies for both tourists and
local people.
Graffiti
As part of the modern city culture, Plovdiv is
collecting vast graffiti collection. Most pop-
ular are the drawings on the back of the De-
partment Store, and the graffiti on the back
of the Drama Theatre. In Trakia quarter, gi-
ant graffiti is drawn on the entire facades of
a block of flats (usually historical figures or
even poems).
The Seventh Hill
The “Seventh Hill” installation by the sculp-
tor Atanas Hranov is located next to the Main
Street in the middle of the small garden. It
is a symbolic regaining of the long-lost Sev-
enth Hill of the city. The installation is built
with paving stones from the original Mark-
ovo Tepe and contains cast iron plates with
sayings, titles and the names of popular
writers, who created their works in Plovdiv.
REFERENCES
• Шишков С. (2016) Пловдив в своето
минало и настояще (in Bulgarian),
Пловдив, Фондация „Балкански
Културен Форум“
• Roman Plovdiv
• Valandovski D. (2015, March 30).
Excavation project for ‘Great’ Basilica
in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv to focus on early
christian mosaics restoration
• Ancient Plovdiv
• Tobacco City
• Kapana creative district
• Lost in Plovdiv
• Alternative map of Plovdiv
• Plovdiv a touch of art and history
• Plovdiv time (in Bulgarian)
• Капана (in Bulgarian)
• “Rodopa Milk” Dairy
• (2017 September 02) Детското влакче
- един от символите на Пловдив (in
Bulgarian)
• The ancient stadium of Philippopolis
• The Sofia Globe
•
•
Plovdiv Wine Tasting Tour
Асенова крепост (in Bulgarian)
• Richter D. Asen’s Fortress, Bulgaria
• Bachkovo monastery History
• Кривошиева Б. (2017 November
04) Паметникът на Альоша- между
християнските символи, Херакъл и
Супермен (in Bulgarian)
• Христов К. (2017 October 08) Как
пловдивският талисман Мильо оживя
в паметник на Главната (in Bulgarian)
• Добрева Е. (2011 September 05)
Откриха „Седмия хълм“ в Пловдив (in
Bulgarian)
• PLOVEDIV – проект в градска среда (in
Bulgarian)
• International Fair Plovdiv
• Trakia Economic Zone
• Pixabay
63
64
65
 KRUJA CASTLE A
CULTURAL AND
TRADITIONAL
SETTLEMENTS HERITAGE
AND ITS PRESERVATION
MEASURES
BACKGROUND 68
Strategical Framework 68

CASTLE ACTIVITIES 69
Castle-for fica on 69
Mosque 70
Clock tower 70
Tekke 71
Hammam 72
Tradi onal buildings 74
Modern buildings 74
Church 76
Roads 76

KRUJA –
Sewage rehabilita on 76
Crea on of green spaces 77
Tradi onal bazaar 78

ALBANIA
Main na onal museum 79
Ethnographic museum 79
Interpreta on signage 82
Monumental and func onal ligh ng 83

FUTURE INTERVENTIONS EXPECTED 83

Wri‚en by Mul plier effects 84
Ols Lafe
SUSTAINABILITY 84
Uendi Murthi
The financial aspect 84
Arঞ Çiçolli Ins tu onal level 84
(Shoqata Shqiptare e Ambientalisteve Policy level: 85
Industriale, Tirana, Albania) Environmental level 85
Social level 85

66 aurore 66
 Coat of arms of Scanderbeg

67
BACKGROUND
Albania is a country with ancient history and
rich cultural heritage. Notwithstanding lo-
cal tourists, cultural tourisms has a strong
impact on local economies. Destinations
promoting a high quality cultural tourism
in Albania, such as Butrint, Gjirokastra, and
Berat (all of which are UNESCO designated
World Heritage Sites), and Apollonia, Dur-
res, Kruje, Lezhe and Shkodwr offer tourists
a good opportunity to visit unknown place.
With an increasing number of tourists on a
yearly basis, a large number of opportuni-
ties is provided for cultural heritage pres-
ervation (for example the case of Butrint
where the archaeology supplement nature
and the case of Gjirokaster and Kruja where
the castle, historic centre and characteristic
houses offer to the tourists numerous natu-
rally combines values of Albanian heritage.
Investments and rehabilitation of histor-
ic centres has been a priority of Ministry of
Tourism, Culture, youth and Sports also in
cooperation with international organiza-
tions and other donors.
The Kruja Castle is the most renowned me-
dieval cultural heritage monument in Al-
bania, a stronghold of the National Hero,
Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg and nowadays
a highly visited attraction for both foreign
and Albanian tourists. Kruja, the castle and
its environs, stands as a first class national
monument, which offers a complex view
into the history of Albania.
Situated at about 600m above sea level, the
castle has a perimeter of walls of ca. 800 m,
and occupies a surface of ca. 2.25 ha, while
holding inside several cult related monu-
ments (a mosque, a tekke and a church),
as well as houses and two museums. In his-
torical sources the castle is first mentioned
in the 9th century AD and as a fortified set-
tlement in the 13th century AD. During the
13th-14th centuries it became the centre of
the State of Arbër.
68
Strategical
Framework
This site stands in the priority of National
Strategy for Development and Integration
(NSDI) 2007-2013, with regard to the strate-
gic priority to achieve a balanced and sus-
tainable economic, social and human devel-
opment. Kruja Castle stands in compliance
with the NSDI’s visions and strategic priori-
ties in the sectors of Tourism and Culture,
and in particular:
• Tourism: develop special interest tour-
ism, with special reference to cultural
tourism, in the short- to medium term,
by means of enhancing awareness, ca-
pacity-building, territorial planning, and
the overall improvement of the cultural
tourism offer;
• Culture: to improve the restoration of
monuments, standards of management
and treatment of cultural heritage and
support the diversity of contemporary
cultural expressions, while at the same
time mainstreaming culture within cen-
tral and local development programmes
and policies.
In particular, Kruja site contributes to the
eenlightening an important historical asset
of Ottoman Empire history, as well as serv-
ing for:
• inclusion of cultural and natural assets in
tourism development;
• improvement of existing local products
in areas with potential for tourism.
The restoration, rehabilitation, treatment of
existing pathologies of monuments, creation
of green spaces inside the castle, improving
the existing museums as well as restoring
the mosque, hammam, tekke and remnants
of the church are part of the authority prior-
ities. Improving the tourist experience and
the quality of life of the inhabitants is an-
other main goal. By providing a tourist infor-
mation centre, the creation of the ticketing
system and the tourist signage it is aimed at
providing better information and services to
visitors.
The latest intervention has aimed to:
1. Improve conservation/restoration of lo-
cal cultural heritage by implementing
pilot conservation works and develop-
ing capacities of local practitioners, with
special focus on women and youth.
2. Sustain the social and economic inclu-
sion of vulnerable groups at risk of pov-
erty (with special focus on women and
youth) by supporting job creation and
the integration of vulnerable groups in
income-generating activities related to
cultural heritage (e.g. tourism, arts and
crafts, etc).
3. Support sustainable territorial develop-
ment through the better management
of Kruja’s cultural heritage, by increasing
accessibility as an important national
historic site, ensuring the application of
the relevant international standards as
in UNESCO World Heritage Sites within
Albania and abroad.
4. Foster the promotion and increase visi-
bility and practice of cultural heritage-re-
lated tourism in the area of Kruja (and
more generally in Albania).
CASTLE ACTIVITIES
Castle-fortification
The castle is the main attraction to all visi-
tors aiming to arrange a trip to Kruja. Its pre-
dominant location can be easily discerned
while approaching from the main road, as
well as from the traditional bazaar. The fol-
lowing important and indispensable actions
are taken lately and are still ongoing:
• Restore and secure all of the existing ca.
800m long walls.
• Consolidating foundations in some of
the round and rectangular towers as well
as capping of the walls for better visual
impact.
• Reconfiguring of some important ele-
ments, consolidating the stone founda-
tions of the main walls.
69
• Rehabilitation of the landscape after the
consolidating interventions.
• Cleaning of the stone walls fugues and
joints, vegetation and re-fuguing where
necessary.
• Partial reconstruction of the observation
towers and conservation of the existing
elements.
• Cleaning from modern elements (phone
and electric pylons, fences etc).
• Creation of several belvedere-s as part of
the visitor’s experience.
Mosque
The remnants of the mosque occupy an im-
portant part of the area adjacent to the en-
trance of the castle. Situated strategically
between the two museums, the monuments
constitute an important element of the his-
tory of the castle and its people with Islam
over the centuries.
Provisions are made for the following inter-
ventions:
70
• Filling in missing details and consolidat-
ing walls where possible and visible in
order to have a better configuration of
the remaining architectural plan.
• Cleaning of vegetation, partial excava-
tion, levelling.
• Cleaning of the minaret fragment and al-
gae created by long exposure in humid-
ity.
• Extended explanation touristic panels for
the functional environs of the mosque.
Clock tower
The position of the clock tower on the high-
est part of the castle, make it highly impor-
tant as a visual element, which ought to be
treated through the interventions.
• The checking of the hydro insulation
function of the clock tower roof.
• Cleaning of the facades from algae and
replacement of damaged stone mason-
ry.
• Full reconstructing of the wooden stair-
 case to make it more traditional and safe.
• The inner area could serve for informa-
tive aspects, as well as a small alterna-
tive museum and as a belvedere.
Tekke
This monument indicates the presence of
the Bektashi inside and around Kruja. Its lo-
cation on the lower part of the castle, some-
how hidden from view, still makes it part of
the cultural assets of the castle.
• The new bridge built in the year 2000,
could be dismantled in the mid-term
perspective and the reconfiguration of
the old access route, which traces are
clearly present can be a good solution.
• A return to identity of the monumental
graves in the courtyard of the tekke, by
restoring their elements.
• The restoration of the facade of the mod-
ern annex of the tekke, by proposing a
traditional facade, in order to integrate it
with the complex.
• Reconsidering the modern tekke build-
ing outside the tekke complex, possible
removal may be a solution.
• Paving of the courtyard with cobble
stones, and the addition of new cobble
stone pavement at the existing one.
• The creation of recreational elements in
the two belvederes next to the tekke.
• Consolidation of foundations on the
north-eastern side, based on observa-
71
 tions of cracks on the facade of the mon-
ument.
• Re-joining of openings, aesthetical in-
terventions of the fugue of the whole fa-
cade, filling in additional elements and
the checking the functional capabilities
of the roof, by fully dismantling, new hy-
dro insulation, preserving the good roof
tiles, and replacement of the damaged
Hammam
The hammam building is located adjacent
to the tekke. Through the restoration and re-
habilitation of the monument, it is sought to
create the first in-use hammam in Albania.
• Cleaning of vegetation and joints of
stone masonry.
• Checking the functional aspects of the
72
roof tiles with new ones of the same type.
• Cleaning of interior of tekke from humid-
ity affected elements, and the creation
of an opportunity for the consolidation
of the fresco if it results damaged by high
humidity already observed inside the
monument. Conservation and preserva-
tion of existing wooden elements on the
facade.
roof, taking into account the high level of
humidity inside the monument.
• Dismantling the existing roof tiles, and
the revitalisation of arcades and cupo-
las.
• The creation of the new hydro-insula-
tion covers for the whole building, and
the remodelling with mortar of the tiles,
replacing the damaged ones.
• Inside the hamman, it is proposed to fill
 in the missing wall plaster within the ex-
isting structure, as well as filling in miss-
ing constructive elements.
• The pavement of the floor with stone ele-
ments, highlighting the existing reserved
elements.
• The changing area is proposed to be cov-
ered by a new roof, which will increase
the use of the hammam, enabling the
government to rent out the building
while creating a solid revenue from its
sustainable use.

73
Traditional buildings
Large one and two storey high traditional
buildings still exist within the castle walls.
Their state of reservations is not good, and
in same cases urgent intervention is requi-
red. Some of the houses are not inhabited
and the rest, have been restored in a wrong
way. We propose the thorough construc-
tive analysis of each building, replacing
constructive elements such as beams and
wooden columns, ceiling constructive de-
corative elements and the reshaping of the
constructive elements within the roofs. Af-
ter the reinforcement of the constructive
elements, the aesthetical treatment of the
exterior may begin. This action consists in
the refreshment of the roofs with traditional
tiles, after being treated with hydro insula-
tion material, the tiles can be mounted as
in other cases, with mortar, which are pre-
ceded by the restoration of the exterior roof
covers, which if deemed appropriate must
preserve their solid authentic elements. In
the traditional buildings the newly inserted
elements in a naïve and sporadic way will be
removed.
In the façade elements, such as doors and
windows, their conservation will be enabled
by treating them with anti-insect solutions:
• Restoration of wall plaster, painting with
traditional white wash.
• In the respective gardens, the garden
walls will be restored, reaching the ori-
ginal quotes, and the completion with
extra stone masonry walls when needed,
and vegetation removal. Original entran-
ces will be preserved and restored, ser-
ving as a model for the modern buildings
rehabilitation process.

Modern buildings
The modern buildings inside and near the
wall at the exterior of the castle, present in
an ugly way architectural fragments, impor-
ted and deformed, which makes the existen-
ce of those buildings unacceptable for the

74
historic setting of the castle. The imposing
proposals for the future for the residents
of those objects, will consist in the rehabi-
litation of these buildings in traditional ele-
ments, where the return in a stylized form of
the elements which are evidenced and va-
lued in the early buildings.
These interventions will be a good synchro-
nisation of the exterior architecture in full
coordination with the existing construction,
the latter being hidden under the now tradi-
tional cover.
75

Church
The church remains, situated on the
north-eastern part of the castle complex,
next to the clock tower and the fortification
wall, is a one nave church, where what has
been conserved until nowdays is only the
perimeter of the walls in low levels, and the
whole has been covered with an existing
wooden cover, too heavy and competes with
the monument itself.
Inside the church, only on the south-western
side, can be found traces of the early fresco
walls, which is part of the floral decoration
of the lower level stripe.
It is proposed to test excavate the rest of the
church to clarify the lower possible levels of
its foundations. The removal unnecessary
elements of the masonry, cleaning the exist-
ing walls and relying on traditional methods
for its realisation, and if needed, after the
removal of the existing cover structure, this
could be replaced by a new metal cover, inox
or hard aluminium, or chromed iron, cover-
76
ing it with a stratum of polycarbonate where
the introduction of natural light would be
present, making this monument visitable,
both in terms of space and necessary light
influx.
Roads
Only a small part of the inner network of the
castle has been recently restored, while a
large part of the existing network needs con-
siderable intervention to refresh their con-
tour and improve lost levels. Another sec-
tion of those roads seems to have been lost
forever. The intention is to rebuild those lost
passages, working with the same technique.
Sewage rehabilitation
Part of the traditional and modern buildings,
being enlarged and trying to adopt to mod-
ern needs, have been using large quantities
of water and thus dispose along and outside
the fortification walls their excess water.
This not pleasant view is to be fixed through
the construction of hidden collectors, which
will collect all the waste water from all pos-
sible houses, and if possible to be connected
to the main city waste water treatment or
another bio treatment facility. This would
enable the disappearance of the pipes pro-
truding on the south eastern façade of the
fortification wall.
Creation of green
spaces
The underlining of lost green space inside
the castle, between houses, roads and forti-
fication walls, it is proposed to create green
spaces, combined with low and medium,
and partially high vegetation. The plans will
be typical Mediterranean, as part of an inner
treated landscape.
The stone passages and the green space of
those areas would create a pleasant back-
ground putting forth the main elements of
this monumental complex. This would final-
ly put an end the sporadic parking which can
be easily seen within the castle, which alter
the functional image of the main squares of
the castle.
Having in mind the large level differences
within the castle, combined with the pebble
roads and green spaces, as functional and
aesthetical part, would be the retaining and
division walls of those levels. Those would
77
 create comfortable squares for recreation-
al uses, using the dry stone masonry tech-
nique.

Traditional bazaar
The traditional bazaar of Kruja, despite the
fact that has constantly been in the focus of
restoration interventions since 1961, shows
signs of degradation both from the urban
silhouette as well as the architectural ele-
ments. It can be clearly spotted the inter-
ventions which have fallen outside the tra-
ditional contours. The owners which have
replaced important elements with ordinary
elements, have brought inescapably the loss
of its traditional image. The tendency to
save this complex, although at a certain dis-
tance from the castle walls, would propose
the immediate freeze of all construction,
both illegal and non-professional in it. The
analysis and study of the function of old ma-
terials still preserved today, will be followed
by several actions such as:

78
• the creation of a complex and profes-
sional proposal for the preservation of
older elements where possible,
• the replacement of damaged parts, es-
pecially wooden elements, with similar
ones both in terms in colour and durabil-
ity,
• the unification of late interventions with
earlier professional ones, the return
in the original state, of all new window
openings which have damaged the val-
ues of the south-western facades of the
bazaar.
• the last intervention would be aiming
the restoration of the roofs, from the first
to the third level, which apart from the
structural reconstruction, will be treat-
ed preserving the original tiles, the con-
nection with mortar, the characteristic
covers, and the preservation of various
levels, quite characteristic and easily
identified in the still intact older parts.
An urgent matter would be the halt on each
spontaneous intervention until the serious
and complete intervention we are propos-
ing.
Main national
museum
The authorities intervention aim to rehabil-
itate, promote, protect the artifacts as well
as the bring people closer to the museums.
They play an extremely crucial role in pre-
senting in full details the history of the coun-
try as well as they are an important part on
the creation of revenue from visitors. The
rehabilitation of the elevator, heating and
cooling system has been foreseen.
Ethnographic
museum
The museum is situated in a traditional
house, which will be fully restored, main
original elements will be preserved and in-
ternal lighting and presentation materials
will be fully reconfigured. The garden of the
museum will be rehabilitated, offering extra
space for evening outdoor activities during
the dry period.
79
80
81
Interpretation
signage
In the signalling system of this complex,
there will be two kinds of information pro-
vided, short and orienting, and long infor-
mation, with reduced historical elements.
The information network for the short and
orienting section, will begin at the main en-
trance of the castle, on the north-western
part, where the respective map and passag-
es of the castle will be situated. This map
will include brief explanations on the main
monuments within the castle.
A carefully studied network, will be used, in
order to inform on the access or not, accord-
ing to the values and possibilities of visits.
This will be made in order to have visitors
orient themselves quickly and easily in the
areas they want to go. The information pan-
els, with extended information, which will
placed nearby the monuments, will provide
the historic values, monumental values and
events of other important data related to the
monument. These panels, may be proposed
to be used accompanied with illumination
adopted for evening visits.

82

Monumental and
functional lighting
The limited existing illumination, will extend
to all the areas where revitalization is need-
ed. The functional lighting follows the peb-
ble roads, until the entrances of the various
monuments of this complex. The functional
lighting systems is divided into two types:
the low type, aimed at enhancing passag-
es, and high types, which lights widely the
passages as well as different elements of the
recreational areas inside the castle, enabling
their use in the evening and night.
The monumental lighting is categorised
within its own type, into exterior and interior
type. The main exterior monumental type of
lighting will be the one devoted to the main
fortification walls of the castle, placed at
the lower level of the walls, with warm col-
ours in yellow, in combination with the local
stone, trying to emphasize the important
moments of this perimetral fortification. On
the exterior facades of the monuments of
the complex, various ways will be used for
the lighting, depending on the architectonic
styles, such as in the case of linear facades
the lighting intends to be fully extended,
while in the composite facades the lighting
follows the peculiarities of the style, in order
to highlight as much as possible, the differ-
ences, and show the elements within them.
In the inner monumental lighting, could
emphasize the case of the tekke, where
the spot-like lighting, using a certain angle,
would enhance the appreciation of the main
cupola decoration and auxiliary arcades and
arches, while in the case of the upper part of
the hammam cupola, particular attention is
given to the beautiful and rigid structures
brought back after a long time, and will be
evidenced by the proposed lighting.
FUTURE
INTERVENTIONS
EXPECTED
Interventions will aim at increasing the pos-
itive impact and image of the castle and the
country, protect the monumental complex,
surges the life span of degraded materials,
and increases the use of income and com-
fortable visits. The rehabilitation of public
space, museums and monuments, as well as
the inner and outer illumination of the castle
complex will allow for better appreciation of
the history.
A special focus has been placed at the way
how the main national museums are man-
aged and presented and a radical improve-
ment of the messages they transmit. A full
intervention, would pave the way for a better
presentation of the artifacts, as well as serve
as a model for the rehabilitation of smaller
national museums across the country.
Specifically, some of the expected results of
the proposed intervention as foreseen are:
• Awareness raised (public and institu-
tional) on the importance of preserving
cultural heritage and mainstreaming
it into local and national development
programmes
• Conditions established for the creation
of job opportunities and the develop-
83
 ment of business activities related to
cultural heritage, both directly (restora-
tion works, museums, etc) and indirectly
(tourism, traditional cultural produc-
tions)
• Local sustainable development fostered,
by means of improving the safeguarding
and management of cultural heritage, as
well as the local tourism strategy and ac-
tion plan
• Socio-economic conditions of vulnera-
ble groups (with special focus on wom-
en and youth) improved, by means of
their inclusion in the safeguarding of
cultural heritage and in heritage-related
income-generating activities.
Multiplier effects
The concept of interventions, based on pre-
vious good practices developed by UNESCO
at international level as well as Albanian
government at local level, is designed in
order to be replicable in any other cultural
heritage site in Albania, such as the related
national tentative list (Durrës Amphitheatre,
tombs of the lower Selca and natural and cul-
tural heritage of the Ohrid region). In addi-
tion, the experiences developed throughout
the project may be used to better tune the
project’s methodology on the specificities
(institutional, operational, socio-economic)
of Albania, thereby facilitating its possible
replication elsewhere in the country.
In this sense, one of the key added values for
the implementation and possible interven-
tion replications consists in the comprehen-
sive and balanced composition of the key
relevant actors. The role of the local gov-
ernmental authority with specific mandate
on both culture and tourism is associated
to the complementary role of the persons
from targeted vulnerable groups and public
whose combined action and responsibili-
ties will be of crucial importance not only
in terms of implementation, but also with
regard to outreach and communication/dis-
semination capacities.
he combined action of relevant Albanian
84
partners in implementing Knowledge Man-
agement activities on the theme of culture
and development, will enable the messages
delivery intended to informing future culture
and development programming and policy
in Albania. In this sense, the intervention re-
sults and lessons learned will turn valuable
and functional to raising awareness on the
importance of Albanian cultural heritage
both as a driver and enabler for sustainable
development, thus advocating for the main-
streaming of culture and cultural heritage
within national and local development strat-
egies.
SUSTAINABILITY
The financial aspect:
• The activities related to the conservation
and management of cultural heritage
and the promotion of cultural tourism
supports and enhances the existing poli-
cies and programmes of the relevant na-
tional and local authorities.
• The status of the venue as a first class
national monument (determining an en-
hanced visibility and attractiveness) will
continue ensuring a competitive advan-
tage in terms of fund-raising for its future
safeguarding and management, both
with regard to public funding as well as
to alternative means of resource mobili-
zation.
Institutional level:
• Institutional sustainability will be en-
sured by the direct inclusion of all rele-
vant institutions in the project design
and implementation. Therefore, the ac-
tor partnership shall determine the full
ownership of activities by the concerned
institutions.
• As already stated for what concern the
financial sustainability, the intervention
activities are designed with a view at
ensuring their coherence and function-
ality with regard to the already existing
policies and programmes of the relevant
 national and local authorities. In particu-
lar, the direct involvement of relevant in-
stitutions through the intervention will
have an impact in the sense of building
capacities for the continuation of their
action on the concerned issues.
Policy level:
• The action at policy level is one of the ba-
sic elements of the interventions meth-
odology and of its comprehensive ap-
proach. In particular, it aims to increase
the sustainability of current policies in
the concerned fields of action, especially
by means of the activities on the assess-
ment and implementation of cultural
heritage- and tourism-related policies.
• The sustainability of the mentioned ac-
tion at policy level will be ensured by the
direct operational involvement of relat-
ed government agencies, both at local
and national level, throughout the entire
design and implementation of the pro-
ject.
Environmental level:
• The interventions planned do not in-
clude any activity having a potential
negative impact on environmental sus-
tainability. On the contrary, the support
offered to the safeguarding of built herit-
age will also contribute to the reduction
of environmental risks associated to the
deterioration of such heritage.
• Similarly, the activities on the safeguard-
ing/management of cultural heritage are
based on previously accomplished as
well as future risk assessment exercis-
es, encompassing the possible impact of
environmental risks, and therefore con-
tributing to a better integration of herit-
age-related and environmental policies.
Social level:
• The inclusion of vulnerable groups and
the improvement of their social and eco-
nomic conditions is a must. Such objec-
tives will be pursued by means of a com-
prehensive approach integrating three
complementary and mutually reinforc-
ing fields of action: 1) the indirect (ca-
pacity-building) support to vulnerable
groups for their participation in cultural
heritage- and tourism-related income
generating activities; 2) the improve-
ment of cultural heritage conservation
and management; 3) the improvement
of tourism development policies and
programmes. In so doing, the activities
directly targeting the inclusion of vulner-
able groups will be supported by a syner-
gic action aimed at enhancing the safe-
guarding of the site and its attractiveness
as a tourism destination, thereby build-
ing essential elements of sustainability.
• In turn, the inclusion of vulnerable
groups will create the right conditions for
the sustainability of the entire project, as
it is expected to have a positive impact
on social cohesion, which is a necessary
condition of a durable and equitable de-
velopment.
85
 THE ROLE OF TOURISM
IN SUSTAINABLE
HERITAGE
MANAGEMENT
INTRODUCTION 88

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 88

CASE STUDIES 91
Siedlęcin 91
Ślemień 94

CONCLUSIONS 96

REFERENCES 97

SIEDLĘCIN /
ŚLEMIEŃ –
POLAND

Wri en by
Michał Ryszard Koskowski
Kazimierz Waluch
(Founda on IRSiE, Warszawa, Poland)

86 aurore 86
 Coat of arms of Ślemień

87

INTRODUCTION
The article explores the complex relationship
between heritage, socio-economic develop-
ment and tourism, within the framework of
sustainability. The narrative’s central prem-
ise states that heritage management is a pro-
cess that impacts and is impacted by both
the tourism growth and the socio-economic
change, which is particularly important and
visible in the case of traditional settlements
(see Fig. 1). Two examples of heritage sites in
Poland have been selected to illustrate the
concept: a Mediaeval tower-castle and the
surrounding rural estate in Siedlęcin, Lower
Silesia; and an open-air museum of folk life
and architecture in Ślemień, Beskidy Moun-
tains. Both cases, despite their contrasting
origins and character, offer an opportunity
to study the key factors and functions of her-
itage management today.
Fig. 1. Heritage management aspects discussed
in this article. Source: authors’ own compilation
88
The article begins with a review of relevant
literature to review the relationship between
tourism and culture, to introduce the con-
cept of sustainability, and to explain the role
of heritage tourism in sustainable develop-
ment. Then, a brief historic and ethnograph-
ic account is given of each of the selected
case study sites, followed by a closer exam-
ination of the difficulties and opportunities
that arise from particular methods of herit-
age protection and interpretation observed
at the two locations.
The overall conclusion of the article is that
despite the dominance of site-specific
solutions, a balanced mix of economic and
socio-economic functions - including the
prominent role of heritage tourism - coupled
with appropriate conservation efforts is the
preferred approach in site management for
sustainable development based on cultural
heritage resources.
CONCEPTUAL
FRAMEWORK
Tourism is increasingly recognised as a ma-
jor, global economic force, that contributes
to economic growth, job creation, and infra-
structure development. In 2016 internation-
al tourism generated 10% of world’s GDP,
and as an export category it ranked third,
after chemicals and fuels; international ar-
rivals reached over 1.2 million globally and
international tourism receipts amounted to
1.2 billion USD (UNWTO, 2017). Considering
that spending by domestic tourists typical-
ly surpasses that of international tourists by
approximately three to one (Deloitte, 2010),
tourism can easily be pictured as a substan-
tial economic phenomenon.
However, tourism is also a cultural activity.
Tourism and travel feature in almost every
known culture, driving social change and re-
generation, and culture remains one of the
fundamental tourism assets, as a rich source
of experience, education and entertainment.
Monuments and sites, museums and art gal-
leries, sports and religions, festivals and mu-
sic events are among the key pull factors in 2015; Kay Smith & Diekmann, 2017; Kim,
domestic and international tourism. In Eu- Uysal, & Sirgy, 2013). Insufficient or superfi-
rope only, it is estimated that almost 50% of cial community engagement, overemphasis
all tourism activity is motivated by cultural of the needs of the tourists – only partially
heritage (Europa Nostra, 2005; Europa Nos- justified by the commercial imperative –
tra et al., 2015). All the same, tourism is one compounded by seasonal price variations,
of the vital sources of revenue for cultural in- overcrowding, radical cultural differences
stitutions and for host economies in general, and other factors may indeed fuel host com-
as well as a powerful rationale for cultural munities’ hostility towards tourism devel-
policy makers (Koskowski, 2015; Rebanks, opment (Garrod, Fyall, Leask, & Reid, 2012;
2010; Waluch, 2004). It can be argued that Leask, 2016). Frequent references to the fa-
tourism, and especially heritage tourism, is mous Doxey’s Irritation Index (Pavlić & Por-
indeed the most profitable field of interac- tonal, 2016; Reisinger, 2009) highlight that
tion between economy and culture, effec- antagonism is only a few steps away from
tively bridging the two seemingly separate euphoria, and the relationship between the
worlds (Koskowski, 2006). visitor and the visited is a delicate matter
It would be expected, therefore, that tour- (see Fig. 2).
ism management should make a significant
part of the process of heritage management.
In reality, however, heritage administrators
– or others responsible for the day-to-day
management of heritage sites – represent
strikingly diverse approaches to tourism.
Tourism can be treated as anything from a
nuisance to a goldmine. Visitors at heritage
sites should therefore be prepared to be
shunned, ignored, or exploited, just as well
as to be entertained and celebrated. Many
a heritage manager is still finding it difficult
to depart from the traditional “curatorial ap-
proach”, prevailing in 1990s, focused on car-
ing for and maintaining a historical proper-
ty, where the issue of public access remains
at best a secondary matter and sometimes
even a source of threat (Garrod & Fyall, 2000;
Stone, 2006). At the same time, some man- Fig. 2. Doxey’s Irritation Index
agers cannot resist transforming heritage Source: Reisinger (2009, s. 221)
sites into visitor attractions, at the expense
of quality and content of their interpretive
At heritage sites things are yet more com-
and research programmes (Graham, Ash-
plicated. Among the many elements that
worth, & Tunbridge, 2016; Landorf, 2009).
are at stake in this context is a combination
Equally diverse in intensity and direction are
of community values, heritage values, and
the host communities’ feelings about tour-
tourists’ interests. As said earlier, tourism
ists on their doorstep. Numerous research is often seen as a solid source of revenue –
papers have explored this issue in recent even its own self-image is that of predomi-
years to study the factors that influence lo- nantly an economic activity (Europa Nostra
cals’ affection (or the lack of it) for the vis- et al., 2015; European Tourism Manifesto,
iting strangers (see for example: Almeida 2017). What remains somehow ambiguous is
García, Balbuena Vázquez, & Cortés Macías, the role that tourism plays for heritage sites

89
and local communities. Indeed, the risks as-
sociated with tourism development at herit-
age sites cannot be downplayed: commod-
ification and loss of authenticity, erosion of
traditional landscapes and values, and the
latest menace of over-tourism – are recog-
nised and real threats to heritage conserva-
tion and interpretation, social stability and
cohesion (Garrod & Fyall, 2000; Higgins-Des-
biolles, 2017).
It should not come as a surprise, therefore,
that the complex relationship between cul-
tural heritage and sustainable development
has been a subject of significant political
and academic activity in the last two dec-
ades (Garrod & Fyall, 2000; Pereira Roders
& van Oers, 2011; UNESCO, 2013; Zolfani,
Sedaghat, Maknoon, & Zavadskas, 2015). It
is now widely understood that heritage can
both be the driver and the objective of sus-
tainable development: destinations rich in
cultural heritage can enjoy higher levels of
wellbeing, tolerance and safety, environ-
mental quality, greater social cohesion, and
more integrated spacial planning policies;
investment in heritage preservation and
conservation is reported to create numer-
ous socially beneficent externalities (Europa
Nostra et al., 2015). However, as this paper
points out, specific decisions tend to be
highly site-specific. In the case of built her-
itage, the choice of solutions and interven-
tions ultimately depends on the character
of the site, its setting and degree of preser-
vation, and on the nature of its relationship
with its stakeholders, in particular the tour-
ists and the local community.
The concept of sustainable development it-
self has a long and turbulent history. In short,
since the momentous Brundtland Report
(Brundtland, 1987) it has become a by-word
for efficient management of the World’s lim-
ited resources – minimising impacts and
maximising benefits. Sustainability is typi-
cally envisaged as the right balance of eco-
nomic growth, environmental protection
and social responsibility – recently, the UN
Hangzhou Declaration has elevated culture
to become the fourth factor of sustainable
90
development (UNESCO, 2013). As far as tour-
ism is concerned, the United Nations World
Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) embedded
the concept of sustainable development in
its Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, whose
Article 3 posits that the tourism-induced
economic growth should satisfy “equitably
the needs and aspirations of present and
future generations” (UNWTO, 2001). The UN
Sustainable Development Goals embrace
both heritage protection and promotion of
sustainable tourism (United Nations, 2015).
The EU has also issued a number of rele-
vant policy documents in this field (Europa
Nostra et al., 2015), and launched a system
of indicators, known as ETIS, encouraging
tourism destinations to adopt a balanced
approach to tourism planning (European
Commission, 2016). Recently, the United Na-
tions announced 2017 an International Year
of Sustainable Tourism for Development to
highlight the tourism’s potential for “posi-
tive change, prosperity and wellbeing” (UN-
ESCO, 2017).
As demonstrated above, the dominant nar-
rative maintains that positive aspects of
tourism outweigh the threats it carries for
communities, economies, culture and her-
itage. The European Year of Cultural Her-
itage 2018 will also undoubtedly demon-
strate that heritage and tourism are closely
linked and positively interdependent. Her-
itage sites should therefore be expected to
embrace the powerful ally in the person of
a cultural tourist who, equipped in high-
er-than-average cultural and financial capi-
tal (Rebanks, 2010), brings income and glob-
al recognition to often remote locations and
disused buildings. However, even assuming
the net positive social and economic effects
of tourism, the stark warning once uttered
by Hewison (Hewison, 1987) remains valid:
the tourism-heritage relationship needs to
be carefully managed to prevent economic
forces from turning heritage into yet another
branch of the entertainment industry.

CASE STUDIES
Two sites have been selected to realise the
objective of this study: a Medieval tower-cas-
tle in Siedlęcin and a contemporary open-air
folk museum in Ślemień; both in the south of
Poland (see Fig. 3). The two sites represent
Fig. 3. Geographical position of the two case-study sites described in the article
Source: authors’ own compilation
Siedlęcin
The tower in Siedlęcin (Fig. 4) was construct-
ed in years 1313-1315 by Henry I, Duke of
Jawor (Nocuń, 2016). Originally built as a
large, defensive-residential keep (perhaps a
hunting lodge), surrounded by a wall and a
moat, the castle in Siedlęcin is a typical ex-
ample of a dwelling of this type in Central
Europe. Located in the heart of the Duchy
of Jawor and Świdnica, one of the richest
regions of Central Europe at that time, sit-
uated at an important trade route and river
crossing, and close to an already settled vil-
lage, the tower was one of over fourty keeps,
built by Henry I and his father Bolko I at the
break of the 13th and 14th centuries (Adam-
different historical periods, functions, types
of ownership and approaches to heritage
preservation and interpretation. Neverthe-
less, both are purposefully open to visitors
and offer the chance to explore the challeng-
es and opportunities associated with herit-
age management and the role of tourism in
the process.
ska, 2016; Nocuń, 2016).
The tower has not changed much since the
day it was built, apart from natural wear and
tear, necessary repairs and slight interior
repurposing, including changes in function
that followed several changes of ownership.
In consequence, it still boasts most of the
original timberwork and other structural ele-
ments (Nocuń, 2016). The tower’s surround-
ings developed more substantially in time.
Almost since its founding, the estate had
economic functions and included a couple
of water mills, several fish ponds, a grazing
meadow and a sheep shed. Today, the set-
tlement also includes a manor house (that
incorporated the original gatehouse) and a
number of partially ruined agricultural out-
buildings in the farmyard; since the late 18th
91
 Fig. 4. The tower in Siedlęcin and the farmyard buildings
Source: Elżbieta Wojczuk, www.facebook.com/wiezasiedlecin
c. most of the castle moat has been filled in.
Recently, the area has been the subject of
extensive archaeological excavations that
shed new light on its complex history. The
community that grew around the tower and
on the other side of the river is now an aver-
age-sized, Silesian village, with two church-
es and a (currently disused) train stop. It is
conveniently located only 5 km away from a
sizeable city of Jelenia Góra, which remains
the main source of employment and visitors.
What makes the tower in Siedlęcin stand
out as a tourist attraction, apart from its ob-
vious historical value, are the decorations
of the great hall of the keep, located on the
second floor. Today, they are the only sur-
viving, 14th c. mural paintings depicting
the story of Sir Lancelot, conserved in their
original place (Witkowski, 2001) (Fig. 5).
The paintings, whose unnamed author may
have come from as far as Switzerland, were
commissioned by Duke Henry I and his wife,
Agnes of Bohemia – a well-educated and
92
well-connected noble couple. They adorned
what once used to be the ceremonial great
hall of the tower, and tell the romantic and
tragic story of Lancelot, the most famous
and charismatic of the legendary Knights of
the Round Table. The work has never been
finished and we will probably never uncov-
er the founder’s original intention behind
this undoubtedly expensive commission. It
can only be speculated that the story of Sir
Lancelot was meant as a warning, or per-
haps an inspiration for the closest circle of
the Duke’s friends. Today’s visitors will rath-
er marvel at the craftsmanship of the artist
and the imagination of his benefactor.
Arthurian legends used to and still do evoke
the chivalric ethos of the Middle Ages, which
surely contributes to the feeling of being
transported in time that accompanies vis-
itors to the Siedlęcin tower. The paintings
were discovered in 1877, after a period when
the tower had been used as a granary, and
much more recently have been meticulously
renovated at the behest of the current own-
er of the castle. Undoubtedly, the Arthurian
murals are the main asset of Siedlęcin, but
the castle and the remains of a once-pros-
perous estate can be also visited for their
picturesque setting on a riverbank and the
specific charm of the place – a genius loci –
highlighted in many positive comments in
the visitor book and social media channels.
The tower is under management by a dedi-
cated Association, acting on behalf of a pri-
vate Foundation. The last ownership change
of the estate took place in 2001, when it was
sold by the Treasury as a broke and disused
collective farm – a failed communist govern-
ment undertaking. Both the Association and
the Foundation, however, represent people
and money, whose origin is largely not lo-
cal. As such – and given the sudden activity
at the site which was not always welcome
– they have been treated with much suspi-
cion and even silent opposition by the local
community and a lot of effort was needed to
convince the villagers of the good intentions
of the new owners. Trust was won by a string
of difficult decisions, such as not restricting
access to the estate grounds, criss-crossed
by public footpaths, or by closing a blind eye
on youth gathering in the adjacent park. Ad-
Fig. 5. The great hall of the tower with the mural paintings
Source: Nocuń (2004)
ditionally, free-of-charge visits are organised
on a regular basis for local schools, and pop-
ular regional and traditional food fairs are
held in the tower grounds. At almost every
opportunity the local community receives
due attention from the tower owners, how-
ever informal interviews with members of
the Association indicate that the relation-
ship is yet far from reciprocity.
The evolution of the relationship between
the local community and the site owner in
Siedlęcin is a good illustration of the pro-
cesses that built heritage has to undergo in
Central and Eastern Europe at the beginning
of the 21st c. It is also a classic example of
the so called ‘heritage cycle’, which assumes
that cultural heritage can become part of
our lives only if we wish so, and we usually
need to begin with understanding in order
to proceed to appreciating and caring (Thur-
ley, 2005) (Fig. 6). The historical events that
shaped current attitudes in Lower Silesia
have also left deep scars and much disso-
nance. Heritage owners need not to neglect
these dynamics. It appears that the man-
agers of the Siedlęcin tower have managed
to strike an exemplary, if fragile, balance
between commercial pursuits, scientific re-
search and community relations.
93
 Fig. 6. The heritage cycle
Source: cultureindevelopment.nl
Ślemień
The site in Ślemień is an example of herita-
ge protection ex situ, away from the original
setting, in purposefully designed surround-
ings of an open-air museum. Otherwise
known as skansens, the open-air museums
are collections of buildings, predominantly
vernacular, assembled to represent a given
period of history, culture or style typical for
a given area. The concept to remove enti-
re buildings or even groups of buildings in
order to recreate cultural landscapes in a
designated space was born in Scandinavia
at the end of the 19th c. (Oliver, 2001). The
skansen is supposed to bear the closest pos-
sible resemblance to the original (or typical),
historical and functional context in which
the buildings existed – or would have existed
in a selected historical period – thus recrea-
ting as much as possible of their contextual
integrity while performing an educational
94
and sometimes also a socio-political functi-
on (Forrest, 2010).
The artificial spacial and historical setting
of an open-air museum has also been sub-
ject of criticism. The enclosed and idealised
surroundings in which buildings are placed
in an open-air museum are said not only to
create a sanitised, perfected image of the
past, but also to isolate them from the mo-
dern world. By doing so they strengthen an
association that ‘old’ architecture belongs in
the museum. According to some authors (see
for instance Oliver, 2001), this contributes to
historical detachment and the destruction
of vernacular architecture found beyond the
boundaries of skansens.
Open-air museums worldwide are known
under different names: outdoor museums,
village museums, museum villages, working
historical farms etc. (Rentzhog, 2007). What
they have in common is that they attempt
to portray social history: lives and trades
of ordinary people, as illustrated through
reconstructed building interiors, furnished
with typical equipment, and real or ima-
gined characters, that together deliver dy-
namic, interpretive programmes. Open-air
museums are often mentioned as places
where one can “step into the past” (Oliver,
2001, p. 207) thanks to their unusual setting
and engaging design, which offer a multidi-
mensional visitor experience, unlike an ordi-
nary museum.
It should be expected that the attractive
setting, complemented with various visi-
tor activities, will draw visitors to open-air
museums in scores. However, evidence sug-
gests that, unlike amusement parks, they
are rather perceived by the general public
as typically educational institutions and are
at best frequented by school groups, as an
ethnographic component of the curriculum.
Here lies the biggest challenge to skansens
in the 21st c., when nostalgia for the past
Fig. 7. One of the traditional buildings re-erected in the open-air museum in Ślemień
Source: Kielur & Hołyszko (2016)
and folk romanticism are not enough to
attract visitors – or to secure support in the
local community (Rentzhog, 2007).
The skansen at Ślemień – also known as Et-
nopark – is at the time of writing the youn-
gest open-air museum in Poland. It is also
one of the smallest in the country – it is a col-
lection of only 17 structures from the moun-
tain region of Beskid Żywiecki. It includes,
among others, a smithy, a village school, a
village pharmacy, a medicine woman’s hut,
a granary, and a number of huts and farm-
houses, as well as sheds, wells and other
structures. The plants, trees, paths and the
general layout of the site represent typical
surroundings and setting of a highland sett-
lement in this part of Poland at the break
of the 20th c. (Fig. 7). Also the handcrafted
souvenirs and merchandise on sale in the
museum shop reflect local tradition.
A visit to the museum can be self-guided
95
but the real strength of the skansen in Śle-
mień are the passionate and knowledgeable
members of staff, who also conduct guided
tours of the site. Not every aspect of the nar-
rative is self-evident, so it helps to have a gu-
ide point to the visitor the stylistic similarity
of some of the houses to the Alpine regions
of Austria, or to identify Balkan ornamental
influences in the cloth and clothing on disp-
lay in some of the houses. The museum also
organises regular events associated with sea-
sons, folklore, religious traditions, pastoral
activities etc. which boost ticketed visits and
increase the popularity of the Etnopark. Like
many other open-air museums, it also offers
a modest choice of publications and its staff
get involved in research and other activities.
Recently, similar to the tower in Siedlęcin,
the Etnopark hosted an event organised by
a local NGO as part of the “Volunteering for
Heritage” activity programme funded by the
Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heri-
tage, which gathered a number of young fol-
klore enthusiasts and local elders, willing to
share their stories and experience (Chabiera,
Kozioł, & Skaldawski, 2017).
Press releases, published interviews and
an informal conversation with the museum
staff indicate that the idea for Etnopark in
Ślemień was indeed a one-woman’s dream
(Żywiec.info, 2013). The construction of the
museum took five years between 2008 and
2013, facing a string of obstacles, political,
financial and organisational, also including
a palatable lack of local support. Not only in
the rural community of the southern Poland
has the 20th c. modernisation drawn peop-
le away from their roots and strengthened a
popular view that old and traditional are sy-
nonymous with obscure and backward. The-
re are local voters and politicians who would
rather see public money spent elsewhere
than on the rehabilitation of disused verna-
cular architecture, ignoring evidence about
the social and economic role of heritage,
and the identity- and community-building
potential of tradition.
To sum up, the Etnopark in Ślemień com-
bines professional curatorial management
96
with an open-minded and hands-on ap-
proach, thus managing the balancing act
between didactical idealism, embedded in
the very concept of an open-air museum
(Oliver, 2001), and visitor engagement. Gi-
ven enough time and funding, it might turn
the skansen into a major local cultural ins-
titution on par with conventional museums
such as the City Museum ‘Stary Zamek’ in
the nearby city of Żywiec or the City Museum
at the Renaissance castle in Sucha Beski-
dzka. However, the greatest challenge for
the museum in Ślemień, ironically, might be
not to attract more tourists but to finally win
the hearts and minds of the locals.
CONCLUSIONS
The two sites described in the article rep-
resent some of the key issues that affect
heritage management in Poland today (see
Fig. 8). It is evident that tourism plays a ma-
jor role in both cases. Both Ślemień and Si-
edlęcin need to compete with alternative
attractions, deliver visitor satisfaction and
value-for-money. In order to attract visitors
they need to identify and communicate their
significance in both the local and the wider
context. To this end – even if not always by
design - both sites apply effective marketing
measures, organise engaging events and
do not shy away from bold interpretive sta-
tements. However, it is also notable that it
is not tourism, but relations with the local
community, that require most of the site ma-
nager’s attention.
In Siedlęcin, tourists and day trippers are,
first and foremost, a vital source of revenue.
Given the nature of site ownership and the
very limited state subsidies that it receives,
the recorded steady growth of ticketed visits
remains the castle’s financial lifeline. A lot of
the owner’s efforts have gone, however, into
building rapport with the village commu-
nity, who has been identified as one of the
factors that affect the sustainability of the
site. It means not only controlling or avert-
ing unwelcome or damaging behaviour but,
more importantly, in building a relationship,
 that contributes to the already mentioned
unique character and atmosphere of the pla-
ce. It takes patience, dedication, a lot of net-
working and a range of soft skills, which can
sometimes be at a shortage. Being a work-
in-progress, it is difficult to predict its results
but successful cooperation with schools and
local entrepreneurial individuals who parti-
cipate in trade fairs bid well for the future of
the process.
In Ślemień, too, numerous examples of
community work can be noted – in some
part they are a consequence of the statuto-
ry, educational mission of the museum, but
every case of cooperation helps the uneasy
relationship with the locals. The Etnopark
has had certain success in bringing both the
youngest and the oldest of the local genera-
tions to participate in the museum’s activiti-
es. Of course, collection care and interpreta-
tion lie at the core of an open-air museum’s
management, and the Etnopark staff appro-
ach both areas with dedication and creati-
vity, but these seem not to be greatest chal-
Fig. 8. Heritage management aspects
discussed in this article - expanded
Source: authors’ own compilation
lenge at this stage.
The study demonstrates that the concept of
sustainability may not explicitly be part of a
given heritage management strategy, yet it
can be attributed to the managers’ concern
in the durability and fairness of their activi-
ties. Interestingly, it is most notable not in
how tourists are approached, but how locals
are treated.
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99
 TRADITIONAL
SETTLEMENTS,
CULTURAL HERITAGE
AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT IN
OBSOTELJE AND
KOZJANSKO REGION

TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENTS AND

CULTURAL HERITAGE IN OBSOTELJE
AND KOZJANSKO REGION 102

IMPORTANCE OF HERITAGE
INTERPRETATION 103

BEST PRACTICES 104

Tradiঞonal market towns 105

OBSOTELJE & Pilštanj

Podsreda
106
107

KOZJANSKO –
Lemberg 108
Importance of Regional park 109
Kozjansko Park 109

SLOVENIA Preservaঞon of tradiঞonal se‚lements

in open air museum
Open-air museum Rogatec
110
110
Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism 112

CONCLUSION 113
Wri‚en by WHERE THE SOUL FINDS ITS OWN
Anita Čebular PLACE 113
Janja Sivec
(Razvojna agencija Sotla, Šmarje pri Jelšah,
Slovenia)

100 aurore 100

 Coat of arms of Slovenia

101

TRADITIONAL
SETTLEMENTS AND
CULTURAL HERITAGE
IN OBSOTELJE AND
KOZJANSKO REGION
The Republic of Slovenia is characterized
by a large number of settlements. Although
the national terri¬tory extends on the 20,273
km2, there are more than 6,000 settlements
registered.
All rural residential houses have a very sim-
ilar character, especially similar building
types. This is their characteristic feature. The
same goes for all types of farm buildings,
such as wineries, granaries, multipurpose
outbuildings, mills. Uniformity, not equality,
in the architecture of these houses is a par-
ticular effect of this consistency in construc-
tion, which is another characteristic feature.
It was used in the construction of houses
102
for farmers or day labourers, middle-class
farmers as well as wealthy landowners. The
fundamental difference between them was
in the size, materials, and ornamental ad-
ditions to the facade. The construction of
residential houses had to constantly adapt
to the people’s lifestyles and work. It is char-
acterized by the rational use of the materials
available and the effective placement in the
diverse terrain.
According to the criterion of placement in the
terrain, there are single-storey, multiple-sto-
rey houses, and houses leaning in against a
hill or pushed up against a hill. To illustrate
the structure of floor plan we have shown a
sketch of Type D. The roofing is character-
ized by a symmetrical gable roof and slope
of 45–50 degrees. A surface and height ratio
of 1:2 is also a common characteristic of all
the houses.
In this region you may go from forest to or-
chard to meadows and fields continuously.
Extraordinary diversity of plant and animal
life was left to us by our grandparents, who
knew precisely how to listen to the mother
nature and work with her in the best possi-
ble way. Once its geography presented travel
challenges, but nowadays easy travel allows
for a luxurious stay, providing experiences
with nature, relaxation and understanding
of genuine human relationships.
IMPORTANCE
OF HERITAGE
INTERPRETATION
Despite today’s high-tech means of preserv-
ing memory, traditional methods remain
important. One of the most important chal-
lenges of our time is ensuring sustainable
practices and development in environmen-
tal and social contexts. Heritage interpreta-
tion is communication skill that connects
visitors to heritage by reveling different
meanings about nature and culture, tangi-
ble and intangible heritage with the help of
stories that carry universal messages. Inter-
pretation has aim, objectives, themes and
messages that interpreters convey, with the
help of different tools to the visitors of a cer-
tain heritage site.
First one to define heritage interpretation
was Freeman Tilden who wrote in his book
Interpreting our Heritage in 1957 that: Herit-
age interpretation is an educational activity
which aims to reveal meanings and relation-
ships through the use of original objects,
by first-hand experience, and by illustrative
media, rather than simply to communicate
factual information.
Many others have written their own defini-
tions in the years since Tilden defined her-
itage interpretation but in general they all
define heritage interpretation as designed
communication process that engages emo-
tions, experiences and connects people with
the legacy of their past.1
Tilde also established basic methodology
1 The National Association for Interpretation,
The Association for Heritage Interpretation
and Interpret Europe.
of heritage interpretation buy defining six
principles that quality interpretation should
follow.
Any interpretation that does not somehow
relate what is being displayed or described
to something within the personality or expe-
rience of the visitor will be sterile.
Information, as such, is not Interpretation.
Interpretation is revelation based upon in-
formation. Nevertheless, they are entirely
different things. However all interpretation
includes information.
Interpretation is an art, which combines
many arts, whether the materials presented
are scientific, historical or architectural. Any
art is in some degree teachable.
The chief aim of Interpretation is not instruc-
tion, but provocation.
Interpretation should aim to present a whole
rather than a part, and must address itself to
the whole man rather than any phase.
Interpretation addressed to children (say up
to the age of twelve) should not be a dilution
of the presentation to adults, but should fol-
low a fundamentally different approach. To
be at its best it will require a separate pro-
gram.
Interpret Europe describes heritage inter-
pretation principles as interpretive triangle.
Where we have basic aim of heritage inter-
pretation; reveling meanings in the middle,
surrounded by other features that we want
to offer or trigger with our visitors; first-hand
103

experience with original heritage phenome-
na, active involvement of and exchange with
participants, commitment to the idea of car-
ing for heritage.
Good interpretation has a good plan. Inter-
pretive planning starts with recognizing the
significance of our heritage and defining the
stories that we want to tell. Including people
that could reveal different meaning about
the heritage, we want to interpret, or better
yet to interpret the stories that heritage com-
munity finds significant. This stage is also
about responsibility, who is going to man-
age the interpretation. The most successful
stories are the one where heritage commu-
nity takes responsibility for the heritage.
Major part in our planning falls on whom we
are interpreting it for. Only than should we
choose the best media (tools of personal
and non-personal interpretation) to convey
the story. Often forgotten but much neces-
sary stage is evaluation. Does our interpre-
tation work what to change how to adapt?
That is why evaluation should be part of the
planning and not an afterthought.
Heritage interpretation is not just about in-
terpreting natural and cultural heritage. It is
about telling stories of communities. Who
they are and what is their story about the
connection to the landscape.
Landscape offers the best synergy between
nature and human. It tells the story of how
humans created culture within the nature.
The European Landscape Convention sees
landscape as a reflection of European iden-
tity and diversity, the landscape is our living
natural and cultural heritage, be it ordinary
or outstanding, urban or rural, on land or in
water.
104
Landscape offers us stories that will reveal
how our way of life has changed through his-
tory. Once busiest roads became periphery,
when railway was built in the middle of the
19th century. How once, hearts of trade and
life, town centers are slowly dying due to life-
style changes. Nevertheless, rural areas, al-
ternative to modern lifestyle, are becoming
more populated and visited by tourists, due
to people recognizing the value of re-con-
nection to our natural and cultural heritage.
Landscape in its broadest definition of being
a witness of interchanging relationship be-
tween nature and humans is a never-ending
supply of stories for different communities.
Heritage communities, people who have
recognized value and significance of herit-
age and are working together with the same
aim, of preserving heritage for future gener-
ations, have in heritage interpretation the
tools with which they can tell their stories
and a way to make their stories significant
to others. By making their heritage relevant,
they will also make their heritage economi-
cally profitable.
Touristic products like accommodations in
traditional built houses, guided tours and
other activities in the landscape, tourism
products based on gastronomy of the area
etc. Other opportunities are also products
based on traditional knowledge like craft,
products from plants known in folk med-
icine, school programs in nature or about
living on a farm and all the other skills and
knowledge about the way of life that is slow-
ly dying with pre II. WW generations.
Examples of heritage communities who have
recognized the value of their heritage and
are working together with the institution in
preserving it.
BEST PRACTICES
A visit of Obsotelje and Kozjansko always
feels like coming home and the welcome re-
ceived by people who live here is the reason
we visit again. The locals still know a thing
or two about the old folk customs, as they
are keeping customs alive in order to pre-
serve the legacy of previous generations. Do
you know how many pieces and craft skills it
takes to make an organ? Have you ever felt
the power of fire that creates a crystal mas-
terpiece with the help of a glassblower? Do
you know how to knit a bag out of husk, a
basket out of rod or weave a bracelet on a
plaiting comb? We could ask some questions.
Locals know the answers to these questions
so do not hesitate and learn something new.
The intertwinement of historical periods
bring us both happy and tragic stories of lo-
cals, evokes old skills and gives us the feel-
ing of eternity. This region is famous for its
authentic medieval markets, baroque exces-
sive segments and sacral architecture where
styles mesh and are truly more intriguing.
Markets in this region can show you the past
by telling numerous stories about events
and people. Do not miss a humorous trial
with the help of pillory or any other tradi-
tional event that fills up historic center.
Traditional market
towns
Beneath the castles and at intersections
of important trade routes, settlements
in Obsotelje and Kozjansko region were
erected and slowly expanded into market
towns (Kunšperk, Podsreda, Kozje, Pilštanj,
Podčetrtek, Lemberg, and Rogatec). Most
came into existence in the 14th and 15th cen-
turies. The position of those market towns
beneath important road passes and slopes
or on top of hills promoted the settlement of
craftsmen that were important for travelling
salesmen and people who transported car-
go. Among those were blacksmiths, wheel-
wrights, belt manufacturers, saddle makers,
rope makers and others. Road conditions
called for a break, rest, repairs, reloading
and accommodation.
In market towns, trade at prestigious annual
fairs, later joined by weekly markets played
an important role. Market towns therefore
105
have a location for markets and fairs where
the trading took place. In addition, the ju-
dicial function was performed in market
towns. As an external symbol of the judicial
system, there are three pillories (in Podsre-
da, Pilštanj and Lemberg) intended for pun-
ishing offenders. More recently, a sharper
focus on the retail future of market towns
began to emerge.
Pilštanj
The market town of Pilštanj is one of the
settlements in Kozjansko that has one of
the most picturesque positions in the land-
scape, above the Bistrica valley. It was first
mentioned in 1404 and received market
rights in 1432, thus also receiving the right to
hold a fair on the day of the parish’s patron
saint St. Michael. The pillory or “pranger”
has also been preserved. It could date to the
17th century, i.e. the same as in Podsreda.
It is a rare relic of the judicial system before
the time of Maria Theresia of which only few
106
have been preserved in Slovenia.
Pilštanj also features a silver town seal from
the mid-15th century, which is one of the
finest examples. It bears the inscription
“Sigillium civitas Peilnstain” and the coat
of arms of Pilštanj in the middle. Today, it
is preserved in the Museum of Posavje in
Brežice. Directly below the market town is
the solitary rock formation Ajdovska žena
(Pagan Woman). The pagan woman legend
still lives among the locals. The people from
Pilštanj are proud of the European cornel
(Cornus mas) overgrowing the surrounding
thermophilous slopes. The Pilštanj footpath
will take you through the market town and
its surroundings and is also linked to the
Lesično Educational Water Trail.
Pilštanj a 15th century market town has an
interesting story on how once bustling mar-
ket town became forgotten by industrial rev-
olution and building roads that bypassed
them. But heritage community is aware of
the rich history of the town and is keen on
interpreting intangible heritage of the place.
Especially interpreting traditions of Pente-
cost have become one of the most recogniz-
able activities of the heritage community in
Pilštanj.
Intangible heritage has become one of the
top priorities with institutions worldwide.
UNESCO has popularized, with the Lists of
Intangible Cultural Heritage, or beliefs, prac-
tices and customs. We have finally realized
that objects without stories are just that, ob-
jects. We need stories to bring material alive.
We need to relate with past generations, so
that we are able to rethink how we live today
and that some things do not change through
centuries. Like love, lost, birth, death etc.
Universal meanings are revealed with sto-
ries about intangible heritage and who bet-
ter to tell them than local community with
their storytellers. For interpreting intangible
heritage means of personal interpretation
(live interpretation/re-enactments, guid-
ing, events …) are usually most successful,
but there are also some options in tools of
non-personal interpretation – like audio
guides, apps for smart phones, books with
folk tales … But to make them successful
they have to be authentic, made by heritage
community because they are the ones to tell
their own stories.
Podsreda
As a market town with the usual market
rights and privileges it is first mentioned in
1377. Today, the pillory – “pranger” is still
a reminder of that era. The development
of the Podsreda market town was centred
around a narrow, oblong space on a some-
what elevated terrace. Since the town never
grew past its edge, it was always protected
from flooding. The biggest danger to urban
settlements was fire since it was hard to keep
under control due to numerous wooden
structures, unsuitable chimneys, low-quali-
ty construction as well as due to the distance
from water. Podsreda experienced the rage
of fire having burned down twice. Therefore,
all the houses in the market town, including
the church, were built after 1798, when the
first fire ruined Podsreda.
The skyline of the town is distinctively dom-
inated by the Church of St. John the Baptist,
107
constructed at the beginning of the 19th
century, which replaced an older building.
Today, Podsreda is an interesting market
town with a traditional market town parcel-
lation. The ground plan of the settlement is
funnel shaped. The main street is bordered
by townhouses on both sides, their longer
side facing the market space and thus form-
ing the “facade” edge of the market. With its
position, it belongs to the few areas with an
extraordinary cultural landscape. The settle-
ment is a cultural monument.
Lemberg
The settlement that developed under the
castle was mentioned as a patrimonial
square with ordinary market rights and priv-
ileges in 1386 and 1436. Its position on the
crossing of roads towards Šmarje, Rogatec
and Poljčane enabled the development of
trade and crafts. Later, the square obtained
the right to six annual and cattle fairs. Pot-
tery and the leather trade were important
crafts. However, Lemberg failed to devel-
op anything more than a market street and
108
had no walls. It reached its climax in the
18th century. When the parish was moved to
Sladka Gora and the road led through Peči-
ca and Podplat, it started to fall apart in the
first half of the 19th century. It burnt down
on two occasions. Its noble past is attested
by the pillory in the middle of the square and
the former town hall next to it.
Even older as Pilštanj is a market town Lem-
berg whose strategic position on an impor-
tant crossroad enabled it to become an im-
portant trading center of the area. Leather
and pottery industry were his trademarks,
but moving of the parish church and build-
ing the road that bypassed it, Lemberg went
into decline. His tangible heritage was rec-
ognized by its heritage community who
works actively on its preservation and inter-
pretation. But sometimes it can be difficult
to imagine times long gone. With the help
of interpretive panels, art installations, apps
and other tools of interpretation, we can
help visitors to relate with the rich history of
the landscape.

Importance of
Regional park
Kozjansko Park
More than 50% of the land in Slovenia is
protected and more than 30% is Natura
2000-designated, which is the highest per-
centage of the European Union member
countries.
Kozjansko Park is an IUCN category V pro-
tected area – a Regional Park. It measures
206-sq. km. and it was founded in year 1981
with the proclamation of the law by the Par-
liament of Slovenia. The Centre is in small
village Podsreda (Slovenia). It is very rich
in natural and cultural heritage, there are
no heavy industries or any others activities,
which would have negative influence on
protected area.
Kozjansko park is located in the Eastern part
of Slovenia and is a mosaic comprised of
the sub-Alpine Posavsko Hills, wine-bearing
slopes, and plains along the Sotla River. The
hight rate of biodiversity ranks him among
the most important nature reserves in Slo-
venia and Europe, and most of the park is
protected as a special NATURA 2000 reserve.
It is responsible for implementing all the na-
tional nature conservation legislation in this
area. Till now, many projects were success-
fully completed. Kozjansko Park has stab-
lished very strong connections to the local
inhabitants and schools and represents very
significant part of cultural and social life in
the area. Since 2010, the area of Kozjansko
and Obsotelje regions have enjoyed the sta-
tus of a biosphere reserve under the protec-
tion of UNESCO (MAB Programme - Man and
biosphere).
They could be just another protected area if
they had not defined what is the story of the
area. Story that connects nature, people and
cultural heritage are apples. Not just any
kind of apples, they are the leading producer
of old sorts of apples that do not need to be
treated with chemicals. The story, because
it is significant to heritage community and
relevant to other visitors, became a success
with high demand of young apple trees that
people plant at home and recognizable tour-
109
ist product in kozjansko apple.
Heritage interpretation offers many tools
to interpret stories of heritage communi-
ty, but the key is that community recognize
the stories are their own. That way they will
recognize the potentials in implementing
the story of kozjansko apple in different
products from gastronomy and homemade
apple products, to promotion and interpre-
tation of ecologically friendly farming, tour-
istic events that bring different stakeholders
under one cover story, which is kozjansko
apple. One of the principles of heritage in-
terpretation in revealing the whole and not
just parts of the story, so kozjansko apple
should also be part of the big picture of the
landscape of Obsotelje in Kozjansko, how it
represents the way of life in this area, way do
people relate with this story and the end why
does one apple per day keeps doctor away.
The Kozjansko apple from the meadow or-
chards has become a symbol of environ-
mentalism, sustainability, preservation of
110
the heritage, health, and recognition of the
Kozjansko Park protected area.
Preservation
of traditional
settlements in open
air museum
Open-air museum Rogatec
As it is known, the initial aim of forming of
open-air museums was formulated quite
narrowly: monuments had been transported
with the purpose of their rescue. They had
been placed in the new territory of museum
in neighbourhood with the other objects,
and it was not taken into account that they
belonged to the certain historical and cul-
tural zone, occasionally the whole ensemble
of installations was not taken into account.
However, in open-air museums, especial-
ly in those which are created at the places
(“in situ”), under skilful use of both immov-
able and movable monuments and under
professional management it is possible to
achieve feeling of spirit historical place, new
socio-cultural situations and new objects of
demonstration.
Founded in 1981, the Rogatec Open Air Mu-
seum is Slovenia’s largest and most ambi-
tious skanzen (open-air village museum),
with more than a dozen mostly original
structures, moved here in the early 1980s.
It presents unique cultural, ethnological,
regional, and historical features of eastern
Slovenia. The museum presents the life and
work of farmers and craftsmen at the end of
the 19th century and the beginning of the
20th in the Rogatec area, under the Boč,
Donačka Gora, and Macelj Hills. In 1999, it
was declared a cultural site of national im-
portance and in 1997 it was nominated for a
European Museum Award.
The Rogatec Open Air Museum comprises 15
different relocated or reconstructed build-
ings and associated materials that make up
the museum space and form three separated
sections. The homestead of poet Jože Šmit
(1922–2004) with a garden, an outhouse
with manure pit and a field toilet, beehives,
a pig stable, and a hay rack (kozolec). The
administrative part are loden, an old shop
with mixed merchandise, which is today
also a museum shop and office. The third
part is a domestic inn with a wine cellar and
bar called pušenšank surrounded with vines
that provide welcome shade in the summer
and juicy grapes in the fall.
There are regular displays (including partic-
ipation) of activities such as weaving, stone
cutting, bread making and so on.
It aims to conserve, use and develop the
heritage and to sustain it values and signif-
icance by giving the heritage a compatible
use. The Rogatec Institute manages the Ro-
gatec Open Air Museum, the Strmol Manor
and sites in the medieval town of Rogatec.
111
Museum activities combine and present the
local history and ethnology through guided
tours, craft workshops, oenology experienc-
es, and horse riding expeditions. Because of
the interesting programmes for youth and
adults, the Rogatec Open Air Museum is one
of the most visited museums in Slovenia;
many visit it repeatedly, depending on the
season and the work and farm activities that
have to be done at that time.
Green Scheme of
Slovenian Tourism
The destination Obsotelje and Kozjansko,
with Podčetrtek, Rogaška Slatina and Koz-
jansko Park, is one of the destinations that
have entered a pilot national programme
called Green Scheme for Tourism in Slove-
nia which is being implemented under the
patronage of the Slovenian Tourist Board.
The main goal of the programme is to pro-
mote sustainable tourism development in
Slovenia.
What is the Green Scheme of Slovenian
Tourism? The GSST is a tool and a certifica-
tion programme that brings together all the
efforts directed towards the sustainable de-
velopment of tourism in Slovenia, evaluates
and improves the sustainability endeavors
of destinations and providers, and finally
promotes green achievements through the
Slovenia Green brand. The Green Scheme
of Slovenian Tourism (GSST) is a tool devel-
oped at the national level and a certification
programme that carries out the following
tasks under the SLOVENIA GREEN umbrella
brand: brings together all efforts directed
towards the sustainable development of
tourism in Slovenia, offers tools to desti-
nations and service providers that enable
them to evaluate and improve their sustain-
ability endeavors and promotes these green
endeavors through the Slovenia Green
brand. In the process of joining the GSST the
destinations and service providers sign the
Green Policy of Slovenian Tourism, which is
based on ten sustainability principles. The
112
Green Policy of Slovenian Tourism sets out
the fundamental commitment of Slovenian
tourism to operate according to sustainabili-
ty principles and to make continuous efforts
to improve.
Till now, Slovenia offers a total of 37 destina-
tions, 21 accommodation providers, 3 natu-
ral parks and 2 agencies, which comply with
the green strategy and pride themselves on
having obtained the Slovenia Green label.
To obtain the Slovenia Green Destination
label (Bronze/Silver/Gold), the destinations
must follow eleven steps (appointment of a
green coordinator, setting up a green team,
increasing awareness, signing a green poli-
cy, carrying out surveys, gathering informa-
tion, submitting reports and the application
for an assessment, drafting an action plan
for measures, determining the local charac-
ter and USP, submitting an application for a
field visit, realizing measures and, after three
years, re-assessment), which are evaluated
using a point system from 1 to 10.
We have to golden labels in our region
(Rogaška Slatina and Podčetrtek) and one
Slovenia green park label (Kozjansko Park).
Destination gets SGD gold label, if at least
three of the five categories have 8 points or
more and where at least one of those three
categories is directly linked to tourism (Des-
tination management or Socio - Economic
situation) and it has at least one accom-
modation provider with the label, verified
by Slovenia Green. To obtain the SLOVENIA
GREEN PARK label, the provider must sub-
mit proof of ownership of one of the two la-
bels, verified by the scheme.
The project complements the already well-
known slogan I feel Slovenia with anoth-
er one – Green. Active.Healthy. The slogan
Slovenia – Green Destination establish the
whole destination on the Slovenian and,
above all, European and global market as an
environmentally and socially friendly desti-
nation.
CONCLUSION
The Slovenian Tourist Board defined the
focus on green, sustainable tourism as the
right development opportunity for our coun-
try and its range of tourism products, while
placing the integral implementation of sus-
tainability at the very heart of its operations,
namely the development and promotion of
Slovenian tourism. The appealing competi-
tively positioned range of tourism products
based on the concept of sustainability and
the development of high-quality and inno-
vative tourism products with added value
represents the key element of our compet-
itiveness, which makes our country and its
offer for tourists stand out from other tourist
destinations. Stories of our local communi-
ties are more and more recognized through
Europe and worldwide. Local stories are be-
coming an important tourist product with
shift of tourist profile. Some solutions al-
ready exist, but they have to be adapted to
each situation individually and always with
high involvement of local communities.
WHERE THE SOUL
FINDS ITS OWN
PLACE
“I know that on memories it is sad to live,
that all the rhymes on May are worn out,
but I’m drawn, as others who have ever lived there,
to wander back there in that little place.“
(Mi2, Sweet as Honey)
Introductory remarks at an occasion such as
this are generally intended for a personal re-
flection of the writer, his observation, mem-
ories, as well as emotions and sentiment.
But even if this would not be so, I confess
that I could not write about Obsotelje and
Kozjansko in any other way. Because when
it comes to his home town, it is difficult for
a man to remain impartial. As a profession-
al historian I could list some data from the
past. I could name local castles, describe
medieval, but later on pretty much lost eco-
nomic, judicial and administrative impor-
tance of towns of Obsotelje and Kozjansko,
113
I could praise the discovery of medicinal will not be objective. For me, the local wines
water or I could smile at adventures of an have fuller flavour, and a chunk of brown
outlaw Guzaj, a tragic Robin Hood of Koz- bread is crumbled between your teeth in a
jansko. I could proudly point out how during different way. The song sounds more softly,
the Second World War a partisan division but as well more powerfully, and words, in
was getting through the blizzard of snow their lightness, get an additional meaning. It
and shots over the hills of Kozjansko and is said that every place has its own soul, but
how a liberated territory arose in the mid- to me it seems more, that the soul seeks and
dle of occupied Europe, where Slovenian finds its own place. In Obsotelje and Kozjan-
children could learn in their mother tongue sko this is (still) possible.
again. I could cry over the tough destiny of
the local people and their fight for a crust of Tone Kregar, PhD, Historian and Sociologist,
bread, or I could smile compassionately at Singer and Author (Band Mi2)
their superstitions, myths and legends, pre-
served for centuries in a folk tradition. Fair-
ies, dancing on clearings or washing clothes
in the stream, the menacing dragons above
Kozje and Olimje, heavy bangs of poachers,
the return of the deceased and their mid-
night masses, “Ajdovske” wives and girls
in Pilštanj, and of course the witches, who
were stirring the imagination during the
long nights without the electric lights all the
way from Donačka Mountain to Bohor. Elec-
tricity came to these remote villages and hill
farms very late, just before the earthquake
in Kozjansko in 1974, which forever altered
a part of the landscape. Nevertheless, the
landscape has still retained its originality.
Originality, whose core comes from the yes-
terday’s world, which can be seen in the pre-
served natural and cultural heritage, books
and the already mentioned folk tradition,
but more importantly, it is complement-
ed by that part of the image, which places
and people from Obsotelje and Kozjansko
live and offer today. To all who still live and
work here, as well as those, more and more
of them, who visit these places, either as
tourists or as random travellers, open to the
acceptance of everything good and beauti-
ful. And finally, to all of us who grew up here,
and although today we live elsewhere, we
still carry this piece of Styrian land and sky
with us. Not only in slightly nostalgic vers-
es, such as those above, but in real, almost
tangible joy which, perhaps unconsciously,
assumes us when returning home. There-
fore, my writing, as I said before, can not and

114
115
 TRADITIONAL
VILLAGES AND HOUSES
IN SOUTHERN RURAL
SARDINIA

HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK 118

Sardinian art and architecture – tangible
heritage 119
Intangible heritage – language 119
The varieঞes 119
Phoneঞc characterisঞcs 120
The vocabulary 120
The dialects of Sardinian 120

TYPOLOGY OF TRADITIONAL
BUILDINGS IN SARDINIA 121

THE HOUSE OF THE CAMPIDANO 121

‘Campidanese’ house 121

SARDINIA TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURAL

ELEMENTS 121

– ITALY CASE STUDIES – Maintenance

1) Casa Zapata (Archaeological Museum)
in Barumini (Medio Campidano Province)
123

123
The village of Barumini 124
Descripঞon 124
Wri‚en by Best pracঞce 125
Carlo Salvatore III Laconi 2) Casa Saba (Ci.M.A Civic Museum) in
Marco Pisu Allai (Oristano Province) 125
(Associazione Paesaggi Connessi, Sestu, The village 125
Italy) Descripঞon 126
Best pracঞce 126
Photos:
Carlo Salvatore III Laconi
Marco Pisu
Nicola Castangia
Francesca Pontani

116 aurore 116

3) Casa Angioni (Domus Art) in Quartucciu (Cagliari Province) 127
The town 127
Descripঞon 128
Refurbishment and maintenance best pracঞce 129
Good pracঞce and criঞcism 129

CASE STUDIES – economic explotaঞon 129

1) Casa Ruda in Suelli (Cagliari Province) Definiঞon: Noble family manor 129
The village 130
Descripঞon 130
Best pracঞce of criঞcisms 131
2) Villa Puddu in Siddi (Cagliari Province) 131
The village 131
Descripঞon 132
Best pracঞce 132
3) Corte Crisঞna in Quartucciu, (Cagliari Province), a luxury B&B 132
Descripঞon 132
Best Pracঞce and criঞcism 133

REFERENCES 133

Coat of arms of Sardinia

117

HISTORICAL
FRAMEWORK
The first great culture of the western Med-
iterranean area was born in the island: the
Nuragic civilization (1.500 b.C). This civiliza-
tion is very important because it represents
the meeting point between the megalithic
culture of the west and the urban culture of
the eastern Mediterranean. The megalithic
constructions of the Nuragic art are among
Nuraghic village of Su Nuraxi; Barumini –
XVI–XIV century a.C.
The Nuragic civilization met the Phoenicians
and Punic, then the island was conquered
by Rome in 238 B.C. Rome gave to Sardinia
urban, economic and social structures.
During the middle ages, after a Vandals in-
vasion, Sardinian has belonged to Byzantine
government for many decades. The next
period has been characterised by four king-
doms named “Giudicati” which were based
on the former Byzantine administration
structure.
The kingdoms were called Càlari, Torres, Ar-
borea and Gallura; they had an advanced ad-
118
ministrative and law system, compared with
many other European countries (for legisla-
tion see “Carta of Eleonora d’Arborea).
During this period, architecture and arts
flourished, even thanks to strong relations
with Pisa and Genova Republics and to the
work of artists from Lombardy and Tuscany.
The peculiar artistic style is called the Sar-
dinian Romanesque.
The “Giudicati” era ended at the beginning
of the 15th century, because of the Aragon’s
conquest, after complex and sometimes bel-
licose relations with the western Maritime
Tomb of the Giants of Coddu Vecchiu; Arzachena –
II millennio a.C.
Republics (Pisa and Genova).
The Sardinian art and architectures had a
slow decadence, as the Spanish empire was
slowly falling.
In the XVIII century, the Island became part
of the Savoy reign: The “Kingdom of Sardin-
ia”. The artistic styles of Piedmont character-
ised the Savoy domination until the end of
the XIX century; however, at the beginning
of XX century a new generations of Sardini-
an artists had an important imprinting to the
Sardinian art, their influence is still strong
today.

Sardinian art and
architecture –
tangible heritage
Art and architecture styles in Sardinia are
sometimes original and often imported;
even when they are imported they acquire a
strong typical footprint linked to the Sardin-
ian identity.
A complex history brought many different
influences in architecture and arts, but some
key elements shaped them. Here we focus
on rural buildings settlements and towns,
shaped by agriculture, such as traditional
private houses.

Basilica of the Holy Trinity of Saccargia; Francesco Ciusa –

Pisan Romanesque style; Codrongianos – Mother of the killed; Mario Delitala –
12th century Cagliari Municipal Art The Expulsion of the Arendendore – 1926
Gallery – 1907

was just for literary compositions.

Intangible heritage –
language
Sardinian language is one of the oldest Ro-
mance Languages; its own evolution started
since the III century A.D. and among such
kind of languages, it makes group on its
own, well distinguished from all the others.
The first written witnesses in Sardinian Vul-
gar Latin dates back to the XI century, and
are in documents of the chancelleries of the
four medieval kingdoms (Giudicati).
Sardinian is the first “Vulgar” used for jurid-
ical purposes: the royal Sardinian chancel-
leries wrote official documents by using it.
But it was used in literature very late. In the
rest of Europe, Latin was the only language
of the official documents; in other regions it
During the fall of the medieval kingdoms,
Sardinian was no more an official language
and a progressive diversification in many di-
alectical varieties began.
The varieties
Sardinian has two main macro varieties: the
southern Sardinian or Campidanese, and
northern Sardinian or Logudorese / Nuo-
rese. Southern Sardinian had more evolu-
tion/contaminations, while the northern
one shows a rather conservative phonetic.
The today’s language is characterized by a
great presence of Iberic words in the vocab-
ulary: from Catalan in southern Sardinian,
while in the northern a large variety words,

119
taken from Castilian (Spanish), are common.
The languages spoken in the regions of Gal-
lura, in Sassari, Alghero and Carloforte are
not part of the Sardinian linguistic system.
They belong respectfully to the systems of
Corsican and Sassarian that come from me-
dieval Pisan, Catalan and Ligurian.

Phonetic
characteristics
Within the evolution from Latin to romance
languages, the vowel phonetic divided the
roman area in four groups: the system of
Common Roman, the Romanian system,
the Sicilian one and the Sardinian one. Lat-
in had ten vowels, five longs and five shorts,
the Sardinian has just five.
The phonetic characteristic that has mostly
interested the linguists in the ‘800, looking
for ‘Linguistic purity’, is the occlusive velar,
only typical of the northern Sardinian.
Many characteristics makes this language
the closest to Latin.

The vocabulary The dialects of Sardinian

1: Campidanian of the Caralitanus
Sardinian takes the majority of its words
2: Campidanian of the Sulcis
directly from Latin, which is the base for its
3: Common Campidanian
vocabulary. It has fewer influences coming
4: Central Campidanian
from Germanic languages, than the other
5: Campidanian of the Sarrabus
Romance languages.
6: Campidanian of the Ogliastra
The base is Latin while the lexical super
7: Campidanian of southern Barbagia
layer is constituted by words coming from
8: Arborean
other Romance languages, like Catalan and
9: Southern Nuoresian
Castilian (Spanish). Sardinian counts more
10: Central Nuoresian
than six thousand ‘Iberisms’ in its lexica.
11: Nuoresian of the Baronias
Moreover, the original lexicon mostly ex-
12: Southern Logudoresian
presses concrete things, not linked with
13: Central or common Logudoresian
abstract concepts. As it is described above,
14: Northern Logudoresian
Sardinian language, at the beginning, was
linked with the administrative subjects
(written) and, obviously, with everyday life NON Sardinian dialects or languages
and work. It becames an idiom for literature
very late. 15: Cathalan
In the island, a language expressing work 16: Sassarian
and everyday life is the language for agricul- 17: Gallurian (Corse)
ture and a ruralture ture and a rural world. 18: Tabarkan (Ligurian)

120

TYPOLOGY OF TRADI-
TIONAL BUILDINGS IN
SARDINIA
Architecture in Sardinia deserves a special
mention, because its originality and vari-
eties surprises surprise. Depending on the
territory where the buildings are located
THE HOUSE OF THE
CAMPIDANO
‘Campidanese’ house
We would like to focus on the ‘Campidanese’
house, which is one of the most interesting
kind of type of building structure of the is-
land. Such houses are the result of the rep-
etitions of traditional patterns that occurred
through the centuries; the pattern charac-
terise a structure that is beautiful (aesthetic
value) and functional for agricultural works
and extremely useful for the management
of familiar agricultural firms. It is the typical
farmhouse of the villages of Campidano that
is the largest plain of the island, located in
the southwestern part.
The construction techniques are the follow-
ing:
• The mural bases are built with stones;
• Upon the base, the wall are built with
làdiri, that are mud bricks and straw
dried by the sun (mud bricks techniques
are one of the oldest and most widely
techniques used in the Mediterranean
(plains, mountains, coasts) and their func-
tions, the traditional shapes, layout and ma-
terials change.
Some examples of different typical architec-
tures are the ‘Campidanesi’ Houses (south
Sardinia), the Cumbessias or Muristenis, the
Carthusian Churches with Loggia, the Pinne-
tas (shepherds’ buildings).
region);
• Roofs are often made in “Cannicciato” a
technique that uses canes.
The houses have different sizes, but basical-
ly the layouts respects the same principle.
Here we have decided to describe a house
having all the architectonic peculiar char-
acteristics: ‘Su Furriadroxu’ in the town of
Pula. “Su Furriadroxu” is a typical agricultur-
al building in the Deep Southwest of Sardin-
ia (area named ‘Sulcis’).
We described it as a complete example, but
we don’t studied it for the specific project
purpose, because it is in developed town,
which doesn’t have relevant problems.
TRADITIONAL ARCHI-
TECTURAL ELEMENTS
1. Su Portali (The Arch gate) - The portal
is the large access arch that is often the
only visible structure, looking at the
house from the street.
2. Sa pratza de manixu (The working yard)
It is the yard, which is often used for work
activities.
3. Su magasinu de su binu (The wine de-
121
 posit) Literally the deposit of the wine
where are barrels and the tools for the
wine making.
4. Sa funtana - It is the well. The house had
to be self-sufficient, that’s why the well
has to be in the yard.
5. Sa pratza bona - It is the court in front of
the strictly residential rooms. The struc-
ture is similar to a cloister.
6. Sa Sala - The dining room of the house,
which is often divided into separate
rooms.
7. Sa Lolla - It is the loggia that is connec-
tion among the different rooms. It is the
most characteristic element of the ‘casa
campidanese’. Without the ‘lolla’ we
Example ‘Campidanese’ house
122
can’t talk about a campidanese house.
8. S’aposentu de arriciri - The Aposentu de
arriciri was a room rarely used; there the
owner hosted important guests. It was
the most beautiful room and was often
decorated with paintings on the ceiling.
The floor is often tiled with decorations
that imitate Spanish majolica. The style
of this room follows a typical Sardinia
taste.
9. Sa Stanza ‘e lettu (The bedroom) - The
bedroom was the room where the whole
family slept, often in a single room. The
most wealthy families in multiple sepa-
rate rooms.
 Definition: Spanish Noble family building
CASE STUDIES - Type: noble mansion with some ‘Casa cam-
Maintenance pidanese’ elements
Function: Administration / productions / ag-
riculture
1) Casa Zapata Site: Barumini, Marmilla historical region in
(Archaeological Museum) in Sardinia, south Sardinia District
Barumini (Medio Campidano Current function: Museum – End of XVI cen-
tury beginning of the XVII
Province) Culturale area: Nuragic Archaeology

123
The village of Barumini
Barumini’s population is slowly decreasing;
this is a threat for the local identity. The rural
economy still survives in the area.
The described building and actions are sure-
ly a help for the local development, even
thanks to the important archeologic sites
located in the town. However, even if such
sites have many visitors, the local adminis-
tration and stakeholders have to carry on
with projects and activities, in order to face
depopulation.
Pupulation (ISTAT – Italian Statistics Insti-
tute - source):
Description
‘Casa Zapata’ is a beautiful large mansion,
whose construction was ordered by the
noble Zapata family at the end of the six-
teenth century. The family members arrived
in Sardinia in 1323 with Alfonso of Aragon,
the conqueror of the island. In 1541, they
bought the Barony of Las Plassas, Barumini
and Villanovafranca, becoming landowners
and then barons of these lands until the ab-
olition of feudalism.
Among the various elements of the man-
sion, there is a beautiful building with an el-
egant garden, built between the end of the
sixteenth and the beginning of the seven-
teenth century; it was the lord’s house.
Two other buildings have agricultural func-
124
tion, they were built at the beginning of the
twentieth century and used as warehouses,
stables and farmhouse. In front of them, a
large open courtyard allowed easy move-
ment of people, goods and animals.
In front of “Casa Zapata” there is a church
dedicated to the Immaculate Virgin Mary,
whose construction was probably com-
missioned by the same noble family from
Aragon.
Currently, the Spanish residence is the lo-
cation of a museum organized in three sec-
tions: archaeological, historical and ethno-
graphic ones.
The archaeological part is in the oldest area
of the residence, a palace built according
to the classic model imposed by Philip II of
Spain. This is a beautiful seventeenth-cen-
tury building, ideal for the exhibition of the
finds discovered in the area of Su Nuraxi
(UNESCO SITE).
A large Nuraghe has been discovered under
the ‘Casa Zapata’. After the discovery, many
excavation campaigns have been carried
out and are still in progress.
The museum has been designed in order to
preserve the structure of the building and, at
the same time, to let watching the nuraghe
from above, through a system of glass path-
ways.
It is extraordinary to enter a 16th century
palace and then, unexpectedly, to be in front
of a very suggestive Nuraghe.
The historical section is in one of the most
recent construction, which was a warehous-
es or stables. Inside you can see some im-
portant documents belonging to the Zapata
family and the community of Barumini. In
the showcase the visitors may admire some
original papers, previously considered dis-
appeared, but recently found by the Munici-
pality of Barumini.
In addition, in the panels and computers
next to the room it is possible to see some
other important documents belonging to
the private collection of Andrea Lorenzo
Ingarao Zapata from Las Plassas, who is
the great-grandson of the Baron’s last wife,
Donna Concetta Ingarao Zapata. He lives in
Rome and has given us all these documents
only in digital format.
The ethnographic section, also located in
one of the most recent part of the residence,
consists of a room that shows some of the
common tools used by the inhabitants of the
Barumini region (Marmilla) in the last centu-
ry and of the Regional Museum of Launed-
das: a place dedicated to the oldest musical
Sardinian instrument. The musical area was
developed thanks to the support of the most
famous player of such instrument: the Maes-
tro Luigi Lai.

Best practice
The building is a best practice about archi-
tecture and maintenance: it is upon an im-
portant archaeologic Nuragic site and It is
extraordinary to enter a well preserved 16th
century palace and then, unexpectedly, to
walk upon a very suggestive Nuraghe. The
Barumini site and meseum are increasing
the number of their visitors, thanks to a cul-
tural tourism experience involving not just a
very important archaeologic site (Su Nuraxi
UNESCO), discovered decades ago, but also
thanks to little museum that is something
especial and unique.

2) Casa Saba (Ci.M.A Civic

Museum) in Allai (Oristano
Province)
Definition: A set of dwellings and loggias
around a court.
Typology: Traditional houses around a large
court
Function: Traditional farmhouses residen- it is facing a severe depopulation problem.
tial / production - agriculture. The described museum and other projects
Location: Allai, Historical Sardinian Region are attempts aimed at facing the disappear-
of Barigadu, Oristano district. ance of the settlement.
Current use: Museum. The actions carried out are surely very inter-
Cultural area: Ethnographic – Archaeologic. esting, however cultural and economic con-
sistency of the project should be assured, in
The village order to overcome the decline.
The population’s decline is emphasised in
Allai is a little village in the centre-west of the figure below (source ISTAT).
Sardinia, characterised by a rural economy;

125

Description
The building are the location of the Ci. M. A
Public Allai Museum, which can be consid-
ered the centre of the cultural life of Allai.
The monumental complex, better known as
“Casa Saba”, is a collection of houses and
loggias around a large elliptical courtyard,
some buildings are private houses. This is a
traditional set of buildings that can belong
to the concept of ‘urban musealisation’, that
is an interesting way of promoting cultural
experiences even in small rural villages.
Inside, the museum preserves precious ar-
chaeological finds from the territory, which
have not been showed, since the museum
was not built. The exhibited things are from
prehistoric times to the modern age; they
are stone and ceramic artefacts that under-
line, each for its own peculiarities, their cul-
tural periods and contexts. In particular, in
a room dedicated to it, there is a splendid
example of Mediterranean Mother Goddess,
modelled on a megalithic trachyte; these lit-
tle statues start the prehistoric statuary phe-
nomenon in this geographical area.
There are also finds belonging to Roman
times, thanks to the ancient road network
involving Allai and starting from Forum Tra-
iani (Important Roman city close to Fordon-
gianus) and thanks to the Roman colony
126
called Julia Uselis.
About the roads structures, the Roman
Bridge called Ponti’ Ecciu (old bridge in Sar-
dinian laguage), upon the Rio Massari (local
river) is a magnificent example, which was
renovated during the Middle Ages and re-
structured several times in the modern age.
The loggias of the museum host an ethno-
graphic section concering three specific mo-
ments: the pressing of lentisk berries, the
cultivation of wheat, milling and baking, and
finally the loggia that hosts the oxen wagon
and transports.
In the deep south of Sardinia, the typical
building materials are mud bricks, while in
this region people have used stone bricks,
like local trachyte, for centuries.
Best practice
The museum is not an isolated thing, but
something involved within a wider pro-
gramme aiming at promoting local cultural
and economic development, which are ways
of facing the depopulation of rural regions in
Sardinia.
The projects of the programme are about
(i) the preservation of traditional buildings,
(ii) the construction of buildings and the
creation of artworks expressing the con-
tamination between traditional identity and
the current global dimension (iii), cultural
events.
Examples of contamination are contempo-
rary art sculptures located near the river and
a house on the tree (the first Sardinia house
in the tree).
Events are (i) EcoRurality, carried out by Paes-
aggi Connessi, high level training events on
the landscape as a cultural identity element
and the sustainable contamination between
tradition and contemporaneity and (ii) free
climbing on the stonewalls of traditional
houses (sport and culture together).
 Land Art
(Info@ssil by L. C. S. III.) Tree house by Abitalbero
3) Casa Angioni (Domus
Art) in Quartucciu (Cagliari
Province)
Definition: ‘Casa Campidanese’
Typology: traditional house in the south of
Sardinia
Function: traditional farmhouses residen-
tial/production - agriculture
Location: Quartucciu, a town within the
metropolitan area of Cagliari
Current use: hosting cultural events
Cultural area: Ethnographic – Music – thea-
tre
EcoRurality – Allai – Roman bridge
The town
Quartucciu is growing in population and it is
probably one of the richest town in Sardinia,
even thanks to the proximity to the capital
city with its roads, transports, airport and
port. Industrial development replaced an
economy based on agriculture.
It doesn’t mean that everything is going ok:
the place almost lost a strong rural iden-
tity and now it is in the Cagliari metropoli-
tan area. The disappearance of any cultur-
al identity because of the transformation
towards a simple peripheral area of a large
city might be considered a problem, even
because the area is full of historical and ar-
chaeological sites like noble family ancient
127
buildings, a monumental Nuragic tomb and
a Punic Necropolis.
Casa Angioni is a first public attempt of
supporting local cultural life; but it is not
enough, many other actions should carried
out and consistency should be assured.
Later we will talk about an economic ex-
ploitation of private historical buildings; it
is, among other small hospitality structures,
a successful example of business; but it ex-
ploits a historical and traditional site, with-
out connecting it with the local cultural life.
Population (ISTAT source):
Description
Casa Angioni – Domus Art is a typical ‘Casa
Campidanese’, a kind of house that charac-
terises the South Sardinia plain called Cam-
pidano.
We selected this building because it is a pub-
lic example, and because it is an attempt of
rediscovering the local identity.
The house is located in Quartucciu, a town
in the deep south of Sardinia; that was a
country village and its culture, society and
economy were deeply related to agriculture.
In the 60s 70s, Cagliari – the largest city of the
island – had developed an urban continuity
with the towns around, such as: Quartu, Se-
largius and Quartucciu itself. Currently the
Cagliari’s metropolitan area includes these
128
towns. This has generated important social
and economic changes in Quartucciu’s so-
ciety, economy and traditional identity: an
agricultural village has become a part of a
large city and a sort of residential area with-
in a city.
‘Case Campidanesi’ like Casa Angioni are
characterised by
• an arch over a wood made front portal;
• a central courtyard (sometimes two);
• a loggia called ‘Sa Lolla’ and
• a warehouse.
The house may be divided into two areas: a
working area and residential one.
Behind the front portal, there is a courtyard;
a warehouse for materials, crops, food, wine
and olive oil is at the side of the courtyard,
while a loggia is the first part of residential
area.
The courtyard was useful to park carts car-
rying food, crop and materials that could be
unloaded, brought and stored in the ware-
house located at one side of the perimetral
walls of the mansion.
The loggia is a decorative part and a func-
tional one (it connects the rooms); its aspect
indicates the location of the residential side.
The courtyard, the warehouse and the large
portal allowing carts entrances shows the
function of the house that is a home and
work place in a rural society.
Such typical elements are in DomusArt,
where is even possible to see a room used
as kitchen. The kitchen is close to the log-
gia, and belongs to the residential sector;
however, it even had a function related to
production: there the women prepared brad
and food in very early mornings, in order to
feed employees working for the house own-
er.
In the deep south of Sardinia, the Case Cam-
pidanesi (plural) are built by using mud
bricks walls called ‘laddiri’ (perimetral and
partition walls) covered by painted plasters;
just the most important structural elements
have some stone briks, such as the bases of
the walls, arches elements, keystones, cor-
nerstones. Going norther in the island walls
are build using stone bricks.
Refurbishment and
maintenance best practice
Casa Angioni is a public building located in
the ancient centre of the town, close to the
biggest church. Two important refurbish-
ment works has been carried out through
the years. The last one in 2017. Since may
2017 DomusArt is available.
The colour of the perimetral walls is a kind
of pink, which is a typical colour in such kind
of traditional buildings, it respects the tra-
dition, but the roof construction technique
does not: the tradition roof materials were
built with canes: ‘Canniciato’ technique,
while now the roof is built with wood. The
Municipality chose the wood, as well as al-
most every traditional house owners, be-
cause of the resistance of ‘Canniciato’.
The quality of the maintenance is good; the
local government carries out frequent in-
terventions, in order to keep the building in
very good condition. .
CASE STUDIES –
economic explotation
1) Casa Ruda in Suelli
(Cagliari Province)
Definition: Noble family
manor
Tipology: ‘Casa Campidanese padronale’
Function: residential – local administration
– productions – agriculture
Location: village of Suelli, in the historical
Sardinian region named Trexenta (south
Sardinia district)
Current use: place for weddings and private
ceremonies and historical archive
Cultural area: local historical archive and
ethnographic exposition

Good practice and criticism

Refurbishment and maintenance may be
considered good practice, implemented by
the municipality: Casa Angioni revitalised
the cultural activities, often linked to events
on local traditions. It is suitable for many
type of events and shows, it is a traditional
building, it has stimulated the area improve-
ment: its street is the nicest in the area.
It is very important for the town’s identity,
which might be lost because of the inclusion
within the area of a large city. However, its
potentials are not still fully exploited: there
are not a communication strategy and ac-
tions, like social media, social network and
web pages, boosting the possibility to rent
the place for cultural activities: many cul-
tural and civil society stakeholders don’t
know it. Moreover, the interested organisa-
tion may rent the house only after a not easy
navigation in the institutional unicipality’s
web page.

129
The Village
The village of Suelli still have a rural econ-
omy and culture, it’s population is not con-
siderably decreasing; therefore, it has few
depopulation problems; however, it could
depend on the proximity to the capital not
just on the economic and cultural life. This
makes the exploitation of the cultural herit-
age important; in order to keep alive tradi-
tions, without losing important part of the
local identity.
Suelli’s polulation ((Source ISTAT – National
Statistics Italian Institute):
Description
In Suelli, a village in the center of Campidano
there is Casa Ruda; it is a house-museum
with interesting documents of agricultural
and pastoral life and culture of the region.
Casa Ruda is an ancient manor; the owners
restored and arranged it, in order to allow
the use as a home, a welcoming meeting
place, a place for ceremonies and a muse-
um. The part for ceremonies includes a res-
taurant and large halls.
The first building of the Rudas’ House dates
back to the beginning of 1600; it is located
42 km from Cagliari and it is easily accessible
by public roads 131 and 128, or by a touristic
railway called the Green Train. What today
130
appears a small and pleasant hilly village
had been an episcopal seat for centuries:
the cathedral and sanctuary dedicated to
St. George, bishop of Suelli (1000 A.D.), show
this importance, as well as the remarkable
sixteenth-century retable inside the church,
painted Pietro and Michele Cavaro.
The name of the house, ‘Casa Ruda’ is linked
with Ruda family that has noble Catalan or-
igin. The Family came to Sardinia at the end
of 1400 and settled in the feud of Samatzai
and later in Donori and Cagliari. Later, It ex-
tended its properties in the towns of Suelli,
Soleminis, Guasila, Ortacesus Villacidro, Vil-
lasor, Pauli Arbarei, Lunamatrona, Oristano,
Cabras.
At the end of 1800 the noble Cavaliere Vit-
torio Tordelli, native of Spoleto in Umbria,
joined the noble Chiara Ruda in marriage. In
the noble Tordelli family there were admin-
istrators in the Papal State, great collectors
of art.
In the nineteenth century, the Tordellis be-
came interested in hospitality business:
they built hotels first in Rome and then the
prestigious Grand Hotel Tordelli in Spoleto.
Vittorio and Giorgio Tordelli Ruda are keep-
ing the ancient traditions of the family and
giving impetus to the management of their
properties.
Their manor is very large; it is divided into
welcoming courtyards and gardens: from
the patrician residence, dating back to the
end of the 18th century, to the numerous de-
pendencies. On the walls, there are frescoes,
paintings and furnishings.
The halls, corridors and rooms were care-
fully restored; now they host congresses,
awards ceremony, cultural meetings and
weddings parties.
An historical archive, visited by schools, con-
tains important documents while in sever-
al corridors and room there are traditional
tools; such spaces recreate the ancient rural
life of the region: Trexenta.
The combination among an archive and
ethnographic museum and a place for large
ceremonies may create a fascinating experi-
ence.
Best practice of criticisms
The manor house is wonderfully restored,
while artistic and ethnographic objects are
well preserved end showed.
The place is very large and beautiful, but,
for its historical relevance, its size, its beauty
and the importance of the owning family, it
should be more at the centre of the cultural
life of the village; It is not enough linked with
the local cultural development. It should be
a point of reference, even helping the rela-
tionships with public and private stakehold-
ers.
The place offers many things to the visitors:
beauty, food, tradition and history; however,
its potential, in business terms, are not well
exploited. The quality of the restoration and
maintenance is not enough to assure the
best economic performance: diversification
of the supply and a better communication
should be carried out.

2) Villa Puddu in Siddi

(Cagliari Province)
Definizione: Villa/palace
Tipology: Italian Art Nuveau (liberty) villa
with ‘Casa Campidanese’ elements.
Function: Residential
Location: Siddi, historical region named
Marmilla, (south Sardinia district)
Current use: Gourmet restaurant – B&B –
high quality cuisine school
Built at beginning of the XX century
Cultural area: Traditional and fusion food
culture
The village
Siddi is a village in the centre-south of Sar-
dinia characterised by a rural economy; it
is facing a quite considerable depopulation
problem.
The described activity is a nice private at-
tempt, aimed at facing depopulation in the
settlement. It is surely very interesting be-
cause it is based on (i) economic exploita-
tion and diversification, (ii) contamination
between local and global dimensions and
(iii) links between local culture and econom-
ic development.
However, cultural and economic consisten-
cy should be assured, in order to overcome

131
the decline; It should be linked with more
private and public actions.
The population’s decline is emphasised in
the figure below.
Description
Casa Puddu is among the green hills of
Marmilla (Sardinian region); it is a historic
residence built in Art Nouveau style at the
beginning of the 20th century by Filippo
Puddu, whose brother was the founder of
the Puddu’s pasta factory that has been, un-
til 1996, one of the largest industrial pasta
factories in the island.
It is the only example of palace in the vil-
lage of Siddi and is composed of a main “C”
building built on two floors, the main part of
the house. In the frontal façade, you can see
a flat frame, a final cornice and a large cen-
tral terrace with balustrade.
The main building is flanked, on the left side,
by the rustic part of the house, where the for-
mer servitude rooms are located. This part
of the building, lower than the other and
without decorations, is definitely closer to
what was once considered the construction
typology of the place (casa campidanese).
Today Casa Puddu is a gourmet restaurant
called ‘S’ apposentu’; the owner and chef is
Roberto Petza. In the building there is also
a high level school for cookers managed by
132
him, named ‘Accademia di Cucina e Svilup-
po del Territorio’.
Roberto Petza is conservative and progres-
sive; he preserves with obstinacy and cour-
age a heritage made up of tastes and tech-
niques, knowledge and ancient gestures. He
is progressive because he has understood
that the past is the only way to conquer the
future. He updates the Sardinian tradition
with new executive practices, new combi-
nations, new aesthetics and a new idea of
catering. Its restaurant is the symbol of this
multiple vocation.
Best practice
The building, wonderfully restored, is im-
portant for the history of the area (The his-
torical region of Marmilla; this importance
has leaded the owner towards an inclusive
approach: he organises events involving the
social, economic and cultural local life.
Moreover, these events, as well as its busi-
ness, are deeply linked with the local iden-
tity, refreshed by the contamination with
international high quality food experiences.
These help the stakeholder involvement.
Under a narrow business perspective, the
enterprise differentiates its offer: high-level
international training on food and beverage,
hospitality, interesting events.
3) Corte Cristina in
Quartucciu, (Cagliari
Province), a luxury B&B
Definition: Villa
Tipology: ‘Casa Campidanese’
Functione: Residencial - agriculture
Location: Cagliari Metropolitan area
Current use: luxury B&B and events organ-
isation
XVIII century
Cultural area: Italian and Sardinian History
Description
Corte Cristina is an 18th century residence,
with ancient furnishings, and luxurious
rooms.
The villa was the summer residence of
Queen Maria Cristina of Savoy and the Savoy
court; it is in Quartucciu, within the district
of Cagliari.
Now, the building is a successful luxury B&B,
which is contributing, with other little hos-
pitality structures, to the touristic develop-
ment of a town that is losing its agricultural
identity but needs to rebuild it, in order to
face the involvement, as a residential area,
within a metropolitan area.
The original furnishings of the eighteenth
and nineteenth century brought back to the
ancient splendour, contribute to create a
colourful and relaxed atmosphere, especial-
ly in common areas where high standards
applied to all rooms and suites are able to
ensure the most exclusive comfort.
The suites contain the charm of the ancient
times typical hospitality, combined with the
modernity of all the offered comforts: wood-
en beams and original furniture are com-
bined with the ritual of a modern bathroom,
where guests are pampered by Jacuzzi tubs
and emotional showers.
Immersed in the city centre, Corte Cristi-
na offers moments of pure relaxation to its
guests that may live an experience where
the royal family Vittorio Emanuele I of Savoy
spent its holydays.
Best Practice and criticism
Corte Cristina offers a timeless welcome,
based on an ancient and innovative con-
cept: ancient because it respects the spirit of
the place, an eighteenth-century patrician
house, rich in stories and secrets, innovative
because it locates the same sensations in
the twenty-first century.
The building is a best practice of architectur-
al restoration and economic exploitation, as
it has a successful occupancy rate, promo-
tion and great reviews.
However, even if the building has an histor-
ical significance, it is not integrated into the
town’s cultural life. This can create problems
with some stakeholders and does not help
the cultural identity of a place that is losing
it.
REFERENCES
Artistic, Architectural,
Historical, Linguistic and on
the Campidanese House
• Sardegna Cultura
• Su Furriadroxu
• Casa Angioni and Corte Cristina -
Quartucciu
• Comune di Allai – CIMA- Civico Museo
• Paesaggi Connessi - Ecorurality 2009/11
• Casa Zapata Museum
• S’Apposentu - Casa Puddu - Siddi
• Casa Ruda - Suelli
133
 TRADITIONAL
SETTLEMENTS,
CULTURAL HERITAGE
AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION 136

ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF

“PETROSINO” 136

AGRICULTURE AND VITICULTURE

AS BASIS OF THE CITIZEN ECONOMY 136
The birth of viঞculture and marsala wine 136

HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURES 138

Fiuredde 138
Towers 138

PETROSINO – Church: Milazzo Chapel

The bagli
139
139

ITALY
Baglio woodhouse 140
Baglio Vecchio Marchese and
sustainable reuse 141
Baglioম 141
Baglio Don Federico 142
Baglio Basile and sustainable reuse 142
Baglio Spano’ and sustainable reuse 143

CONCLUSIONS 143
Wri‚en by
Monica Calabrò REFERENCES 144
(Comune di Petrosino, Petrosino, Italy)

134 aurore 134

 Coat of arms of Petrosino

135

INTRODUCTION
Petrosino is one of 24 municipalities in the
Province of Trapani, on the extreme west
side of Sicily (Italy). It is located along 10 km
of coast between Marsala and Mazara del Val-
lo: an area where it is possible to harmonize
the rural and maritime traditions with the
many sport activities related to the sea (kite-
surfing, windsurfing, snorkeling, diving, etc.)
and the peace of the fishermen’s village. The
town obtained its autonomy in 1980, when
Petrosino, town hamlet under the adminis-
trative rule of Marsala, separated from Mar-
sala thus becoming the youngest town with
its own local government in the province of
Trapani. The territory of Petrosino is placed
opposite Africa, but the temperature rarely
rise at high levels, thanks to sea-wild which
blows directly and steadly. For its climatic
characteristics Petrosino can be considered
privileged for its agricultural and tourism
development, in particularly for viticulture.
His countryside offers extensive cultivated
fields, especially vineyards, with various lo-
cal productions of fruit and vegetables.
Petrosino has more vineyards than each
other city in Italy and it significantly contrib-
utes to the production of first-class wines
thanks to the connection between vineyards
and sea that makes unique the experience
of tasting local products. Petrosino has the
highest production of grapes for inhabitant
and it significantly contributes to the Marsa-
la wine production. The landscape is charac-
terized by an immense number of catarratto
and grillo vineyards.
This is an area with a deep rural identity that
it is possible discover visiting the typical
“bagli”, enjoying the contemplation of the
unspoilt area of “margi” or tasting the local
organic products.
Petrosino is not only characterised by ag-
ricultural landscape and wine making vo-
cation, but also by its sandy coastlines
(Biscione beach is the most famous) which
in summer use to become popular holiday
destinations.
The first settlements, dating back to the
136
mid-seventeenth century, were established
by farmers who formed housing units called
“chianura” and by fishermen who settled on
the coast forming Biscione village. The res-
idential area developed from the 19th cen-
tury along the road where the English mer-
chant John Woodhouse built his “baglio”
(rural fortified structure) whose portal later
became the coat of arms and the symbol of
the town.
ORIGIN OF THE NAME
OF “PETROSINO”
The name of the town is linked to histo-
ry and legend at the same time. According
to tradition, the name derives from Latin
words sinus (gulf) and Petri (Peter) that is
Gulf of Peter, alluding to the landing of Saint
Peter at Biscione. However, there is not any
historical document to validate this theory.
Another theory, more popular than the first
one, is linked with its distinctive toponym
that seems to come from the Greek word
“Petrosilion” then changed in “Piddusino”
by local dialect. In ancient times, in this un-
inhabited area grew in abundance a type
of aromatic herb known as parsley, due to
this vegetative characteristic the place was
called Petrosino (Vinci 1995).
AGRICULTURE AND
VITICULTURE AS
A BASIS OF THE
CITIZEN ECONOMY
The birth of viticulture
and maesala wine
Its economy is essentially based on agricul-
ture with the production of greenhouse veg-
etables, table grapes and must. It turns out
to be the most common wine-growing town
in Italy, with the largest grape production
per inhabitant. It contributes significantly to
the production of the well-known Marsala
wine.
The landscape of Petrosino is characterized
by an immense number of catarratto and
grillo vineyards, typical for the production of
famous Marsala wine. The story of Marsala
wine was born from the intuition of the Eng-
lish merchant John Woodhouse (Neu, 1957).
The legend tells that in 1773 John Wood-
house with his ship Elizabeth was bound for
Mazara del Vallo to pick up a cargo of sodium
carbonate (for industrial purposes). Due to a
storm, it lands in the port of Marsala. Having
to wait for the storm die down, he decided to
stop at a tavern in the city. Here Woodhouse
taste a local fortified wine, which reminds
him another very famous drink, the Port.
Sure about the success that Marsala could
have in England, he changed idea and load-
ed the brig with the local wine, approximate-
ly fifty barrels for a total of 420 liters.
During the voyage back to Liverpool, he add-
ed small quantities of alcohol to preserve
the wine. This was the regular practice with
Port and Xéres (Sherry). The wine arrived
safe and sound, and John sold it at a huge
profit. “Marsala wine” had been discovered
by Britain.
The British greatly appreciated the quality of
this wine, so Woodhouse realized that oth-
ers would soon begin importing “his” wine.
So, on his next trip, he sent his men out to
buy up all grapes from the best vineyards of
Petrosino territory.
The next step was to create a vinery to pro-
duce the precious wine. He built a farm-
house like a fortress for himself, his men and
local farmers, on the coastline of Petrosino
where he could survey the ocean from pi-
rates and warships. The British Royal Navy
eventually became a big client. Admiral Lord
Nelson used Marsala as the official wine ra-
tion for his men. A manuscript exists, dat-
ed 19 March 1800, carrying the signature of
Woodhouse and the Duke of Bronte - Hor-
atio Nelson’s Sicilian title - stipulating the
supply of 500 barrels, each with a capacity
of 500 litres for the fleet stationed in Malta.
After Nelson’s victories Buckingham Palace
was keen to taste the wine that so fortified
this sailors’ spirits. The wine was since then
included in the royal cellars and, as a conse-
quence, in many other cellars as well. In Eng-
land, due to the royal interest and Admiral
Nelson, the wine had become a fine wine,
“worthy of any gentleman’s table”, as con-
temporary documents stated. With Marsala
went the ancient legend about wine having
originated in Sicily as the gift of the Gods.
There is a very interesting word which ex-
plains a great deal about Marsala. It is the
Latin word “perpetuum”, in English perpet-
ual. Wine produced in the Marsala region
is aged in gigantic barrels. After a certain
time part of the aged wine is removed and
replaced with a younger wine of exactly the
same kind (similar to the Spanish Solera
method). Hence perpetual: the barrels are
never emptied (The history of Marsala).
But the origins of viticulture in this area of
Sicily are much older (Nesto and Di Savino,
2013). According to Greek legend, however,
it was Dionysus who brought the vine to Sic-
ily. While embarking on an arduous journey
across the seas, the god of wine brought
with him a vine and carefully looked after it
along the way. When he finally got to Sicily
he planted the first vineyard at Naxos. But
the Western part of Sicily was covered in
grapevines long before the Greeks got there,
and the Greeks were not the first to make
wine in Sicily. In fact, archeologists have
found evidence that the island’s inhabitants
were drinking wine as far as the 17th cen-
tury B.C. however, when the Greeks arrived
in the eighth century B.C. they introduced
viniculture techniques, pruning styles and a
new take on variety selection. The result was
better quality and larger quantities of wine.
When the Romans took control of Sicily, they
spread wine from the region around the em-
pire. It did not take long for the wines to gain
recognition in the ancient world. Wine was
essential for celebrating mass, and religious
leaders became experts in viniculture. From
A.D. 872 to 1061, wine production in Sicily
declined, but developed directly following
that period the export activity from the is-
land. This, in turn, helped stabilize the econ-
137
omy. The next important step in the history
of Sicilian wine would come many years lat-
er, when John Woodhouse would help bring
Marsala to the world. Riding on the success
of Marsala, Sicilians made huge develop-
ments in wine production, and wine soon
became an important pillar of the island’s
economic structure. During the years to fol-
low, some of Sicily’s most famous wineries
were founded.
In 1881, Phylloxera (an insect of the Phyllox-
eridae family) invaded Sicily and entire vine-
yards were destroyed (Grandori, 1914). This
harmful vine insect, native to North America,
appeared in Europe in the second half of the
nineteenth century, and is now widespread
in all the wine-growing countries of the
world. This insect causes serious damage to
the roots and the consequent death of the
attacked plant.
In the same decade, exports to France
stopped. Wine production on the island
didn’t recover for more than half a century. the main crossroads or at the beginning of
Meanwhile the market had changed com- a narrow street. The style changes from one
pletely, and Sicilian winemakers had to to another, they are usually painted in light
adapt. Fortunately, their ability to adjust, colours and the sacred image is represent-
as well as a new attention to quality, helped ed mostly with reproductions or paintings,
wine producers in Sicily regains their place sometimes with plaster or stone sculptures.
as some of the best in the world. Sacred aediculae are a spontaneous expres-
Wine production is a millenary tradition that sion of popular religiosity which is shown
has preserved until today a rich heritage of during the celebration of the Saint to whom
vines, still very much appreciated today, and is dedicated and in other religious events.
Petrosino has more vineyards than any oth-
er city in Italy (Trapani, 2011; Caruso, 1997;
Zanfi A. and Mencarelli S. , 2013). Towers
Looking back in time, when the area of Pet-
HISTORICAL rosino was still uninhabited, the first build-
ings that were built were military sighting
ARCHITECTURES towers to organize defence in case of pirate
incursion. Then the decline of maritime and
trade activities facilitated the development
Fiuredde of agriculture from which comes the need
to fortify the area with several watchtowers
Going through the streets of Petrosino is (Bellanca, 1987). One of this is the Sibiliana
easy to find small shrines (sanctuaries), lo- Tower, built in the 1500. Its purpose was to
cally known as “fiuredde” (sacred aedicu- catch sight of pirates and, at the same time,
lae). The local sacred aediculae are architec- to signal the passage of tuna which were
tural elements dedicated to sacred figures then conducted to the nearby tuna-fishing
(Barbera 1989). They are usually located in net. It is twelve meters high with very thick

138
tuff walls and the shape is quadrangular. ritory is Milazzo Chapel. Located in district
The name Sibiliana or Scibiliana maybe re- “contrada Torreggiano”, it was built in XVIII
fers to the Sybil, a girl who was kidnapped century as the chapel of Milazzo Family. The
by pirates and held captive here. little church has a neoclassic facade and the
Another tower present in the territory of Pet- interior has a nave where is placed a poly-
rosino is Galvaga Tower. This majestic and chrome plaster statue of Christ.
fascinating structure was built in 1582 to
dominate the countryside and to catch sight
of some bandits or criminals. Each tower
had a well and a waterhole and it was a small
fortress where farmers and shepherds could
take refuge. Realized in tuff, it is massive,
squared and quadrangular. It has two floors
with three rooms on each floor. Unique ele-
ment of the tower is its crenellation on the
top that makes the structure austere.

Church: Milazzo
Chapel
The oldest church that was built in the ter-

The bagli
The history of Petrosino is closely related to
the construction and evolution of the “bag-
li”. The fortified structures of the bagli are
rural architectural buildings which are to be
found all over the countryside and which
characterise the territory (Saeli , 2011). The
etymology of word “baglio” appears uncer-
tain, however the most valid theories lead
back to the Latin “ballium” (courtyard sur-
rounded by buildings or walls) and to word
“balarm” (fortress).
These structures are the witness of the im-
portant role that viticulture had at the be-
ginning of 1800. Bagli were built to facilitate
the local farmers (Petrosino was among the
major centres of wine production) which
had not sufficient resources to carry grapes
and wine to Marsala.
They are built by landowners for agricultural
activities in a dominating position in order

139
to control the surrounding land and the var-
ious phases of the agricultural work. They
have, as a characteristic element, a central
courtyard around which communal life is
lead, a manor house and several warehous-
es (Giacomarra 1997). Other characteristic
element was specific spaces were designed
for grape pressing (in local dialect palmen-
tu) or olives pressing (in local dialect trappi-
tu). The highest part of the structure was the
house of the landowner who stayed there
seasonally. The development of viniculture
and winemaking fostered the reproduction
of baglio structure especially near the coast.
Of this structures that were the cornerstone
of the agricultural activity (the “Bagli”) much
was lost.

Baglio woodhouse
It is the first Baglio used as winery, a luxu-
rious neoclassical villa with a strong artis-
tic value, built in 1813 by John Woodhouse
(the English merchant who discovered the
wine “Marsala” and exported it all over the
world). A testimony of the ancient splendor
of this Baglio now remain, in addition to the
entrance portal, only a few elements original
and frescoes depicting vine leaves, in the up-
per floor.
This baglio is locally known as “bagghiu
gnisi” (English baglio), where the legendary
Marsala Soleras 1815 and Marsala Waterloo
1815 were produced (source: Trapaniclicka-
ndgo.it). Unfortunately the fascinating struc-
ture now is not in good conditions.
In the courtyard there is still a well and a
washtub made in tuff. The access portal is
equipped with a spy and a slit that served as
a defensive work. The arch is a sixth lower
and inside, above the arch, is the “walkway”.
The whole thing was closed by a wooden
door and represented the only solution of
continuity between the outside and the
inside. All other openings have been prac-
ticed in recent times. The flooring of the
residential building is in hexagonal shaped
clay bricks. The same geological nature of
the land has provided the building materi-
als and has favored its use, in fact the ma-
sonry (stonework) of the various buildings
is usually composed of stones and pieces of
tuff bound together by lime and sand, which
even today the corrosive action due to at-
mospheric agents resist. The roof is made of
brick tiles resting on wooden planks (Vinci,
1995).
Almost entirely renovated in the interior fin-
ishes of the ground floor while completely
intact on the upper floor, where they were
found under the various layers of lime and
colors of the walls frescoes with vines of
green and yellowed vines. Behind the Baglio
you can still see what remains of the house
of the keeper of the fields.
The portal of the baglio (Picture 4) has been
used as an emblem of the Municipality of
Petrosino, as a tribute to the ancient and
prestigious culture and civilization of the
farming world.

140

Baglio Vecchio
Marchese and
sustainable reuse
Another Baglio is “Baglio Vecchio Marchese”,
an ancient beam built in 1700. It was the
summer residence of the Marquis D’Anna
from Marsala. Abandoned for a long time,
nowadays it retains a little part of the orig-
inal structure where there was the area for
the farmer activities. A magnificent court-
yard completed the typical structure of the
local beam. Unique elements of this baglio
are the three sighting towers. This Baglio
is an example of reconversion of ancient
beams in a modern way. Indeed the baglio
was restored and it is now used as a restau-
rant.
One of the wings of this Baglio is reserved for
cultural and artistic events, always aimed at
dissemination and knowledge of the local
craft culture, and home to a professional
school for the training of potters and deco-
rators. Inside the company many different
architects and sector specialists collaborate,
which, with great artistic ability, make each
piece unique in its kind, succeed inventing
shapes and decorations of high expressive
value. Since the beginning of the activity,
the company has drawn inspiration from the
centuries-old Sicilian ceramic culture to pro-
pose itself to the market with precious prod-
ucts, strictly artisan, but able to satisfy cur-
rent needs. Ceramics of “Vecchio Marchese”
respect the artistic taste of centuries of
traditions; shapes, colors, and techniques
unique all over the world. The production
still includes tiles with Sicilian decorations
since ‘500 to the present day and still dish-
es, mugs, kitchen accessories, flasks, lamps,
chandeliers and furnishings for verandas
and interiors. Reuse of this Baglio allows
perpetuating historical and popular tradi-
tions respecting environment.
Bagliotti
After the construction of the Baglio Wood-
house and other beams, the first rural hous-
es with annexed warehouses began to rise.
The warehouses were equipped with the
necessary for pressing grapes and storing
the must (liquid obtained from pressing the
grapes).
These were called “bagliotti” (little beams)
in imitation of the great feudal beams con-
structed by the wealthiest land workers.
Among these the most important and inter-
esting are Baglio Basile, Baglio Don Federico,
141
and Baglio Spanò of the nineteenth century.
Baglio Don Federico
Baglio Don Federico was built by Don Fed-
erico Spanò in 1865 and it stands in the
Ramisella district, in an area entirely planted
with vines. During the Arab period the Baglio
was part of Casale Bizir and later, under Nor-
man domination, it was granted to the bish-
opric of Mazara. In 1862 it was assigned to
the public auction of Don Federico Spanò. It
has an almost quadrangular plan with a sin-
gle and monumental entrance with a round
arch in tufa stone blocks. The entrance con-
sists of a quadrangular environment with a
barrel vault now completely collapsed. On
the west side, to the right of the entrance,
the perimeter wall was destroyed. The pe-
rimeter wall of the left side is intact and well
preserved. In the quadrangular
courtyard, all the rooms, warehouses and
houses overlook. The presence of a well,
now covered with tuffs, characterizes the
internal quadrangular court. The warehous-
es along the South side also collapsed and
constituted the old part of the services. A
cornice at the top, still evident on the west
side and partly on the south side, followed
the perimeter walls of the baglio. Baglio Don
Federico should be recovered and reinsert-
ed in the historical memory of Petrosino
as an indelible mark of its past that should
not be forgotten, it also represents a natural
background to the main street, Via Baglio.
Baglio Basile and
sustainable reuse
Baglio Basile is an ancient noble residence
built in 1862. The land where it arise was
bishopric and in 1862, after Italian unifica-
tion and Corleo law of that year (which ratify
abolition of the ecclesistical feuds) some lots
of this land were bought by notary Gaetano
Basile who built here baglio and put lands
under cultivation.
It presents all the structural characteristics
of the bagli that, since the seventeenth cen-
tury, arose in countryside of Marsala, but it
presents neoclassical elements typical of
period in which it arose.
The towers are made with tuff blocks, that
recall those typical of the wineries, along the
coast of Marsala. The materials in which the
structure was built are typical of the place:
tuff bricks, the so-called Sicilian “cantuna”
and the gray San Vito marble. Architectural
beauty, preserved in the ancient Baglio Ba-
sile, is the chapel, built for the benefit of the
lords and peasants at their service, where
the various religious rites were performed.
The chapel has a rectangular plan, which
ends in the shape of an apse, where the altar
is placed. The ceiling of the chapel consists
of a “barrel-shaped” dome, finished with an-
cient stuccos, which reproduce floral and ge-
ometric motifs. The predominant colors are
the shades of blue and pink, characteristic of
the Sicilian “sacred aedicules”.
Today Baglio Basile has been completely
renovated along with its interior furnishings
and has became a hotel with rooms and
suites, restaurants and a modern “Wellness
Center and Beauty Farm”.
Baglio Spano’ and
sustainable reuse
Another example of a baglio in the territory
of Petrosino is the Baglio Spanò. It was an
Episcopal property, then between 1873 and
1882 the Marquis Nicolò Spanò from Marsala
decided to build his baglio there. It is located
in district Triglia Scaletta and it was charac-
terized by two connecting courtyards: one
reserved to the landowner’s family and the
other one for all the farmer activities. The
majestic palace of the Marquis stands in
front of the entrance, on the main courtyard.
Its prestige is evidenced by the magnificence
of the structure. The dominant colour of
building facade is pink. At the left of court-
yard you arrive at gound floor rooms and at
right side the staircase leads to the upper
floors. The white Carrara
marble staircase has a barrel vault decorat-
ed with a beautiful mottled pink enclosed
in white frame panels. Even walls have
same colour and decoration. Still in building
façade, in the center and above the entrance
arch, there is a big balcony surmounted by
a round arch decoration with two initials MS
in the center, surmounted by a four-pointed
crown in a red background.
Looking out of the windows of the top floor
it is possible enjoy a wonderful sea view. The
baglio is surrounded by luxuriant vineyards.
The doors and floors in beautiful majolica
are original. It still is a private ownership and
it is used as agritourism.
The structure offers the comfort of a modern
structure and at the same time keeps the
distinctive elements of the old Sicilian house
unchanged.
CONCLUSIONS
Our present has its roots in our past but must
focus on the future. For this reason, nothing
of the past must be cancelled. In this context
the restoration of historical buildings allows
to recover the historical memory and make
them live again in a modern way. Respect
for the environment and traditions are es-
sential. For this reason the administration of
143
Petrosino, in addition to the recovery of his-
toric buildings, also aims to perpetuate gas-
tronomic and popular traditions organizing
events and festivals that enhance local tradi-
tions and typical products (grape, “gnoccu-
lo” pasta etc ...).
One of the most important and characteris-
tic festival is the “festa di chianura”, it recalls
moments of farming and maritime life, and
it is amazing attend the preparation of cakes
and pastries made from mulled wine and
grape must are prepared.
The economy of this territory is essentially
based on agriculture and Petrosino tries to
focus on the use of 0 km and organic prod-
ucts, even in school canteens. The organic
market uses to take place in summer time.
The peasant culture is passed down thanks
to the creation of a museum located inside
the school “Istituto Comprensivo Nosengo”.
The “Museum of rural civilization” holds a
patrimony of tools and objects which allow
the reconstruction of the identity of the town
and show the techniques and procedures
linked to the activities which took place in
the fields, in the craft workshops or in family
households.
Protection of environment and landscape as
well as respect for culture and traditions are
the key to safeguarding the territorial identi-
ty and its specific features (Bartolotta et al.
2000).
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* * *
• Trapani Click and Go
• Turismo Trapani
• Visit Petrosino
• Petrosino
• Marsala wine
• Marsala wine’s background history

145