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Let?s talk again about the Old Town

Let?s talk again about the Old Town

19.08.2003 00:00:00

We will try to create a fusion of two different articles in the today?s issue of the Maritsa newspaper: the one from page 10, dedicated to Eng. Bozhidar Todorov and his project (which is, unfortunately, still not a working project) for fortifying the dangerous places on the Plovdiv hills, and the information from page 5 by Genko Simeonov, regarding the fact that the Old Town has been offered to be included into the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. The selection was offered by the Minister of Culture, Mr. Abrashev. The rest of the places included in the list are some of the most valuable cultural monuments in Bulgaria: the Thracian complex Perperikon, dated 6th - 5th century AD, the ?St. Forty Martyrs? Church in Veliko Turnovo, and the Ossuary of the Bachkovo Monastery.
Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, UNESCO Director General, is visiting Bulgaria August 26th -28th, and will have a meeting with the Bulgarian Minister of Culture. On August 27th, Mr.Matsuura is going to have a walk around the Old Town in Plovdiv, where there will be an official ceremony in honour of the guest and he will be attributed the title ?Doctor Honoris? of the Plovdiv University. Later, the Director General will also see the unique Thracian cult complex near the village of Starosel, as well as the Kazanlak Vault. On August 28th, just hours before his departure, he is going to visit Veliko Turnovo and Arbanassi.
We wonder, though, if including Plovdiv?s Old Town into the UNESCO Heritage list will ever change the authorities? attitude towards people like Eng. Bozhidar Todorov, and his valuable ideas for the benefit of the city and our mother country.