Coastal Heritage Network - CoHeN
Coastal Heritage Network CoHeN is a strategic project funded by Priority Axis 2: Integrated Environmental Management of Interreg V-A Greece-Italy Programme 2014/2020. It sets out to create a cultural route along the cross-border area of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The aim is to increase the attractiveness of both regions and to enhance the visitor experience, by highlighting the interaction between the inhabitants throughout the centuries, as well as strengthening transnational cultural activities. The Ephorate of Antiquities of Aitoloakarnania and Lefkada is the lead partner of the project, along with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Thesprotia, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Corfu and Puglia Region.
The project involves work at 17 monuments and buildings, 11 in Greece and 6 in Puglia:
- In Aitoloakarnania, at the castles of Nafpaktos and Vonitsa and the fortress of Aktio
- In Ilia, at Chlemoutsi/Clermont Castle
- In Thesprotia, at the castles of Igoumenitsa and Margariti
- On Corfu, at the Old and New Fortress, as well as the regional fortresses of Aggelokastro, Gardiki and Kassiopi
- In Puglia, at the towers of San Felice, Torre Pietra, Calderina and San Giovanni, as well as the lighthouses of San Cataldo and Punta Palascìa.
The project is due to run from July 2019 to July 2022 and has a total budget of 6.420.600€.
Works at monuments in Thesprotia began in May 2020 and are ongoing. Their budget is 650.000 €. Apart from the interventions at the monuments themselves, a series of planned actions for the joint enhancement of transnational cultural activities in the Adriatic and Ionian Sea areas will be implemented in the framework of the Heritage Management Development Tool – HMDT to be evolved. These will involve workshops which set out to increase the awareness of local authorities and to enhance the participation of private stakeholders, in order to ensure more effective co-planning processes. Other activities such as photographic exhibitions and educational tours for the public will also be carried out.
