Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Nessebar, Bulgaria
Awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO, Nessebar (ancient Mesembria) is a quasi-insular city on the west coast of the Black Sea with historic links to pre-Classical Greece. The A. G. Leventis Foundation has supported restoration projects in the region since 2002, starting with the restoration of the Church of St Stephen and the conservation of its frescoes. The Foundation also assisted the municipality in transforming the church’s courtyard into a garden, where columns, capitals and other architectural members excavated in the area are displayed to the public. Τhe Foundation supported ICOMOS Bulgaria to consolidate the Church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel (13th century). A collaborative project between the National Art Gallery of Bulgaria in Sofia and the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki, whereby icons from the Bulgarian Black Sea coast were restored and exhibited in Sofia and Thessaloniki, was also supported by the A. G. Leventis Foundation. In recognition of the Foundation’s contribution to the conservation of the region’s cultural heritage, its Chairman, Mr A. P. Leventis, was proclaimed an honorary citizen of Nessebar in June 2012.
Grants given:
2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
