The winners of the 2019 European Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards, the most prestigious European awards for heritage work founded by the “Creative Europe” Programme, have been announced by the European Commission and Europa Nostra. 25 winners from 16 countries have been rewarded for their exemplary achievements in the categories of conservation, research, special dedication to heritage and education, training and awareness. The extraordinary project for the preventive conservation and restoration of the Portal of Gloria and its surroundings in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela was one of the projects that received a prize in the Conservation category. It was carried out with the sponsorship of the Barrié Foundation.

The awards will be presented on 29th October in Paris, at the formal European Heritage Awards Ceremony that will take place during the European Heritage Congress.

Source and image: Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

The award was given at the ceremony, which was attended by the director-manager of the Xacobeo, Rafael Sánchez, the director of the Chair, Domingo González Lopo, and the dean of the Cathedral, Segundo Pérez. In the work, its author compares the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela with the pilgrimage to the sanctuary of San Miguel in Monte Gargano, in southern Italy. To grant this recognition, the work’s originality was assessed as well as the special attention given to one of the least known chapters of the pilgrimage along the secondary roads (the tratturi), where there is a heightened presence of chapels dedicated to the Apostle Santiago and the Archangel.

The award given by the Chair consists of an economic boost which will allow the author to continue her research and which will also grant her access to the documents and bibliography present in the Chair’s library, located in the International Pilgrim Welcome Centre in Santiago de Compostela. Antonella Palumbo takes the testimony of Professor Rosanna Bianco, from the Universitá degli Studi de Bari, the winner of the first edition.

To this recognition are added this year’s scholarships which have been granted by this Chair for the first time. This is a study on the demarcation of the Portuguese Way, carried out by the researcher Carlos Manso, and another study on the hospitals of the Camino de Santiago which will allow a mapping of these infrastructures to be done, by Estefanía López.

During the compostela awards ceremony, Feijóo stated that this increase in the number of pilgrims, arriving from 172 countries and on more and more pilgrimage routes, shows that “Galicia gusta” and that everyone’s work, especially those in the tourism sector, has made the Camino de Santiago more than just an exclusive phenomenon of the holy years.

In this sense, he recalled that the Galician Government is working on the care and promotion of the Camino de Santiago through its Master Plan, an initiative with an investment of 56 million and eight work lines. With constant planning, criteria and direction: to improve, recover and conserve the natural and cultural heritage; to continue investing in responsible and diversified tourism; and to continue valuing that which sets us apart from the rest – excellence based on tranquillity and authenticity.