site.btaBulgarian-Romanian Cross-Border Project Aims to Popularize Common Heritage of Hamangia Culture

The municipalities of Shabla in Bulgaria and Cernavoda in Romania are working on restoring the unique common cultural heritage and on promoting the joint tourist product "Hamangia - First Civilization of Old Europe", it transpired at Tuesday's concluding news conference on the project. Launched in 2017, the project has a budget of EUR 1,494,037.68, of which 85% are provided under the Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria 2014-2020 programme.

The two municipalities are partnering to improve the sustainable use of the common cultural heritage – the Hamangia culture in Dobrudzha region on both sides of the border – by developing an integrated tourist product and by popularizing and managing it jointly. The product is planned to include a common tourist route and innovative tourist services.

The news conference presented the Hamangia culture found on an island in the Durankular Lake by Prof Henrieta Todorova. According to historian Ivan Vaysov, the findings show that this culture is older than antique Troy, and the gold found during the archaeological digs on the island is older than that found in the Varna Necropolis.

Shabla Mayor Mariyan Zhechev described the Hamangia culture as a unique archaeological site for Bulgaria and one of the few that show how our ancestors lived 7000 years ago. He expressed the hope that the site will become more popular among tourists in light of its world cultural and historical significance.