site.btaUnderwater Archaeology Centre in Sozopol Bids to Become UNESCO Heritage Institution

Culture Minister Krastyu Krastev has submitted to UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture Ernesto Ottone a formal bid for Bulgaria's Centre for Underwater Archaeology (CUA) to be approved, upgraded and expanded as a UNESCO Category 2 Underwater and World Heritage Centre.

Krastev is convinced that the facility will be successful in serving as a reliable partner of UNESCO and will become a leading factor for the study, protection and popularization of underwater cultural heritage in the Black Sea region.

The CUA is based in the Black Sea town of Sozopol, Burgas Region. It is a state institute of culture under the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, established in 1978. The bid for it to be declared a UNESCO centre is part of the strategy and the efforts of the Culture Ministry and the Foreign Ministry as well as its own. The Culture Ministry has attracted Burgas Municipality as a partner, with which it plans to sign a memorandum. Other seaside municipalities are also involved.

The concept was presented and encouraged at the 45th session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in Riyadh in September 2023 and remains to be supported by Turkiye, Romania and Croatia. UNESCO is expected in the coming months to conduct a study on Bulgaria's preparedness to create a Black Sea regional centre of underwater and world heritage under the aegis of the world agency. The final decision will be based on the study.