double issue

Cairo special

COPPEM newsTwo monthly bulletin by COPPEM - year 3 n° 6/7 - June 2003

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OPPEM

Editorialby Piero Fagone

CoppemVia Emerico Amari, 162 - 90139 Palermo

tel. +39 091.662.22.38www.coppem.org - coppem@coppem.org

number 6/7 - June 2003

Manager:Fabio Pellegrini

Assistant Manager:Lino Motta

Editorial director:Piero Fagone

Editorial staff:Roberta Puglisi

Nino Randisicoppemnews@libero.it

translations made by:French: Maria Flavia Marzialetti;

English: Giovanna Cirino, Roberta Italia,Stefania Di Caro;

Photography:Giuseppe Gerbasi

Cover and graphic project:Luigi Mennella

luigimennella@libero.it

Printed by:Officine Grafiche Riunite

COPPEM news

Here is a new Coppem news issue amonographic one.

It is the second issue, after the onededicated to the Fifth MediterraneanTalk, the extraordinary meeting amongpolitic leaders, local administrators,diplomatic representatives of theMediterranean countries, once promotedby the former mayor of Florence,Giorgio La Pira, and now resumed bythe Standing Commitee forEuromediterranean partnership itself. This double issue is dedicated to themeeting arranged by Coppem in Cairo on“Euromediterranean Partnership forCultural Heritage”; it contains verycrammed summary with the reports of theinterventions and it gives an account ofthe projects undertaken at once in order togive substance to the indications thatcame out from the debate hold in Egypt,and characterized by very importantpresences, starting from the host country'shighest authorities namely the PrimeMinister Atef Ebeid, the Speaker ofPeople’s Assembly Ahmed Fathi Sourur,the Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, theGovernor of Cairo, Abdel Rahim Shebataand for Sicily, the President SalvatoreCuffaro. The Coppem’s objective was to pinpoint awidely shared policy and line-plan on theCultural Heritage subject, with theobjective to give contents to an effectivepolicy for the preservation, promotion anduse of an inestimable value heritage. On the one hand the Coppem activity islinked to the constitution of aMediterranean Politecnic and, in thespecific case, to the creation, with thecooperation among the SicilianUniversities, of a Restoration Faculty ableto bring up the necessary professionalcompetences for the realization of aninternational wide-ranging project. On the other hand the Commitee intendsto create within its group “a strong pointof reference context” for theMediterranean cultural heritage which,using synergies between local andregional administrations, is able to realisein time an “Agenda” of the actions done

and likely to be done for the valorizationof the culture and history deep-seated inmediterranean countries of the MEDAarea. The way should be marked by the signingof a protocol-set “so that having anagreement platform on which to base theeconomies that are now moving in therestoration and valorization field of theCultural heritage”. Through this way, in line with thedistinctive representativeness feature ofCoppem, moreover, municipalities,provinces and regions, ultimately theeuro-mediterranean communities, wouldsee their role and importance grow in thevalorization process of the culturalheritage. On this subject the preliminary outline ofan “Action-Plan” has already beenplanned and it seems to move in theperspective of a suitable and necessaryoperativeness formerly displayed with thesetting up of the Euro-mediterraneanDevelopment Agency on which theGovernor of Qaliubiyah and vice-chairman of the Commitee itself, AdlyHussein, diffuses in a interview. Nowdays the cities and regions of theeuro-mediterranean area are appointed toa great responsibility that is giving life to,through more frequent relations and newforms of cooperation and support, thepeace process that, on the contrary, runsinto difficulties with States. The activities suggested on the Culturalheritage range represent a very interestingchangeover. But it isn’t the only one. We quote forexample the agreements occurredbetween the Umberto I Hospital of Cairoand the Civic Health Centre of Palermojust during the Cairo Meeting. Theseagreements have had an immediateeffectiveness for the transfer of somechildren suffering from cardiovascularpathologies to Palermo in order to besubjected to necessary treatments. As wellas, still in Palermo, under the sign of anactive solidarity, were sheltered somechildren seriously wounded in the hugetragedy of Iraq.

Two-monthly bulletin of the Standing Committeefor the Euro-Mediterranean Partenership edited

by the Sicilian Federation of AICCRE

www.coppem.org

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THE MEDITERRANEAN BETWEEN ANCIENT AND MODERN

COPPEM in Cairo with a message of peace for a policy of Cultural Heritage

by Nicola Giuliano Leone

I n a structured and complex framework,COPPEM (Standing Committee for

Euro-Mediterranean Partnership of Localand Regional Authorities) has promoted aConference in Cairo on the topic: “Euro-Mediterranean partnership for CulturalHeritage”. Everyone knows the context:on the one hand the European Union hasbeen pursuing, for years, a policy aimingat consolidating relations betweenEuropean countries and IslamicMediterranean countries also forachieving in 2010, in a conscious wayand with up-to-date instruments, theMediterranean aim as a free trade zone;on the other hand, signs of war come out,that people don’t desire and that seemineluctable and fomenting exasperatingintegralisms and subsequent alarms.

The choice of Cairo city for unearthingthe policies pursued by the differentMediterranean countries on CulturalHeritage, has acquired a greatly symbolicvalue, and all the participants haveconsiderably appreciated it. Sicily is theseat of COPPEM; as its Secretary, Mr.Lino Motta has the prerogative ofgathering the representatives of theMediterranean towns, cities and regions,so giving voice to a comparison method,feeding on democracy principles frombelow, agreeing with the most seriousand recent policies of the EU.

To give voice to the local representativesmeans, in fact, to take root theopportunities that the various localtraditions can feed, to the territory cultureand to the real capacity of doing,allowing to get to the heart of theproblems and moving those forces thathave just to face the everyday life and thesettled communities.Relations between the interests of localrealities and the national andsupranational policies, seemed so evidentin the opening reports that have all beencarried out on the theme of richness,which can be generated by the dialogueamong diversities, where the differencesare a patrimony of material andimmaterial culture usable as adevelopment opportunity.The highest representatives of the hostcountry (H.E. Adly Hussein, Governor ofQalyubiya and H.E. Atef Ebeid, PrimeMinister of the Arab Republic of Egypt)have opened the Conference stressing therole of Egypt in the process of culturesapproach that even if different, havecommon and inalienable roots in thegreat history of the Mediterraneancivilizations.The President of COPPEM, Mr. FabioPellegrini, has described the role of localcommunities within the new lines of a

COPPEM news

To give voice to the localrepresentatives means to takeroot the opportunities that thevarious local traditions canfeed, allowing to get to theheart of the problems

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sound development in the modernityknowledges that are consciously relatedto the history and culture of the differentpeople.The role that Sicily can and must playwithin this context has been understoodby the President of the Sicilian Region,Mr. Totò Cuffaro, who has relaunchedthe theme of the business relationspotentiality for the carrying out ofexchange opportunities, hoping forSicilian enterprises a relation betweenproduction capacity and the needs of thedifferent Mediterranean countries, alsoin connection with tourist potentialitiesdevelopment that can be directly relatedto the historic and natural character ofterritories, as shown by Egypt and Sicily.The reports that are more specificallyrelated to the theme of the policies andprojects on Cultural heritage in thevarious countries, carried out by theexperts of the different Mediterraneannationalities, have shown that the topicon cultural patrimony is nowcharacterized by a spread homogeneityand approach capacity to the themes ofpreservation and enhancement withreference to the specific cases.Jordan (Alì Abu Ghanimeh), Greece(Nikos Papamikroulis), Spain (JoséMartinez), Egypt (H.E. Abtel-Rehim

Shebata, Governor of Cairo and ZahiHawass), Turkey (Nevzat Ilhan), Kuwait(Hanaa Fayez, Issam Abou Ouf), Italy(Lazzaroni, Leone, Albergoni), and othercountries have all presented projects anddisciplinary approaches of remarkableinterest where a conscious unity methodon cultural heritage matter comes out bynow, moving on three essential lines:interpretation, preservation,enhancement.It’s not a question of lacking in methodand awareness of the problems. Oftenthere’s a lack of qualified personnel andeconomic energies for facing the

complexity of the problems related to thebuilding of the process, able to changecultural heritage in a protected andusable answer also on the research andon an appropriated cultural tourismplane.The dimension of the Mediterraneanpatrimony, made of culture and history,that takes root in the soil, has appeared inall its strong significance of civilizationsthat overlap and grow intertwined,leaving concrete identity signs, butalways strongly connected among themand unbelievably dependent. The Mediterranean, even if today seemsto be a little inland sea, regains its role ofgreat “common mother”, generator ofcivilization. Within this framework it’sevident the necessity of acting on twoessential fronts. A first front aims at

COPPEM news

...building of the process,able to change cultural herita-ge in a protected and usableanswer also on the researchand on an appropriated cul-tural tourism plane.

from the left: Giuliano Leone,Ali Abu Ghanimed, Francesco Mannuccia

from the left: Fabio Pellegrini,Adly Hussein,Atef Ebeid

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increasing the opportunities for acommon politics for the training ofappropriated qualified experts andprofessionals within a significantframework of experimental opportunitiesin order to build new and more and moredetailed forms for a mutual knowledge aswell as for self-esteem and other-esteem.A second front is represented by acommon effort, which COPPEM couldtake upon itself in the future, that is towork at the building of a CulturalHeritage Agenda of the Mediterraneanshared by the various countriesoverlooking it, in order to lend weight tothe commitments that the wholecommunity can be called to honour forthe building of an unity approach that,involving the single nations, mightrecover those common objectives theonly culture can generate.

To do this through COPPEM, meansdoing it through the policies of theMediterranean cities and regions thathave been playing for a long time a rolein this direction with the autonomiesmarking out each single action.Within Italian reality, Sicily can play arole in this sense, what President Cuffaroas well as Leone and Albergoni havereaffirmed, just through some recentinitiatives that see in the universityeducation’s role, an important bondopportunity among people.The recent prospects - opening ofestablishing in Sicily a Mediterraneanschool of engineering, have seen thethree universities of Catania, Palermoand Messina active about thisopportunity that was launched by thePresident of the Republic Carlo AzeglioCiampi, years ago.

It is corroborated by the programmes ofthe Regional Government, whichrecognizes in this university a newopened organization towards educationand research problems for thedevelopment of the Mediterraneancountries.The necessity that Mediterraneancountries, in particular those of the non-European shore, commit themselves inbeing able to build together, has come outfrom the Cairo Conference.Sicily can do this task with dignity andawareness and it has demonstrated itthrough its strong presence andcommitment in this significant occasionwished by COPPEM.

Dean of the Faculty of Architecture ofPalermo

COPPEM news

Istituzional representatives of the Mediterranean Countries

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Development and Peace must be built working together

In Egypt three days of intense debate on Cultural Heritage

by Roberta Puglisi

Euromediterranean Partnership forCultural Heritage: preservation,

promotion, use and training. It was been the subject of theconference arranged in Cairo byCoppem, with the cooperation of theGovernor of Qalyubiya, Adly Hussein,first commission deputy chairman ofthe Standing Commitee. Three days of hard work, from the 8thto the 10th on last March, which haveseen the istitutional representatives’Coppem State Members participationand interest. Egypt, especially Cairo, welcomedwith open arms this initiative veryentusiastically. There were: AtefEbeid, Prime Minister of the ArabicRepublic of Egypt, Farouk Hosni,Minister of Culture, Ahmed FathiSourur, President of the People’sAssembly, Abdel Rehaim Shebata, theGovernor of Cairo and Safaa el- dinMoustafa Kamel Vice Governor.Their presence has been a strongstatement of openness towardseuromediterranean cooperation amongthe cities, in cultural heritagemanagment.

A delegation of the SicilianGovernment participated as well. TotòCuffaro, President of the Region Sicily,has talked about the strategic urbanrenewal of the palermitan old town, ofarabic impression, he forecasted,furthermore, to organize a meetingbetween Sicilian and Egyptian tradeagents by the end of the year in Cairo.

The international meeting isconsidered as point of development tothe proceedings of the two Coppemcommissions, the second and thefourth, that are involved in themethods and studies of therevaluation of cultural heritage; onthis last point, the coppem membersand his experts started off a culturalhight-level debate from which hascome out the necessity of a righttechnical training in which should beinvolved Universities and ResearchCentres.The three days in Egypt opened withthe reports of the people present(reported in the next pages), then aCoppem delegation was received bythe Speaker of the People’s Assembly,Ahmed Fathi Sorour, who has pointedout that Egypt actually is beenincreasing the relationships betweencountries and people to carry out abasic objective: working together forpeace. The Speaker of People’s Assembly,commenting on the internationalcrisis resulted from the Anglo-American attack on Iraq, hassupported the positions of the UN

COPPEM news

Adly Hussein and Totò Cuffaro

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Security Council which has built upits principles on war refusal. Fathi Sorour pointed out the greatimportance of these meetings as thatorganized by Coppem, consideringthem the only real opportunity towork for the human good and he saidthat Egyptian policy under theleadership of President HosniMubarak is aimed at Middle Eastpeace and development. In connection with the topic ofinternational meeting, the People’sAssembly Speaker reminded that, asan arab and mediterranean countryEgypt aims at fostering cultural andeconomic relations globally,especially in the euro-mediterraneanbasin, since the signing of theEgyptian EU Partnership Agreement.On the common growth projectamong mediterranean countries, thePrime Minister Atef Ebeid said thatthe mediterranean countries have anexceptional opportunity to reinforcetheir cooperation and achieve acommon development. He added thatEgypt and his neighbours countrieshave discovered, long ago the need tofoster economic and social ties

instead of confrontation. Referring tothe Euro-mediterranean conferenceon cultural heritage, he said that theagreement came at a time when thewhole world is calling for safetymeasures to combat terrorism. “Egypt is considered very importantfor European countries, as it is a

bridge between Africa and Asia wherethe rate of European foreign trade isincreasing” Ebeid remarked. “Egyptis developing the Suez Canal andincreasing in investment to moderniseits managment structure, in additionto modernising all 19 airports toconnect Egypt to the world. Actuallythe government is exercising non-stopefforts to develop tourism andprovide services to the Resorts in theNew Sinai and Red Sea which couldbecome points of attraction for peoplefrom Europe who are looking forrelax and amusement (retiredpeople)”. Ebeid added that this year a draft lawto establish an independent humanrights’council will be referred toParliament. The three days in Egypt ended up withthe visit to the Library of Alexandria.The Coppem delegation was receivedby the Deputy Governor ofAlexandria, Saffa El-Din MoustafaKamel and by the Library Director,Ismail Saragedin, in a charming placefull of history, art and culture.

COPPEM news

The library of Alexandria

A moment of the meeting with the Minister

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The EuroMediterranean Development Agency comes into being

Interview to Adly Hussein Governor of Qalyubiyah

Adly hussein, Governor ofQaliubiya and Coppem Deputy

Chairman, sets out StandingCommitee activities and its nextplans.

Which are the objectives ofCoppem?The objectives, pointed out in thecommitee agenda, aim atstrengthening cooperation betweentowns, countries, local and regionaladministrations of EuromediterraneanPartnership State Members in order tocarry out the Barcellona Declarationpoints. Therefore strengtheningdemocracy, and human rights respect,encouraging in peace, supportingeconomic integration and mutual

agreement between towns, supportingsostainable development andstrenghtening democratic institutionsincluding non-governative beings too.Can you point out which are thepurposeful steps that Commitee hasalready achieved? Among the most important steps thatCoppem have carried out, i think themost important is the institution of anEuromediterranean DevelopmentAgency which carries out BarcellonaDeclaration strategies and followsEuro-mediterranean Partnershippurposes as well, using the toolsgranted by European Commissionsuch as Meda Programme, and byother institutions as World Bank,United Nations and any kind oforganization in giving cooperation onlocal authorities in order to reach thenecessary development. The plan toset up this agency had been discussedduring the Commitee meeting on 27thJanuary in Rabat, where an agreementwas established on its statute; inCairo the commitee interest indevelopment strategy was confirmed.Among its main activities, Coppemhas arranged excellent projects oncultural and law matters in themediterranean basin and this plays a

very important deed in fact themediterranean people will intensifythe dialogue with each other in thisdirection.Going back on Cultural Heritagesubject which is the main topic ofthese meetings and which are themost important issues have beenpresented on the research table ? The commitee has discussed aboutseveral research documents as the oldtown centres development plan by theSuperintendent Nikos Papamikrulis,mayor of Khalkidonia, the restorationplan of Jordan buildings, thepreservation of the archeologic areasin the Mediterrenean zone, and otherdocuments along those lines. Greatinterest have had the documentproposed by Abdel Rahim Shahati,Governor of Cairo, which concernsthe restoration plan of Cairo and theSecretary General of the SupremeCouncil of Antiquities’ report foregyptian antiquties safeguard, ZahiHawass. Adly Hussein has closed hisinterview hoping Coppem could givethe go-ahead to cooperation betweenall countries which act as ainstrumental support to CulturalHeritage promotion, preservation anduse in the Mediterranean area.

Standing CommiteeEuromediterranean part-nership confirm the Egyptleading role in theMedioriental area.

COPPEM news

from the left: Fabio Pellegrini, Atef Ebeid,Adly Hussein

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Development and progress cannot exist without peace

From the Arab country a contribution to the dialogue and moderation between Mediterranean area people

by Fabio Pellegrini

Cairo is the right place to talk aboutEuro-Mediterranean Partnership

for Cultural Heritage.The choice is not fortuitous; actually,for Italian and European people historytaught in school begins with the study ofthe great Egyptian civilization. Egypthas always been considered, withreason, the cradle of ancient civilization.But, applying the recent concept ofUNESCO, we can affirm that the wholeEuro-Mediterranean area represents apatrimony of humanity.Overcoming the old criterion ofconsidering a single monument or anarchaeological site, nowadaysUNESCO overshoots the reference ofthe physical position of the singleheritage in order to recognize a “cultural

landscape” as a universal patrimony ofhumanity.Over the years, the concept of site andthe idea of monument have evolved, astoo European, introducing the notion of“cultural landscape”, where theprimitive heart of nature still vibrates,places of historic settlement and humancivilization. To be included in theUNESCO sites gives opportunities fortheir image, tourist publicity andpromotion, even if it must be followedby measures to be carried out forsafeguarding and valorising theconcerned sites. Privileges andobligations.Nowadays they are 730 all over theworld, of which 563 are of high culturalvalue and 144 are natural. The 50 % of the recognized sites belongto Europe: the latter, in chronogicalorder, is the Italian Valley of Noto (acultural baroque landscape) where weare organizing the IV COPPEM PlenaryAssembly (in Syracuse at the end ofNovember 2003).At the end of June, at the beginning ofJuly, in China, the Committee will meetin order to evaluate other 28 sitesthrough more and more selective andstrict procedures, for a term of threeyears.

Within the realization of preservationand valorisation plans, the collaborationbetween public and privateorganizations will be more and moreimportant, as they could take advantagefrom incentives and tax exemptions, andalso through operational references incultural and tourist “districts” that canact as a driving force for development.The private intervention can be made,but knowing that they are not driven bypatronage, but by their most convenientaspects, such as trade and marketing.The 86 % of the Italian entrepreneurshave declared themselves available toinvest in culture. But the moresignificant example come from theUnited Kingdom with “Ars &Business”, the most active Country inthe commitment to culture: 800 millionspounds financed by the State and 180million by private organizations, the20% of the total sum.On this point, we must point out thatnowadays the private commitment istaking up monuments restoration andsponsoring exhibitions, big concerts (inorder to obtain more visibility andmarketing opportunities), but also socialfield through courses of creative writingfor their managers (creativity for theirown managers) or musical and paintingeducation for children of poorneighbourhoods, so getting fiscalexemptions.Differentiations and opportunities ofcooperation grow and for publicadministrations, including territorialpowers, the need of definingpreservation and valorisationprogrammes in order to get moreresources become stronger. On thispoint we would need security, stabilityand peace starting from Gulf to MiddleEast, until the whole Mediterraneanbasin.Unfortunately, Mediterranean area, overthe centuries, has been battle andserious conflicts ground betweendifferent people. Alas, even the present

Collaboration and cooperationamong Countries is essential toresolve problems and achievepermanent results.

COPPEM news

from the left:Adly Hussein, Lino Motta, Fabio Pellegrini

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is not peaceful, nor quite days areexpected. Through this meeting, in ourown small way, we hope for giving ameaningful contribution to build peaceand security in this tormented area ofthe world.On this point, COPPEM appreciates andstresses the significant role that Egypthas played over the last months withinEuro-Mediterranean and world context.Egypt has actually committed itself tocarry out an equilibrium and moderationpolicy, what is necessary to limitcontrasts and avoid them to lead todramatic and bloody conflicts.Certainly, the world is full of injustices,in particular the Euro-Mediterraneanarea; there are people suffering, likePalestinians; there are victimseverywhere, families’ rifts, childrendying and helpless elderly persons. Alarge crowd live a life full of socialhardships. We are going through ahistorical phase in which moderation,searching for equilibrium anddemocratic relations among States isnecessary to continue building a peacepath. A difficult path, but to be stronglysearched; for this reason we want togive our positive contribution, us too. In this direction, the InternationalCommunity and its variousorganisations have to play a leadingrole.Concerning the topic of this two daysConference in Cairo, we must say thatheritage have to be valorised andpreserved not only in economic terms,but in terms of reclamation and upkeepwith time.Nowadays, a great many of monumentalpatrimony is dying out for differentreasons then, collaboration andcooperation among Countries isessential to resolve problems andachieve permanent results.A matter of not minor importanceconcerns the research of economicresources for safeguarding andpreserving (preservation meant as

security against art robberies) historicaland cultural patrimony of this area. Inthis direction, as told before, it isnecessary the active collaboration ofpublic Authorities, private persons, andenterprises (non-profit Foundations, onEnglish model, mixed stock companies),interested in cultural heritage.A virtuous synergy, aiming at preservingand valorising archaeological andmonumental patrimony, is necessary.More than ever, it is necessary to carryout new forms of collaboration in orderto preserve and safeguard (conservationand upkeep) historical monuments ofwhich Euro-Mediterranean Countriesare rich.Tourism development is closely relatedto preservation, which allows fruitionon a large scale.The development of economic-touristeconomy requires an essential role andcommitment by territorial powers fordefining “cultural districts”, regionalprofitable pacts like the one betweenMalmo and Copenhagen that has givenrise to a biotech-valley in the Baltic.Many forms of promotion and servicescan be applied to the cultural-touristdistrict, such as the “card” for giving thetourist a larger proposal than thetraditional and well-known one (littlemuseum, craft shops, landscapetreasures). A strict relation is more andmore required with Universities in orderto harmonize degree courses with thenew and concrete professional needs ofcultural, tourist and restoration sector.Training will be one of the bestinvestments.All the subjects involved, within theirown province, must work at thisdirection, in order to create conditionsfor favouring preservation and upkeepof monumental heritage. Driven bythese intentions, we hope for achievingthe whished objectives in the immediatefuture.

Coppem’s President

The “Clash of Civilizations” theorywhich emerged in the early 1990s

has done a tremendous dis-service tothose committed to peace anddevelopment in the modern world.According to its proponents, the truehistory of humankind is dominated byan unending struggle between differentcultures. Advocates of the theory pointto a long series of violent cleavages ininternational relations - from theBalkan wars of the 1990s to the recentAnglo-American invasion of Iraq - asevidence of their premise. Indeed thetragic terrorist attacks on New Yorkand Washington on September 11 2001and the resulting global war onterrorism, including the grindingconflict between Arabs and Israelis,would appear to be the most tangiblemanifestation of the clash ofcivilizations paradigm. The main drawback of the theory is thatit oversimplifies the role of culture inmoulding societies and relationshipsbetween societies. In short it negatesculture as a force for development andprogress, preferring to see culturaldifferences as the driving force forconflict and division. But a short reviewof world history shows that culture hasbeen the instrumental factor inpromoting the economic wealth ofmany societies, while also being thestimulus for profitable economic andtrade relations between states, openingdoors to development and progress. Inhis seminal work “The Wealth andPoverty of Nations” (1998) DavidLandes points to culture and institutionsas being the key factors behind thesuccessful drive towards modernity bymany of today’s most developedcountries. While the Western Europeanpenchant for discovery, aligned with aprotestant work ethic, ushered in an eraof science and technology, rapidJapanese industrialization benefitedfrom a culture of discipline and strongcommunity bonds of loyalty. The

COPPEM news

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The Power of Culture

The diversities between the people have to be reachness and development elements

by Antonio Vigilante

history of development is characterizedby inter-cultural exchanges, based onthe thirst for knowledge. For exampleduring the Meiji Restoration Japaneseinnovators took European technologyand improved it using indigenous skillsand. Today the emphasis is on inter-culturaldialogue as a means to shareknowledge and promote the diffusionof development ideas and practices.Moreover, inter-cultural dialogue hasbeen held up as a means for buildingpeace and understanding betweensocieties. Starting in the 1950s and1960s, the political emancipation ofpeoples led to a keen awareness of theirown ways of life and they began tochallenge the idea that modernizationhad to mean westernization. Rather,they claimed the right to contribute to 'modernity' in the terms of their owntraditions. This was endorsed in 1966by the United Nations, whenUNESCO's General Conferenceadopted the Declaration of thePrinciples of International Cultural Co-operation, which stated that “eachculture has a dignity and value whichmust be respected and preserved” andthat “every people has the right andduty to develop its culture.”

The Mediterranean basin is a case inpoint, where modernity has sometimesclashed with traditional culturalnorms. But the past fifty years havebeen significant more for multiculturalunderstanding than cultural conflict.The movement of people betweenNorth Africa and Europe offers anencouraging example of the transitionfrom colonialism to a culturalrelationship based on mutual respectand shared experiences indevelopment. The Mediterranean isalso an example of how the power of

culture goes beyond the dialogueacross regions, and has beeninstrumental in reshaping the characterof society itself. Most modernsocieties are multicultural in natureand many strive to reconcile thedemands of unity and diversity. Themost successful experiments inmulticulturalism have shown howdiversity enriches society. Increasingmigration of people and ideas fromNorth Africa over the past two decadeshas contributed to enrich Europeancultural practices in music, arts, andfood, besides providing criticalsupport to European economicdevelopment. Conversely, Europeanexpertise has assisted developmentprojects in many parts of the Margreb.It’s true that there are a number offestering conflicts in theMediterranean region, but even herecultural exchanges are important toolsfor navigating the road to peace, andgreasing the political wheels towards alasting settlement. At the same timecultural exchanges can be useful inpromoting commercial and economicrelations and ultimately forconsolidating peace and development.

UNDP (Italy)

COPPEM news

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Europe believes in the Mediterranean

The role of Sicily is important in the peace process

by Salvatore Cuffaro

The Euro-mediterranean partnershipis by now a well-established reality

for the politics of all countries membersgovernments. It is an evident fruit of the commitmentat which the Northern and southerncountries are working for years withthe awareness that the realdevelopment is the one involveseverybody. In fact it’s as much true as it helps whois in late in overcoming the gap. SoEurope believes in the Mediterranean. IfEurope means to bet on mediterranean,Sicily have done it for time. The economic and demographic gapbetween Europe on one hand and North-africa and the South on the other handit’s strong. It’s not possible to getequilibrium and stability if the peoplewill not have more similar conditions oflife. Today european population is twice asmuch than the one of the othermediterranean partners, but it isexpected that before 2003 the twocommunities will be numerically thesame.

Nowdays, unfortunately, this sea whichthe Latins called “nostrum”, as it iseverybody’s sea, is the theatre of newepochal migrations of people who, justto find better life conditions for theirfamilies and themselves, doesn’thesitate to sell everything, even whatthey don’t own, and to risk their life, asthe most recent news registeredespecially near Sicily. The mediterranean will become in 2010a free exchange zone; so a wide marketwill be created in which will be moreimportant the quality and the efficencywith which every country will be able toface the dynamics of economicdevelopment. Sicily intends to present itself at thisappointment as a great opportunity forall the partners to which offer goodsand facilities that the others don’t have.The most important wealth that itintends to offer is its people andespecially the young people who isanxious to carry out his professionalexperience. The mediterranean, the mediterraneancountries have a new and great

oppurtunity for their future. Hundredmillions of people future will depend ontheir ability to use this opportunity. Inthe past centuries Sicily was aprivileged place where men withdifferent histories, ideals, ethnic groupsand place of origin could live togethergiving birth to economic and socialorganizations, law systems and artistcproductions which, after so manycenturies, are still an original way ofcommunal life among peoples, showingonce again that peace and developmentare universal goods. It’s necessary to start from thiscommon history and experienceground in order to strengthen bestpractises of communal life andcooperation in every human life field,as those the meeting arranged at Cairoby Coppem wish to promote. Thecommon objective to achieve must beto improve the life conditions of a lotof people that remained on thedevelopment threshold so far and nowmust be able to enter at full right withthe great potentiality that they have,with their own ethnic, religious andcultural originalities, with sharedprogrammes and objectives achievedstep by step. The considerable cultural heritage thatis situated along the mediterraneanseashores is the most clear evidence ofthis history and of this people. Themeeting interest is very importantbecause starts from a common need. The three monotheistic religions whichhave grown along its coasts have alsoleft a considerable artistic heritage, astill living evidence of culture,knowledge, mutual life, civic andpolitical exeperience, realizedsolidarity. The mass-media and tourismdevelopment let an ever-increasingnumber of people can see and knowdirectly what remains of historicalcivilizations as the Egyptian one that weare going to know during these days.

COPPEM news

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The frenzied increase of consumers letalso the economic engagement canincrease for the restoration of morenumerous number of monuments, as thefamous Library of Alexandria. These new perspectives opened newexchange and work opportunities just inthe restoration of the most and lessfamous monuments as well. They haveallowed also the exchange ofexperiences, for example in the field ofrestoration in which Sicily has much tosay and to put at disposition as well. Among the possible interventions themost strategic one seems to be therestoration of the old towns with anarabic urban structure, as the Palermoand Canoro ones.The revitalization of a lot of areas insome italian cities it’s a primarycommitment of the Italian Government. This revitalization gets success andapproval in the other countries, as thehost city with which have beenestablished fruitful exchanges and workoppotunities. Besides this primary intervention thereare also those addressed to thevalorization of old-fashionedprofessions and crafts and to therevaluation of the building materialsthat today are on the upswing, as themarble one. But the opportunities don’t finish here.The cultural exachanges with ourUniversities will be testified andintensified. It’s a question of well-establishedinterests which involve leadingpersonalities who give their abilities to awide-ranging project that put togetherpeople from different countries linkedwith millenarian history whichdeveloped in the mediterranean. The presence of the government ofSicily wants to state the importance ofthis project and the interest of itsdiffusion.

The President of the Sicilian Region

Italy is a full right protagonist of the European Community: the reconstruction in thepublic finance, achieved during these years, let us deal au pair with our partners. Now

we have to achieve economic integration and the question to put on the agenda is howthe Italian economy places itself in the european market.This perspective gives us, as theother european countries new economic and social problems.Among them the main que-stion is the european welfare system agreements and at the same time their relationshipswith the specific national and local situations. In order to discuss on the “ Welfare system”,on Saturday 28th June at 9.30 a.m arranged by Coppem and Azienda Sanitaria of Messina,in the Horcynus Orca literary park in Messina, a meeting will be held at which will parti-cipate among others: Adly Hussein, Governor of Qailobiya and deputy chairman ofCoppem, Abbes Mohsen, mayor of Tunis, Andreas Karavolas, councillor of Patrasso(Greece) municipality, Maurice Halimi, deputy mayor of Perpignan (France), Said El Dakkak,vice-chancellor of the Library of Alexandria (Egypt), Lino Motta, Coppem’s secretary gene-ral, Biagio Gennaro, chief of Psichiatric department of Local Health Authority of Messina,Gaetano Giunta, person in charge of ECOS Med (Italy), Gabriele Müller-Trimbush, mayorof Stuttgart, Gaspare Motta, psychiatrist of Messina, Giulio Santagata, Chamber ofDeputies member, Francesco Rotelli, general manager ASL (Italy), Angelo Righetti, coordi-nator ASL (Italy), and Gianluca Vignola, deputy manager UNDP (United NationsDevelopment Programme Rome Italy). The Horcynus Orca Park was born in July 2002from a project which involves public and private subjects for more than two years; it’s acultural enterprise which is named after the novel of the same title by Stefano D’Arrigo,and it is situated in the area of the Strait of Messina but its scenery embraces the Plain ofGioia Tauro, Eolie isles, and Etna.The exhibition areas , the research laboratories, the mul-timedial rooms, the performance, conventions and service structures are located at CapoPeloro on Scilla and Cariddi narrated by D’Arrigo; along its shores are located the landingplaces for feluccas and the boats for the trips on the Strait. The Horcynus Orca Parkrecalls the novel plot from which it gets its name and gives the opportunity to recall theplaces thinking critically about the cultural identity of the Strait as an identity to invent atthat very moment.

COPPEM news

The Welfare Systems

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Egypt is Closer and closer to Europe

According to the Prime Minister integration is an objective that cannot be renunced.

by Roberta Puglisi

The Prime Minister of the ArabRepublic of Egypt, Mr. Atef Ebeid,

on the occasion of the Conference,organized in Cairo by COPPEM, on“Euro-Mediterranean Partnership forCultural Heritage”, has affirmed that hiscountry is used to working for a lastingpeace, based on justice, for the worldcommunity and in Middle-East inparticular, in order to increase people’ssecurity and humanity's welfare. Egypt will always continue to be ameeting place for men of culture andfor anyone who pursue the path ofpeace.In his inaugural address, on theoccasion of the works of the Standing

Committee for Euro-MediterraneanCooperation, Ebeid has affirmed thatEgypt will continue to be a specialplace to exchange ideas, opinions andto enter into agreements, committingitself in carrying out the stability of acommon position against terrorism andterrorist attacks. The objective is to work for social,economic and political developmentnot only for its country but also for thewhole world community.

Egypt sustains any effort in favour ofthe man (aimed towards men) in orderto assert justice and peace in the world.“We think there are strong and efficientinstitutions pursuing the constant aim ofconsolidating the democratic principlesof our country – has affirmed Ebeid –within this scope, the nationalist party,few days ago, has put various billsbefore the People’s Assembly, aiming atreinforcing women rights and equalopportunities policies, establishing anational council for human rights andsubsequently a special family Court”.The Prime Minister has reaffirmedEgypt has committed itself in theintegration process with Europe, whichwill come soon into being with theapproval of a cooperation andcollaboration agreement with theEuropean Union in the field of politics,economics and social.Ebeid has closed his speech byaffirming that: “without any doubt, weplace ours hopes in this agreement as itwill offer many perspectives ofdevelopment for our country. Theeconomic growth proceeds in a stableway; so we constantly work atreinforcing public utility services thatmight let us be linked to the world.Within this scope, we aim at realizing

COPPEM news

Egypt sustains any effort infavour of the man (aimedtowards men) in order toassert justice and peace inthe world.

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development projects for anadministrative network that mightcover world trade, besides reinforcingthe link system with all States, bystrengthening air navigation andincreasing the related performances. Inthis sector we have already started up aproject for the realization of 19national airports. For tourist sector, weare working on building tourist villagesin the Red Sea zone, in the south Sinai,where there are already villages,known all over the world, welcomingpeople who come from the countries ofthe Mediterranean shores. This touristrecovery is one of the essential factorsof GDP growth.The Councillor Adly Hussein,Governor of Qailobiya and ViceChairman of COPPEM, has declaredthat the Conference on thepreservation, enhancement and fruitionof Cultural Heritage, attended by morethan 150 Responsibles for localadministration of the Mediterraneancountries, has been an occasion foreven discussing the birth of a standingdevelopment agency for the Euro-Mediterranean countries, aiming atrealizing development andtransformation projects, common to allsectors of these countries, in order tocooperate with all the worldorganizations, leaded by the satellitedevelopment agency of the UnitedNations, the World Bank and othersimilar organizations.

The Prime Minister of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Atef Ebeid, participating at the interna-tional Conference on Cultural Heritage said:«If you choose “Cultural Heritage”, as the subject of Cairo conference, in order to discuss,explore and survey cultural heritage, you are in the right place. I pursue closely COPPEMactivity and its seek to settle Barcelona Declaration that believes in values of democracy, ruleof law, human rights, for the development and welfare of the people of South Mediterraneanand to make stable basis with the North countries, in order to ensure peace and securityamong them.The presence of this great number of leaders, intellectuals and educators, fromthe Mediterranean cities, in Egypt, in order to boost the dialogue and to debate the topic ofCultural Heritage, proofs that peace can exist.The dialogue among civilizations and culturesof all over the world is the only way to achieve peace among all people in the world, andthis meeting doesn’t only discuss the economic and trade relations, but its main scope is cul-tures exchange. I remind all of you that the establishment of many scientific university chairs,since 1312, in Arabic, Greek, Hebrew and Syrian languages in Paris, Oxford, Polonia,Aveniueand Salamkta, is the proof of understanding and recognizing, from the old history, the impor-tance of the dialogue among cultures and civilizations. I also remind all of you, the positiveand wonderful dialogue between Holy Al-Azhar,Vatican and Anglican Church that happensonce or twice every year, in order to promote concepts like “Religious Right”, and the dia-logue between the three spiritual religions, occurred in Brussels in 2001, aimed at settlingpeace between world nations. Returning once more to our subject, Cultural Heritage, theEgyptian Ministry of Culture is working at a great project, with Cairo Governorate, in orderto preserve its patrimony.We should think of the historic project of Cairo, aiming at rene-wing Al-Fostat,Al-Kataa,Al-Askar and Fatimaian patrimony; and also the project of redisco-vering the extinct cultural production of the wonderful Mediterranean civilization inAlexandria, its goods, its cultural productions and the renewal of the symbols of its civiliza-tion, like the great library, the lighthouse and the antiquities that have great effect for the cityand for the enrichment of humanity thoughts, in order to integrate North Mediterraneanregions (Italy, Greece, France, Spain) with the South Western Arab countries and Egypt.Andabout “Development Agency for Euro-Mediterranean cities”, we are very pleased that theEgyptian capital will host the seat of a such important and effective work, and you will findin Egypt all the cooperation and sustain in this direction».

COPPEM news

We aim at keeping andincreasing security andpeace between all people.

Atef Ebeid: Cairo aims to renew its cultural heritage

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THE OLD TOWN CENTRE IS NOT A MUSEUM

Towns must be built for people

by Nikos Papamikroulis

When we talk about thepreservation of the “Old Town

Centre”, we have to ask ourselves if itsexistence is still justified consideringthat, in the case of Athens in particular,it has lost the most part of itsdirectional, commercial and residentialfunctions that were used tocharacterize it.It should be necessary to clarify whyto preserve very big structures whichfunctionality is now nearly inexistent.The problem has shifted from theoriginal plane that is both the Schoolof Fine Arts and the Literary Academyto the plane of functionality andeconomic interest, the only one we canhope for preventing the fall ofexperimentalisms or high-soundingrhetorical flourishes that in the reality,and certainly in the Greek one, act asshroud to the property speculating inthe old town centres.The old town centre is the old rural,commercial, bureaucratic or militarytown which time limit can beapproximately dated from therevolution for independence. In thistown, the residential function that isuniformly distributed in the whole

area, coincides with the otherfunctions that are strictly separatedand characterize the various urbanareas. The employees’ organization is anexample of it. What can seem a fault isactually a merit as it fixes emergentpoints in the urban structure. Easyjoining points, because the town isbuilt on a human scale, then there is nodifficulty in transport or of distance.These conditions don’t exist anymore:new customs, habits, sense of the time,technical means have radicallychanged the old relations then, the oldgroup is oppressed and vain, even forthe macroscopic urban growth, and atthe same time, it is source ofoppression for those structures thatsurround it and have all the faults ofthe “Centre”, without having the oldmerits.So two parties often merging amongthem, according to particular interests,now debate the old town. Those whowant to demolish and to raze to theground in order to reclaim and re-build, following modern concepts,those who want everything preserve.Both nuances are boundless.

In the light of a very cold and strictlogic the first answer, if radicallycarried out, would seem the simplest.But it would cause the negation of anyvalue, maybe leaving out those formalpseudo-values, meant in the worstsense of the word. In addition, itdoesn’t consider, for myopia ordistrust, that it would be a solutiononly suggested by the photographicinvestigation of the situation withoutconsidering the “precedent”, which areboth urban errors as the “renewals”and the will of the presence, in thecentre, of technical means created andexperimented outside it, and that areeven opposite to it. However theacceptance would cause immediatelythe systematic demolition, at leastevery thirty years, of what suggestedand built the previous thirty-yearperiod, considering the quickness inexperimenting new means and inadopting new habits. And it wouldn’tneed to demolish some buildings but toraze to the ground entire towns. Townwould then become a “consumergood”. Then, it would be better to considerwho had built the old town, that is tosay the man who had adopted hisparameters and had been relativelyinfluenced by technical factors. Theobvious conclusion of several townplanners, and not only theirs, wouldcome out, that is restricting to theutmost, in the old town centre, thosetechnical means and functions that arein contrast to the old structures.The essential problem is still the oneof the functions. It’s not a question ofdiscovering new functions or inventthem in order to justify the use of somuch space, occupied by buildingsand streets that could be considered fitfor the Museum only if they werescaled down, but plainly revising theold usage in their current validity.Let’s take, for example, a normalaristocratic palace of the old town

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centre: we can generally find theLord’s apartment which features andarrangement of the rooms change withtime; below – in the mezzanine –generally there are the administrativerooms and upstairs there are servants'rooms; in the downstairs storerooms,stables. We can then make a first clarification:“palace” performs residence,administrative (the owner interests),storeroom and more rarely commercialfunction. As regards the residential function adistinction has to be made; at least forthose who the building is built, it losesmore and more importance, besides itincreasingly acquires the guestfunction; on this point the concept ofthe “enfilade” is a peculiarity.The palace, in its unity, would beusable in a perfect way with the onlybut solvable difficulty of adapting thefacilities to modern needs. The greaterdifficulties arise when we chance uponthe “enfilades”, which are solvableonly as sumptuous residences orfollowing the reason of their creation,that is the “guest” function. The“palaces” and the houses considered asa whole, with their natural links:streets, alleys and squares, form thecentre. At this point, the problemsincrease significantly, grew in number,as these links were used to satisfyrequirements of meeting place, marketand short distance transports.Nowadays the first two are all butextinct and the third one has become a“forced crossing”. The latter is the firstfactor to be eliminated, and it can’t berealized by creating ring roads and thelike that are palliative and correctionof an occurred mishap, but by radicallyeliminating the trouble then, bydetailing the old town (as a complex)from the new one, by realizingintermediate zones for absorption andmarshalling. A second problem to besolved is the one of internal relations.

In a road system built for pedestrians,it is inconceivable to introduce motorvehicles. However, distances arehardly passable in a short time. Themodification of relations forconstruction interventions ordemolition is graver; in fact they makea great mass of people and vehicles tocome together in narrow points,without having the sufficient space toexpand. These two 19th and 20thcentury distinguishing interventionswere so much harmful as much partial.In fact, whereas Hausmanninterventions in Paris, even ifsuggested by a detective logic, findtheir substantial unity in their numberand quality, by revolutionizing andtotally changing a system for replacingit with another one, partialinterventions such as the renewals ofNaples, Palermo, Athens and Florencehaven’t solved their original causes,and moreover they have deterioratedthe equilibrium of a system they hadn’tthe strength to destroy by introducing,for example, the inconsistent conceptof the big commercial and at the sametime road of transit, with residentialfunctions too.

Then it’s a question of respecting theold structures admitting they are stillpractical but without expecting thosefunctions that could eliminate theirmain features. It would be necessarydrastic measures for the first parts thatare affected by greater radicallychanged interventions. It is notnecessary to rebuild the originalconditions, what would be a wastebesides a historic falsification, but justcreating new no nuisance structures toneighbouring environments. The mainthing to be unearthed is: thecontemporary civilization can stilllive in the centre very well and run itscourse without any difficulty as,suffice it to consider that the certainlyhuman parameters followed in thebuilding of the “centre”, are noteffectively replaceable by technicalcivilization inventions; besides, those(slightest) interventions both intransports and in facilities can bepossible because, even if they don’tchange the old relations of the centre,they adapt it to the current days.

Vice-president of Coppem

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CONSERVATION OF BUILDINGS IN JORDAN

Hundreds of architectonic structures brought back to the ancient splendour

by Ali Abu Ghanimeh

Since the second half of the XXthcentury and in particular over the

last 20 years, building conservation inJordan has played an important role inpreserving many buildings andarchaeological sites of architectonic,historic and artistic value such as Petra,Jerash, Um-Qais, Islamic buildings suchas Qusair Amra, Qaser Kharaneh, AjlunCitadel, Ottoman buildings and villagesand finally buildings built in the XXthcentury like many villas in Amman.Conservation experience in Jordan, overthe last 20 years, has had a rapid andpositive development for variousreasons:- The opening of many schools ofArchitecture in Jordan, firstly in 1975 atJordan University, then at Yarmuk University and many others,thus favouring the interest in studyingand visiting different sites andbuildings.- Different European groups and expertshave begun excavations, researches andprojects in Jordan.- Various fundings from both theEuropean Community and single States,for Conservation - researches and projects of sites andbuildings.

- Many Jordanian architects havespecialized in building Conservation,becoming academic and - professional experts, such as LeenFakuri and Rami Daher, AmmarKhamash, Mai Shaer, Zaki Aslan,Mohad Khalili, Jamal Elayan etc.- Courses in Building Conservation,organized in many schools ofarchitecture.- Conservation of many archaeologicalsites and private and state buildings.

- Different meetings, conferences andworkshops on Conservation areorganized in Jordan at a local, regionaland international level; the first was theSymposium of the ArchitectonicPatrimony Conservation in Jordan, in1993.Then, Conservation experience has hadits period of interest developing withtime succeeding, at the beginning of thethird millennium, with the new worldglobalisation and the new Jordaniantechnologies, in analysing thisConservation experience, firstly bylisting the groups of experts andarchitects and the differentConservation projects realized both bylocal and European experts.

The experience in BuildingConservation of Local experts inJordan Jordan government has alwaysdeveloped an interest in BuildingConservation, since the beginning of theXXth century, with the arrival of theHashemits, beginning the conservationand extension of the old Al-HuseiniMosque of Amman in 1923, thendifferent conservation projects of theDome of the Rock in Jerusalem, and the

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conservation of the Kaznah Façade inPetra, arriving today with theestablishment of various ministries thathave their technical offices: the Ministerfor Tourism and the Department ofAntiquities, which are the realresponsible for archaeological sites; theMinister of Religions, responsible forreligious buildings, particularly theMausoleums of the prophet Mohammedfellows, who fell during the battles ofIslamic conquests in Jordan territory;the Minister of Municipalities,responsible for the conservation of thefabric cities at cities and towns level.Over the last 5 years, Ammanmunicipality has begun to buy everyyear a building of historic, architectonicand artistic value, preserving and usingit; for example, the old building of themunicipality has been used as themunicipality library, the two villas ofthe early century have been used one asHouse of Poetry and the other one asHouse of Art, continuing this traditionin order to salvage the architectonic andsocial memory and the continuity ofsimply life.Even if private citizens play a lowerrole, they have had a leading place inconserving small houses in town, suchas Arar ad Irbid Poet House that was ademolished house in the old towncentre, but poet’s family have preservedit, changing it into the citizen Museumin memory of the great poet, or in Salt,the house of Tukan family al Salt,conserved for public use as the seat ofSalt municipality; this shows the steadyprivate experience in changingConservation concept into a reality inthe life of Jordanian citizens.The name of Prof. Rami Farouk Daheris important not only because he is themain professor of architectonicConservation in Jordan universities butalso for his increasing interest inrespecting and conserving Jordaniansites and buildings and for havingcarried out various conservation

projects such as the last one of ZaidaniMosque in Tibneh, and for havingestablished an institute for architectonicpatrimony (TURATH).Moreover, the name of Prof. LeenFakhoury, who has been teachingConservation, at the University ofJordan, for long time, and carried outmany Conservation projects.

The experience in BuildingConservation of European experts inJordan Since the beginning of the XXthcentury, Jordan with its archaeologicalsites, has been the preferred destinationfor many European archaeologists(English, German, Italian, Spanish), but

in the course of time it has becomeessential to conserve these old sites andbuildings so, through their institutes andMinisters or by private funds, Italiansconserve buildings in different placessuch as: Petra, Jerash, Monte Nebo,Macheronte, as well as Germans in Um-Qais and in Petra, Spanish in QusairAmra and in Qaser Khaeaneh and inAmman the Ummayade Castle.Because of the increasing interest of theEuropean Community for its importantrole in archaeological sites andbuildings conservation, over this yearsmany European experts and scholars inthis field, have been arriving; moreover,many conservation projects have beenfinanced and some of them are at end of

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phase, but also European States havebeen sustaining researches and projectsin an independent way.

The experience in BuildingConservation of Italian experts inJordan Over the last 20 years, Italian scholarshave played a leading role in spreadingthe concept of Building Conservation;after many years of researches carriedout by scholars, in particular fromFlorence, Venice, Rome and Turin, suchas Gullini, Marino, Sabelli, Vannini,Palumbo, Piccirillo, Desideri,Nicolucci, Caruncchio, Parapetti,Calzini, research have been followed-upwith fundings by different institutessuch as the Excavation Centre of Turin,the CNR, the University of Florence, theIsMEO (IsIAO), the Minister forForeign Affairs and the funds from theEuropean Community.In my opinion, Italian experience in thefield of Conservation is the mosteffective for its efficient schools andexperts.It is to be quoted one of the mosteffective conservation project, carriedout by an Italian expert, that is theMacheronte’s; within this project Prof.Luigi Marino and his colleaguesFrancesca Martella, Roberto Sabelli,

Giovanna Battista and Jordanianarchitects like Ali Khatib and AwadTarawneh have studied both thearchaeological site of the HerodianFortress and the old village, leavingplace, local materials and techniquesuntouched.The Italian way of working within theseexperiences carried out between Italyand Jordan has helped both groups ingaining experience in this field, whathas been favouring, year by year, localconstruction and its techniques andmaterials, particularly local stone that isconsidered the par excellence materialin Jordan.

For long time the old Jordanianarchitectonic tradition, with its buildings,has been a fertile ground that scholarshave studied very well, discovering oldbut always-current techniques in Jordanbuildings construction. Finally, we can conclude that theexperience in Building Conservation inJordan has taken advantage of:- The high number of effectiveEuropean scholars, who have taken themerit for preserving buildings andsustaining technical and practice growthof Jordanian scholars and organizations,but at the same time we can’t forget themany failed projects.- The continuous study and researchesof sites and buildings that have givenbirth to many publications andresearches, printed in differentEuropean and Arabic languages.- The continuous increasing of carriedout analyses and surveys of old sites andbuildings.- The exchange of techniques, and alsoof experiences and visits in Jordan andin other European countries.The various workshops and conferenceson the topic of Conservation, held inJordan.

Prof. Faculty of Architecture (Amman University)

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The Preservation of Stone Monuments in the Mediterranean Basin.

A new restoration science was born

by Lorenzo Lazzarini

From the 60s of the last century in themost developed countries all over

the world begins the awareness that theindustrial development caused animpoverishment and a deterioration ofthe environment, frequently followed bythe onset of some problems in thecultural heritage preservation. In fact inEurope, the change of political approachwith the monuments, which not onlyhave been protected by the collapsethreats related to development in itselfbut they are also studied, supervised andprotected both with phisycal andenvironmental criteria, goes back tothen. So was born the new preservationand restoration science that in the last 30years has made considerable progressesand at present it enables to face even themost difficult preservation problems ofthe various building materials of theworks of art in a right way under allpoints of view, both philosophical andtechnological one. The Experiences’heritage accumulated until now areparticularly remarkable, especially inthe countries of the mediterranean area,which keeps the greatest and the mostimportant historical-artistic andarcheologic heritage of the world.I will try to synthesize the essentialaspects of this area, considering thegeology and the foremost stone

formations used, in the ancient world,for getting building and ornamentalstone, their main causes of deterioration,related to climate and environment, andeventually the great restoration planswhich have been pursued in the past orwill be realized in the near future. First of all the geology has obviouslyinfluenced the availability and thefollowing use of useful stones for artand architecture.The most useful anddistinctive stone materials for themediterranean basin monuments areproper limestones and marble. The firstmostly crop out in all the countries wetby the Mediterranean sea as they hadtaken a shape in the area correspondingto palaeo-ocean called Tetide in an era-interval beginning from the Paleozoicperiod to Tertiary period, and withhigher intensity in Mesozoic period. Infact during this long period the optimumconditions originated for a considerableand widespread expansion of the wholesedimentary rocks well known asdeposits of carbonate platform whichare marginal in comparison with themediterranean orogenic alpidicsediments, after a lithification processturned into calcareous rocks. Carbonatefacies of mesozoic-tertiary periodplatform are present in spanish orogenicmassif of Betica, in Catalonia and in the

Pyrenean region, Aquitania andProvence, in the Southern Alps, Dinaridiand Ellenidi, in the Apennines, in Sicilyand Sardinia, in the north-AfricanMountain Range down to the afro-arabic side, from Tunis to Lebanon. Thesecond one, that is crystalline marblesare moslty linked to regionalmetamorphism phenomena which arelinked to the Caledonian, ercinic, andalpine orogenesis and that turnedformed limestones and/or dolomiticrocks into crystalline white or greymarbles, very important for the historyof the ancient art, as parian and pentelicmarble, proconnesio and lunense(Carrara Marble). Stone – limestones,especially arenite – limestone constituteimportant monuments in the southernSpain, as for example the cathedrals ofGranada and Siviglia, of Sicily and theSouthern Italy, as The temples ofSelinunte and Agrigento or baroc townsof the Val di Noto, and Lecce; Tunis andMalta (for example the punic buildingsof Cartagine and the MegalithicTemples of Mujidra, of Chreta (themediterranea walls of Candia), of westand southern Anatoly (the monumentsof Efeso and Lycia), of the phaeniciancoastline (the monuments of Sydon) andof Palestine (the castle and the buildingsof Marine Cesarea). Cristalline Marbleswere extracted first by Greek people ina great deal but then especially byRoman people all around TheMediterranean, from Esromoz andMacael in Portugal and Spain, down allthe great basin of the Meandro river(now Menderes) in Turkey, through Capde Gard in Algeria, Carrara in Italy,Attic, the Cycladic Isles, Mecedonianarea in Greece, both for building anddecorating statues of the great publicbuildings as those of the Acropolis ofAthens like the Parthenon, The templesof the Ancient Rome, and the buildingsof the others ancient metropolis asAlexandria, Costantinople andAnthiochia in Syria, etc.

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The inherent properties of these twoclasses of materials, their structure andtexture, composition, physic andmechanic properties, are similar andrespond in a similar way across time andin the same environment. So it’s beenlikely to assert that in the mediterraneanarea there is not only an omogeniccultural Koinè for the great historicperiods which were witnesses of thedevelopment of the mesopotamic,egyptian, greck-roman, Islamic andchristian civilizations, but they haveeven a common nature and durability ofthe main materials which costitute thebuildings. Even the climate and the environmentare unifying characteristics for theMediterranean area, and they influencedirectly the preservation of the materialswhich constitute the ancientMonuments. The first, in fact, is typicalof a general regime that indicate achange in the weather rather stationary,dry and clear in summer as aconsequence of tropical anticyclone, andrainy in autumn-winter, when theanticyclone goes to the south,changeable weather due to cyclonichumid wind from Atlantic Ocean. Indetail, the climate parameters(temperature, humidity, windiness,precipitations) are even more similar for

the southern-middle and northernmediterranean area, the first one isconnotated by highter temperatures anddifussed dryness; the second one bylower temperature and increasingrainfall. The climate of the differentcountries’ seaboards facing the sea,where there are most of the ancient sites,is completely different from thesegeneral characteristics, being basicallymore uniform and similar in relation toparallel geo-morphologicalcharacteristics (for example isconsiderable the influence of themountain rages facing the seaboard).Generally in the seaboard areas, thehumidity, especially during the night, ismuch higher and it facilitatescondensation phenomena which areharmful for stone and lithoid materials.Moreover considering the environment,the almost costant windiness presencedue to sea breezes, brings on theformation of salty aerosols which areamong the main causes of the porousmaterials deterioration. If furthermorewe consider that the rain andcondensation waters in these areashardly ever are pure but they containsolved salts and atmospheric pollutingsubstances we can easily realize as in theMediterranean seaboard there are themost alarming deterioration phenomena

which demage the monuments not onlyon the outside but often the interior too.In this context, in fact, it should bepointed out that along seaboard there area lot of densely populated towns withvast industrial areas or oil refineries andthermoelectric power plants at high rateof both atmospheric and sea – pollution.It’s well-known that, especially the firstone represents an important and rapidfactor of the degradation processes onstony-materials. Therefore consideringthe climate and the present-day coastenvironment of a lot of Mediterraneanareas and the most critical and frequentdeterioration phenomena of limestonesand marbles it can certainly be assertedthat the main causes which produce theso-called “stone – disease” are the effectof the crystallization of the salts for thelimestones and the “firing” due tosudden thermic change for marbles and,for both materials, the sulphation due toathmosferic pollution by sulphur-mixtures. As for the salts effect, it isparticurly harmful to the very porouslimestones of the monuments placed incoasting areas and so exposed to layingdown of sodium chloride in the form ofmarine spray and aerosols. On thesemonuments, the constant action ofbreezes, which favours the formation ofsaline krypton- efflorescences, producesserious alveolization phenomena thatsometimes can be found on silicate rocksand in a few rear-areas far from coastroughly ten kilometers. The marblesfiring is on the contrary a simple butserious climatic consequence of sudden-changes in temperature, in presence ofhumidity, which are dissatisfied withmarbles because of their grain is thickerthan limestones, what exalts the sostrong anisotropic behaviour of calciteunder thermal expansion. Thelimestones and marbles solphatationoccurs in both urban and industrial areaswhere the air is polluted by sulphur-mixtures, especially by sulphur dioxidethat in presence of oxidizing gases

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(nitrogen-mixtures, ozone) and/oratmospheric particulate changes intosulphuric anhydride that together withwater creates sulphuric acid. If this acidis in contact with limestones or marbles(also plaster made of lime) itimmediately reacts corroding them andforming gypsum (biidratc calciumsulphate), a soluble salt that after causesdamage to materials above mentionedfor crystallization-dissolution-crystallization cycles. The sulphationvisible effects are the formation of ablack scales on monument surface,which are not only disfiguring but alsovery harmful and so they should beeliminated. This conclusion causes the necessity ofcleaning, and so the restoration ofmonuments.It is not sufficient, for the polluted areas,to improve the air quality in order toslaw down stone deterioration, but it isalso necessary to clean and protect stonesurfaces.As told before, they came to this end inthe early seventies, following a series ofinternational conferences held in Italy(Bologna), France (La Rochelle) andGreece (Athens), which decided expertsapproval of stone conservation on anoperational procedure that on one handenvisaged the solution of buildingsstructural problems as primary necessityfor their physical survival, on the otherhand it envisaged the completion ofconservation interventions through therestoration of surfaces that aimed atpreserving esthetical values of thefacades as much as possible (throughappropriate controlled cleaning) and atpreserving materials with reinforcing (ifnecessary)and protection treatments.Then in Italy, in the seventies, anextended experimentation onmonuments began both in laboratoryand in the field, in parallel with pilotinterventions on model buildings. Theimportant restorations of the Porta dellaCarta of the Ducal Palace in Venice, the

surveys of the Cathedrals of Ferrara andSt. Petronio in Bologna, dates from thisperiod; these restorations had a greatinfluence and urged ICCROM,UNESCO and Italian Ministry officesfor Cultural Heritage to launch (Venice,1976) the first international biennialcourse for stone conservation that thisyear has come to its fifteenth edition. Bythe end of the seventies many otherMediterranean countries followed Italyin undertaking important restorationprojects: worth it quote the majors.First of all, the monuments restorationof Athens Acropolis, in particular theErectheion, on which someinterventions had been made at thebeginning of the XX century and nowtheir restoration has come to an end; theParthenon restoration is still in progress:these restorations, under the aegis ofUNESCO and under the control of aninternational committee of experts haveenabled a new anastylosis of theErectheion and a partial reconstructionof the Parthenon naos, besides accruingexperience on deterioration problemsand marble conservation. Otherimportant interventions began at the endof the seventies, lasting the followingtwo years, in France (the polychromeportals of Chartres, Notre Dame inParis, St. Trophime in Arles, Amiens

Cathedral), in Spain (St. Maria of Ripollnear Madrid, Burgos Cathedrals,Santiago de Compostela, Oviedo, theUniversity of Salamanca), in Italy (themonuments of the Forums and thetriumphal arches of the ancient Rome,the Duomo of Milan, the baroquemonuments of Lecce), in Turkey (therupestrian churches of Cappadocia, thelibrary of Celso in Efeso, St. Sophia inIstanbul), in Egypt (the Sphinx,Nefertari tomb, some monuments of theIslamic Cairo).Nowadays, there are many importantcourses of restoration both in progressand planned on the stone monuments ofthe Mediterranean area. Worth it remindwhat is in course in Italy: the systematicrestoration of the baroque monumentsof the Val di Noto in Sicily, therestoration of the Ducal Palace and theBasylique of St. Marco in Venice, therestoration of Adriano Temple in Rome.Finally, I would quote the greatintervention project on the monumentsof Tiro and Baalbeck in Lebanon, whichwill be financed by the World Bank andaims at becoming a model for all theMiddle East area.

History of Architecture DepartmentIuav - Venice

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Possibilities, Frontiers and Prospects for Cultural Heritage

Preservation and conservation of monuments- a powerful motor for an active Sister City arrangment

by Wolfang Mayer

After two devasting world wars with thedistruction of many historical cities allover Europe, for most of the people thewish originated to have peaceful livingtogether with a friendly cooperation oneach other. In 1947, two years after thesecond World War, the german cities ofDüsseldorf, Hannover, Bonn and Kiel,located in the British occupied zone,entered into a partnership with the Britishtown Reading, Bristol, Oxford e Coventry.Today more than 4000 german citiescommunities associate partnerships withcities and communities all around theworld. The idea of international meeting–places in overcoming the existingboarders of countries became an opensocial movement among the biggest andmost succesful peace-movement inEurope. Next to the first Sister-cityarrangments, it was first and foremost therelationship between Germany andFrance, who became a priority on the levelof local politic to make partner and friendsout of former “traditional enemies” ofhundred years. Ludwigsburg andMontbeliard made up the first German-French partnership in 1950. Thismovement of partnership came its heightpoint in the middle of the fifties up to thesixties in the last century. In the centre ofthe first sister-city arrangments stood thereciprocal acquaintance, the removal of

resseintments and the wish for aculturalexchange. It was a declared intention andgoal, to build up a new confidence and tocreate friendly relations in meetings of theyouth and the adults. Besides the globaland economic co-operation now becamemore and more a strong winning factor.Next to the important social and culturalcontacts there are new focuses inintermunicipal cooperation like: the localexchange of experienceand the mediationof the know-how in administration, thelocal development cooperation incommon project for a solution onenvironmental questions, the intercultural

exchange and the exchange of experiencein the conservation of cultural Heritage,the cooperation of the universities, thelocal cooperation in the economicalsupport in questions of locations ofindustry, the cooperation in european andinternational networks. Nowadays, Sister-city arrangments carry to be for a lot oflocal authorities and citizen not any moreup-to- date in times of internet,cyberspace. But particularly today in theperiod of an united Europe and theeconomy of a global market. Sister – cityarrangments have to serve on thisimportant task: they are an instrument ofinternational cooperation, they causecultural identity and create anindispensable social contact between thecitizens and administration of differentcolour. The movement of Sister- cityarrangments prepared itself for the changein the society and in comparison of thecountries among themselves. In theimportance of the challenges and becauseof the meaning of the cities and regions inan united Europe, this movement will playa very important role in the future. Thecity of Stuttgart has until now 10 sister-city arrangments worldwide, which canclassify in 3 categories of different aims:the reconciliation and policyrapprochment between the western the

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Stuttgart

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western neighbours like St.Helens 1948,Cardiff 1955, St.Luis 1960 andStrassbourg in 1962. the interest for thecountries at stage of economic take off ,outer-european development aid andcooperation in development so Bombay1968, Menzel Bourghiba 1971 and Cairoin 1979,. Recent reconciliation and theunderstanding between nations of theeastern neighbours: Lodz 1988, Bruenn1989 and the recent Sister-Cityarrangment with Samara in 1992. Havingthis conference in Cairo, let me to giveyou some remarks to the sister-cityarrangment between Cairo and Stuttgart.On a visit of the president of Baden-Württemberg to Egypt in 1978, the hostsproposed to strengthen the tradionallygood relationship of Egypt and Germanyon a partnership of the cities of Stuttgartand Cairo. This partnership should alsohave been seen as a recognition and asupport of the peace- politic of theegyptian president Anwar el Sadat. On13th of November 1979, the document ofpartnership between sister-cities has beensigned in Cairo by the governor MohamedSaad el Din Maamoun and the LordMayor of Stuttgart Manfred Rommel.Today with estimated 18 million citizens,Cairo is not only the biggest city of Egypt, but of the whole Africa,. Cairo is theeconomic, cultural and political centre ofEgypt and more than one third of all theegyptia industrial firms are located here.But the metropolis at the nile is for lots ofvisitors a nightmare of noise, dirt andchaotic traffic-conditions even though hasa historical tradition, coming from thepyramids of the Pharaos and because of itis the first arabic urban foundation inAfrica. Inside the border of Greater Cairothere are two world heritage sites listed byUNESCO: the giza plateau with rhepyramids and tombs of the old Kingdom(about 266 b.c) and the Medieval Centreof Cairo. The Sister-City arrangmentbetween Cairo and Stuttgart presupposesexchanges on the side of youth, sports andculture like with all the other sister-cities

the main activities help the reciprocalmeetings. But within the last year, thepreservation and conservation of historicmonuments has taken a wide contextabove that. Old Cairo, the city of athousand Minarets, covers an area3,87qm, according to a survey, carried outby the Comitè de Conservation desMonuments de l’Art Arabe at thebeginning of the 20th century there were

roughly 450 buildings qualified asmonuments in this area. The list has notbeen sistematically updated since thattime, so today we count about 580monumentson that list. In this list, wenearly have no buildings of livingarchitecture and only a few buildings aredating to the 19th century. In alldevelopments in Cairo taking place after1953, Medieval Cairo and the so called

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Stuttgart

Cairo

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Downtown of the late 19th /early 20thcentury, scarcely played a role and thedacay of the building fabric has advanceddramatically. Since 1973, the GermanInstitute of Archeology in cooperationwith the supreme Council of Antiquities isworking in restoring monuments in oldCairo. A neighbourhood has been selectedwhere the magnificent Fatimid palacesonce stood and where a series of historicalbuildings are to be restored. The purposeof refurbishing an entire narrow street wasto draw the inhabitans into the scheme, tocommunicate a sense of responsibility forthe historic builing fabric and to stimulatepersonal initiatives. Up to now theGerman Institute of Archeology hasrestored 15 buildings. This work, carriedout under the name of the DAI, isdependent on donations which in a greatamount have been coming from the city ofStuttgart. A first project was financed in1989, the Mausoleum of Sultan As-SalihNegm ad-Din Ayyub, abuilding from theyear 1250, followed by the restoration ofparts of the madrasa of Sultan an-NasirMuhammad ibn Qalaun, dated 1299.Since 1998, as visiting Professor at CairoUniversity , i am working as well ondifferent restoration projects in medivalCairo, giving students a chance of praticalwork on the site. Payed by the GermanGovernment (GTZ), we have trainingcourses for restorers to bring them oninternational standard of restoration,because the handicap on conservationmeasures in Egypt is the lack ofexperienced craftmen financed by thegovernment of Baden – Württemberg werun several training course oncraftmenship, in carpentry or plumbing.Those courses are held in Darb al Ahmar,a living area with quite a lot ofunemployed persons and where we havesmall skill-workshops in order to give thispeople the chance to start their owncompany.

Prof. of Architecture and RestorationDepartment (University of Cairo)

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New exchange opportunities among Mediterranean people The cooperation between Universities and Institutions is essential in the cooperation context

Vittorio Ghidi, European Commission delegate in Egypt, in his closing speech addres-sed to the people attending the meeting on Cultural Heritage, after expressing his

thanks to the meeting organizers, the host country and all the authorities present, hasdescribed the meeting as full of interesting proposals and suggestions which put into prac-tice the principles and strategies of the Barcellona Declaration. Many papers - Ghidi said- centred on cooperation, have given prominance to the Mediterranean as an area whichhas been destined to reverting, as it has been in the history of humankind, a processingplace of civilization models and crossroads of people in a background of socio-economicstability. Ghidi as well as the President of Sicily Region,Totò Cuffaro, has stressed the pointthat the mediterranean area can be a peaceful zone, keeping always in mind that war cau-ses only destruction and peace brings about development.A particular thanks was addres-sed to Sicily Region for its key-role in the realization of this international conference.ThenVittorio Ghidi has pointed out the need to keep social, economic and cultural contactsgoing, as through mutual nature of a plan, the mediterranean countries have the chance towork together and to cooperate in order to support the Peace Process. Speakers, uni-versity teachers and istitutional representatives through their reports, on the basis of theirown surveys, research and cultural experiences, made us understand – Ghidi has remin-ded - how important is cultural heritage preservation for peace keeping. Managment andpreservation have been overidding subjects of a lot of interventions; they talked about theimportance of twinning- cities arrangments, giving the example of the twinning-city arrang-ment between Stuttgart and Cairo, the stone restoration in the mediterranean countries,of the establishment of an euro-mediterranean Bureau and of a research center that canput together all these informations. In this direction fifteen projects have been set up.Theydiscussed also about human resources managment, training systems, innovative systems ofknow-how in administrations and of the cooperation between Universities and Istitutions.The meeting – Ghidi said, closing his speech- has put forward new prospects and chancesof exchange for the renovation of historical buildings which are the living evidence of thehistory of mediterranean people.

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The South for an economic integration area

URBAMED project for the sustainable development

by José Antonio Martinez Lopez e Angel Iniesta Sanmatìn

I n 2000-2001 two-year period, theproject “Islamic urbanization in the

South peninsular and North Africa” waslaunched, within the Pilot Action ofcooperation between Portugal, Spainand Morocco, article 10 FEDER, in theINTERREG II C programme, whichgeneral objective was to promote therealization of a study for thevalorization, divulgation as well associal and tourist promotion of themedieval urbanization and architectureof Islamic origin.For the continuity of objectives andresults of the same project, andenlarging the working sphere withWestern Mediterranean zones,URBAMED Project was drawn up,within INTERREG III b MEDOC. INTERREG III is the EC initiative ofEuropean Regional Development Fund(ERDF) in favour of cooperation amongEU Countries that begun in 2000 andwill end in 2006.Three chapters compose it:The WERSTERN MEDITERRANEANProgramme that is part of the chapter B,provides for the realization of studies,researches and pilot actions on theWestern Mediterranean area situationconcerning the sustainable territorialdevelopment, with the more general aim

of contributing to the carrying out of theDevelopment Scheme of the Europeanspace where South might become a zoneof economic integration.States belonging to MEDOCCprogramme are five: France, Italy,Spain, Portugal and Great Britain-Gibraltar.The involvement of Third Countries asassociated members within theMediterranean is planned.URBAMED project that will bepresented during the next convocation,scheduled for September, has been

drawn up with the coordination of theDirection General for Culture and theCouncillorship for Education andCulture of Murcia Region and with thefollowing partners and collaborators itprovides for:in Italy the Institute for theArchaeological and Monumental two-year period - CNR – Federiciano diLagopesole Section of Study and inSciacca town.In Portugal, the Municipal Chamber ofVila Real de Santo Antonio and thePortuguese Institute of the ArchitectonicPatrimony, Evora Direction General; theAssociation of the friends of TétouanPatrimony, which represents Moroccoas an associated Third Country.Moreover, in Murcia Region themunicipalities of Cieza, Calasparra andYecla will collaborate.In line with INTERREG III BMEDOC initiative, the project is setin the framework of culturalpatrimony protection andvalorization, and more concretely itaims at valorizing the urbanization ofIslamic medieval origin in theWestern Mediterranean, as a part ofits cultural patrimony and as a factorof development of a series of littlecommunities.

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Then, the cooperation area of thisproject, can be defined with a doubledimension: on one hand, for theirgeographic configuration, WesternMediterranean Regions: IberianPeninsula, Italy and North Africa, on theother hand, for the planned cooperationon cultural patrimony, as a factorcontributing to reorganizing theterritory. Its valorization and reutilization cancontribute to the development of thosezones where the two dimensions meet,turning into a strategic sector whichmanagement must focus on the contextof sustainable territorial development.The Mediterranean, through trade andmigration, has allowed exchange ofobjectives, religious, political andcultural ideas as well as scientific andtechnical comparison.The identity of Mediterranean historicprocess can’t be understood withoutIslamic civilization contribution.The Mediterranean extends its ownknowledge patrimony thanks to othercultures and at the same time, itimproves other cultures through itscontribution.The Mediterranean has also been a “traitd’union” and a means of exchangebetween Islamic people.

In Andalusia, the occupied territories bycurrent Portugal and Spain are closedtowards North and East, but they areopened towards the Mediterranean.For this reason, they felt and expressedthe Mediterranean communicability as adivided place between two shores butwith the same unity. In North Africa, we can find severalvestiges of Andalusian culture.In the same historic and geographiccontext, Italy has had a privilegedposition in the Mediterranean; Sicilyrepresents a middle point between theEast and West, as related by Ibn Yubairwhen he returned to Andalusia from hisvoyage in the East, passing throughCartage with the last stop in Sicily.The Islamic civilization is stronglyurban. The Western MediterraneanIslamization involves an urbanrestoration of the classic culture and aterritories division, the exchange ofideas and trade through cities.URBAMED Project analyses thedifferent models of urbanization, beforeanalyzing the different geographic,economical and social situations; fromthe urban and architectonic point ofview, there are various solutions;moreover, we can notice that itsevolution adapts itself to the changing

reality. Then, the project organizes itsstudy through two different realities:for the first one, concerning vanishedcities, we are recovering informationabout, through archaeology. It is whatoccurred in Portugal for Cacela Velhaand in Murcia for Vila Vieja, Siyasa andYakka.These deposits are next to evident urbanspaces, while others, more rural, fromthe coast cities to the landlocked citiesare united in territory defense.The second reality concerns cities thathave survived up to the present day.Inside this group we can study theevolution of a city within a historic, notIslamic context as occurred in Sciacca(Sicily), or in Madina (Tétouan), whichoriginal structure has survived withinthe framework of the Islamic culture,keeping its medieval features up to now.The main objective of this project is thevalorization of the medieval urban andarchitectonic patrimony of Islamicorigin, as an element of identity thatunites thanks to a common past.In order to achieve this objective, awork and study of feasibility,divulgation and promotion of thisresource by the members, is suggested.The expected Feasibility Plan, for theapplication of URBAMED project, isthe following:1) The creation of archives, gatheringthe architectonic forms of the medievalIslamic urbanization.2) The drawing up of a document, fixingcriteria of specific intervention onmedieval urbanization. 3) Pilot Action for the valorization ofthe medieval town planning. 4) The creation of databases of medievalceramics as commercial symbol in theMediterranean cities.5) Actions of information anddivulgation.6) Creation of an information network.

Department of Education and Culture -Murcia Region

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Old Egypt never stops to amaze

New and amazing discoveries in the Giza Plateau

by Zahi Hawass

Zahi Hawass, General Secretary ofThe Supreme Council of

Antiquities, was present in the meetingon the Euro-mediterranean Partnershipfor Cultural Heritage promoted byCoppem in Cairo and he talked abouthis new and amazing discoveries on theGiza Plateau, opening new andinteresting perspectives for thecomprehension of the egypitiancivilizationThe Tombs of the Pyramid Builders-The tombs of the builders of thepyramids were found to the south of theSfinx. The Necropolis contains about600 such graves for workmen and 30larger tombs perhaps for overseers. Thetombs come in a variety of forms:stepped domes, beehives and roofs.Some tombs resemble miniaturemastabas with tiny courtyards and falsestone doors with the name and titles ofthe deceased incribed on them in crudehieroglyphs.Women were either buriedwith their husbands or in tombs near tothem. None of the workers wasmummified, a prerogative of royaltyand nobility, but the analisysis on theskeletons tell us much about the lives ofthis people. They were mostly buried infetal positions with the faces to the east.Many of the men died between the ages

of 30 and 35, as women life expectancywas beneath the age of 30. The pyramidBuilders were not slaves but peasantsconscripted on a rotating part-time basisworking under the supervision of skilledartisans and craftsmen who not onlybuilt the pyramid complexes for theKing and nobility, but also designed andcostructed their more modest tombs. Ihope that, through such a discovery,those people who believe that pyramidsbelong to some mysterious “LostCivilazation” can read the story of thisdiscover and understand that, all of ourfindings at Giza date the pyramids andthe Sfinx to Dynasty 4, about 4600years ago. The mistery of the Sphinx- The Sphinxsits within the Giza necropolis, which isdominated by the Pyramids of Khufu(Cheops), Khafre (Chephren), andMenkaure (Mycerinus), the Pharaohs ofthe 4th Dynasty (257 c.a- 2467 b.c)teSphinx is intimately connected to theKhafre caseway and the Temple, whichsuggest that Kafre built it as a part of hispyramid complex. It is carved directlyfrom the natural limestone of Giza,which is part of the Mokattamformation, formed from marinesediments deposited when watersengulfed northeast africa during the

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Eocene period. According to thegeologist Thomas Aigner, formally ofthe University of Tubingen, the Red Searetreaded northward about 50 millionyears ago an embarkment developedalong what is now the north- northwestside of Giza plateau. The 4th Dynastybuilders aligned the three pyramidsalong this embarkment from northeastto southwest. The secret doors inside the GreatPyramid- The great Pyramid of Khufuhas fascinated people since ancienttimes, in fact it is the only wonder of theancient world that still exist today.Although most people today know thatit was built as the tomb of the secondking of the Fourth Dynasty, alternativetheories about its construction andpupose still circulate. The interiorchambers of this extraordinary structureare very complex, adding to its mistery.The modern entrance to the pyramidwas created in the ninth century A.D. byAl-Mamoun son of Harun Al Rashid;they just missed the true entrance,which lies about a third of the way upthe north face. From the originalentrance, a passage descends throughthe body of the pyramid, leading to anunfinished chamber carved into thebedrock under the pyramid. From thepoint where the first asceending passagemeets the horizontal passage, anincredible corbelled corridor the GrandGallery, ascends to a third chamber, theKing’s Chamber, where the granitesarcophagus of khafu was found, empty.Scholarly discussion about the buildingsequence and purpose of these corridorsand chambers is ongoing. ManyEgyptologists believe that the threechambers represent three changes in theinterior plan, reflecting changes inKhafu’s cult, but others believe that allthree chambers were part of the originalplan. Serious and modern scientificwork on the great Pyramid began in1993, when, for the first time, we closedthe pyramid for a full year.

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This was part of a plan to institute arotational system at Giza, closing onepyramid a year while leaving the othertwo open, in order to balanceconservation with tourism. I decided toinvestigate the shaft damaged byhumidity last year. Excavation ofsecond level revealed six rooms cut intothe rock; the rooms contained twogranite sarcophaguses, pottery, andbones. Analysis of the pottery and bonesdated this level to 500 B.C.The last level we excavated was about25m underground and it wascompletely filled with water. We stayedfor two month draining the water fromthe shaft and working inside it, and Ifelt I might and up blind and deaf fromall the dus, mud and noisrof the water.This was the most difficult excavation iwas ever involved with. After theexcavation, I looked down into thewater and saw the remains of fourpillars surrounded by a wall. Insidethem was part of a large, granitesarcophagus with the lid thrown off.This discovery reflected the words ofHerodotus when he said that Cheopswas buried inside a granitesarcophagus and there was water nearhis pyramid.

Even Herodotus ammitted that henever saw the burial with his own eyes,he must have based his writing on thewords of guides. I made my seconddiscovery from this excavation. When Imoved the lid of the sarcophagus Ifound inscribed in the ground thehieroglyphic word “pr”, meaning“house”. It is known that the Gizaplateau was called “pr wsir nb rstaw”,or the house of Lord Osiris. The finalchamber we found was most likely a

symbolic tomb for the god Osiris, itwas believed to control theunderground tunnels and tombs of thekings. From the objects retrieved, wedated the shaft to the New Kingdom,1500 b.c. The Valley of the Golden Mummies-The discovery of more than one hundredGreco-Roman mummies in Bahariyaoasis has swept the media worldwidewith a force not seen since the discoveryof Tutankhamun’s tomb. Bahiriya Oasisis the final resting- place for what isestimated to be thousands of the mostbeautiful and remarkably well-preservedmummies even found in Egypt. Theexcavation has only just begun, but 105mummies have already been uncovered.Some mummies are lavishly gilded fromhead to chest with an extravagancereminiscent of King Tut’s burial. Thestory of this amazing discovery beginsback 1996, when an Antiquities guard ofthe Temple of Alexander the great wascrossing the desert on his donkey, whenfalling to the ground, he saw there was asmall hole in the desert floor. On the firstthree days of the excavation, as I wasperforming the survey, I explored theentire area that began at the paved roadto the south of the site and extended all

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the way to the temple of Alexander theGreat to the north collecting potterysherds and bones along the way. Iestimate that the site is about 6 squarekilometers in size and should contain intotal around 10.000 mummies.Mummies conjure up many images inpeople’s minds and most people are firstintroduced to mummies in scary moviesbecause of the sense of terror they ispire.I must confess that i also fill this thrill,but I don’t identify with these aspects ofpopular culture. To me Egyptology is ascience and this remarkable findprovides us with an outstandingopportunity to learn so much more aboutthis old civilization. This excavationrevived the adventurous spirit ofarcheology inside all of us who workedat Bahariya, because we were not merelyuncovering the objects used by people ortombs were buried in, we wereuncovering the very people who madethem. As the first tomb was opene, thebrilliance of gold shone in thesunlightamong the piles of sand andsoon i was able to discern the figure ofthe mummy of a woman, about 1.55m inheight. Her mask and waistcoat werecoated with gold. Each mummy was adistinctive as the individual it

represented, and no two were alike;some mummies were decorated withpainted scenes on plain cartonage, otherswere covered in gold. There weremummies of old men, their wivesandyoung children lying side by side. Theone unifying characteristic of thesemummies was that they were all smiling.There are among the mummies we foundat Bahiriya: the first type has a gildedmask covering the face and a gildedwaistcoat decorated with scenes of gods

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and godness covering the chest. About60 mummies of this kind were found andfrom them this valley is named of thegolden mummies. The second stylemummy is covered with cartonage thatdepicts scenes of various gods. The thirdtype of mummy was not decorated withgold or cartonage, but was placed insidean anthropoid pottery coffin. The finaltype was covered entirely with linen.Our goal for the future is to continur ourexcavation for one season each year andthe same time we hope to continue ourscientific research in the laboratories. Ina few weeks we will look for the tombsof the upper classes because what wehave found to date are only the tombs ofthe middle class. Can we imagine whatwill happen when we announce thisfuture discovery. The world of AncientEgypt continues to hold enormousfascination for the entire world, hiscolossal monuments, his elegantsculptures, elaborate jewels and worksof literature left behind by this greatcivilization witness to the uniqueness ofthe people who created them.

Secretary General of the SupremeCouncil of the Antiquities

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The Unimed Cultural Heritage II Project

Shared resources for the valorization of monumental patrimony

by Roberto Albergoni

The Mediterranean is without anydoubt the area of the planet with the

greatest number of works of art andcultural vestiges in general.Such richness that is used to berepresented and described as a uniquecultural context of reference, as if it werea homogeneous reality, equally guidedby principles of Patrimony managementand preservation, it is, on the contrary, anuneven and varied universe.The Mediterranean, so charged withfascination and so variously describedwith its crossroads of civilizations andcultures, is certainly a common housegenerating strong sense of belonging inall its inhabitants, but at the same time, itis a container of differences,contradictions and conflicts, not solvableby homogenizing them but through theiranalysis and exaltation, opportunities ofdialogue and debate, then giving themfurther richness.Unimed has always based its ownactivity on such cultural premise, bytaking from its own network of 61Universities the peculiarities and skillsthat each member represents andexpresses.Unimed Cultural Heritage II project,financed by the European Commission

and Lecce municipality for 2002-2004three-year period, is carried out by aConsortium of 21 partners comingfrom 11 Mediterranean Countries andits is composed by three main areas:knowledge, research, training. The firstarea includes the creation of somedatabases: one on the rules of the 11concerned countries on CulturalPatrimony; the second area concernsthe development of some researchactivities starting from some concretecases that have been identified by thepartners. One of the most significantcase concerns the analysis and study ofplacing security of Aya Sofia andIstanbul. Next July a first survey of thecentral dome of Aya Sofia will becarried out, by employing highprecision Laser instruments. Thetraining area is composed by threedifferent actions: educators training forthe new technologies application;experts and executives training forCultural Heritage management;restoration operator training on thespot. The project is realized throughthe use of an Internet Portal thatbesides the normal functions ofinformation access allows an easycommunication among all the partners

and supplies distance training bysatellite.Since the beginning, COPPEMparticipation in Heritage project hasbeen a stimulus to a greater sympathy tothe needs of Euro-MediterraneanPartnership Local Authorities, on theproblems related to cultural patrimonyand at the same time it has laid the basisfor the development of an intensive andprofitable communication between twonetworks of different organizations:Universities and Local Authorities. The final aim of the project, that is tocreate, within three years, a largestructure being able to perform thetasks of a real agency for thevalorisation and preservation of Euro-Mediterranean Cultural Patrimony, isachievable only by sharing resources,experiences and skills spread in thedifferent countries. In this direction,COPPEM initiatives like CairoConference of March 2003 and thefollowing workshops have defined thepaths to be pursued and themethodology to be adopted fordeveloping common actions.The paths is certainly long and difficultas it depends on factors that sometimescan’t be controlled, as well as theproblems related to patrimonyvalorisation and preservation in theMediterranean are big and complex.But it is a complexity coming from itsrichness, so it must be dealt with assuch.With enthusiasm, professionalism,ambition and at the same time with thehumility of those who aim at concreteobjectives, conscious that easyremedies for immediate solutions arenot possible but they can contribute todefine virtuous paths, to achieve themby their own means and to share themwith reliable travelling companions,inclined to hard work and capable ofrealistic dreams.

Vice-Director (UNIMED)

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Medicine without frontiers

Cooperation agreement between The Civic Health Centre of Palermo and the Umberto I Hospital of Cairo.

by Nino Randisi

A purposeful and concrete steptowards collaboration and

cooperation process amongmediterranean countries. In Egypt, evenbefore formal protocols, two healthcentres, the Civic Hospital of Palermoand the Umberto I hospital of Cairo (thishealth centre was realized by the italiangovernment in 1903) recently have cameout with agreement in order to givediagnosis and therapies to critically illpatients through telemedicineprogrammes cooperating in the mostdelicate transplantations, givingprofessional advices or assistance ondirect presence for hearth operations toegyptian children. <In the early centurythis institution was one of the mostmodern and efficient of this area>Roberto Orfanelli, Umberto I HealthDirector, asserts on the occasion of theinaguration of a dialysis unit which hasbeen restructured and strengthened withdialysis machines and other fittingsgiven by IEOC that is an Eni subsidiarycompany. <Now we have difficulty inoutliving, mostly because of shortage ofpatients and sources of finance>Orfanelli resumes <even if we areundertaking in providing a service asmuch modernized as possible. In

Palermo prof. Carlo Marcelletti -Giuseppe Marino scientific person incharge of Italian embassy said - hasalready undertaken to provide hisprofessional advice for more delicatecases of children’s hearth surgery andthe palermitan Hospital has given to theCairo one a defibrillator, someincubators and an elettronic microscopein attempt to create a medical direct axisbetween Palermo and Cairo which cangive back the past glories to this centre>.

The hospital is endowed with a modernx-ray surgery that also includes one ofthe few t.a.c in Egypt, now it lodges 100to120 patients a day, in wards and inoperative units assembled in medicineand surgery which are illustred in theService Paper. <It wasn’t easy Carringout this useful tool for patients – inconclusion Orfanelli said – but now weneed to re-qualify our paramedic staff(become up date) in order to giveelevate standard services. It is a hardwork but with some financial aids fromsome sympathizer it will not beimpossible. Combonian sisters are veryprecious for us because they already aretraining nurses>. The managementbesides financial aid of sponsors wouldreally aim at re-establishing therelationships that once were with italiangovernment which allowed to OdoardoToscani, italian consul general at thebeginning of the last century, to build ahealth centre that garanteed healthtutelage of a community much widerthan 80 thousand of italian people at thattime guest in Egypt. Mr Marcelletti is beaming for the focusachieved at Cairo. <Recently we wereable to operate on an egyptian childthanks to a visa for treatment issued by

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the italian state, as soon as agreementprotocol will be ready, it will be possibleto make more frequent ourrelationships>. <Among our purposes that we exponedto sicialian region president, TotòCuffaro, there is the one to realize areal mediterranean specialization andperfectioning school in cardiovascular-paediatric sciences>. Mr Marcelletti, infact, has been working on charter proofand it will be soon produced to theGovernor of sicily. Telemedicineprogramme foresees, among otherthings, that the Umberto I doctors cansend to Civic Hospital in Palermo datafor particular histologic testings wherethey will be worked out by itsadvanced equipments and finally sentback to the Umberto I hospital of Cairofor the necessary treatments. Doctor Lorenzo Marasà who attends toTelepatology programme says:<among euromediterranean countriesSicily could stand for their North, orrather a develop centre of tecnologiesand competences>. But not only,doctor Marasà thinks that thiscooperation and mutual collaborationmight be a peace message for thepeople too. And then it’s necessary tomake use of every tools which areuseful for professional training atplace. According to Dr. Francesco Licata diBaucina, the Civic Health Centremanager, the agreement achieved withthe hospital of Cairo is really one of thesteps in active cooperation among themediterranean countries. Our future –the manager explains – is linked to thedevelopment and strengthening of theseagreements, considering that the CivicHealth Centre is in the forefront in thepatologic anatomy and heart surgerybranch. – We have get excellent resultsso far - Licata di Baucina closes hisspeech – and for this reason next monthswe mean to prosecute following thisdirection.

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THE CULTURAL DIVERSITY MUST BE SUPPORTED AND PRESERVED

Languages,dialect, oral traditions, accents, customs and Handicrafts are all realtreasures.

Hanaa Fayez, coordinator of the urban association of OCA (Arab Cities

Organizations), has taken part in the Coppem meeting reporting to the subject on

the “Cultural heritage Indicators and on the euro-mediterranean partnership for Cultural

Heritage. She has particularly pointed her attention on the need to identify the intangible

good in each country but, above all, those goods have got necessary qualities that repre-

sent a specificity, a peculiarity that at last costitutes the real reachness of the Nation . It’s

a matter of an innegable priority of every action in order to protect the cultural diversity,

one of the most threatened treasures of the humankind.

«Languages, dialects, oral traditions, accents, customs, handicrafts, religious and popular

festivals and markets are all evidence of an acient culture firmly anchored in each specific

neighborhood and combining its overall local colour.

Throughout the world this heritage is at risk from the pressure of an artificially concoc-

ted culture owing its success to the media and unbridlled commercial backing».

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The Cultural Heritage revaluation

At Palermo Coppem presents esecutive projects worked out in the Cairo meeting.

In order to carry out the Cairo meeting andto allow synthesis notes that might be

expressed in a concretely operational ActionPlan, through the start up of cooperationbetween Local and Regional Administrations,the Presidents of the two Commissions andCOPPEM Secretariat have arranged arestricted meeting in Palermo the next 31May 2003, inviting representatives of the twoCommissions, of Euro-Mediterraneaninstitutions and of the academic area, as wellas experts in this sector.The objective is to discuss and gathersuggestions, examples and contributions fordefining strategic and operational paths that,in the light of Administrations needs, mightlead to the the definition of an Action Plandevoted to support management dynamics ofCultural Heritage with the ultimate aim ofpursuing local development of territories,particularly of the Mediterranean ones.

PRELIMINARY OUTLINE OF ANACTION PLAN The Plan could be structured in the followingphases, contents of which should be selectedand integrated during the meeting:1. Cultural Heritage in the Euro-Mediterranean areaA first line can concern the definition of thedifferent protocols of action about thecultural heritage topics carried out in thedifferent countries of the Mediterranean,including:- documents, proclamations and declarationsof principle carried out by official bodies andorganizations involved in preservation,restoration and valorisation;- legislative statutes, regulations and rules forprotection and safeguard;- techniques and procedures of interventionfor renewal and restoration;A second line of action can set up a census ofthe supposed significant experiences alreadycarried out by different countries, even iflimited to the sites of greater importance forthe pursued aims, in order to implement a fileof the most important and useful events forcarrying out an exchange of experiences andfor the building of some main application

models, able to deal with protection,restoration and enhancement.This line of action could take advantage of:- the conferences, in order to give visibility tothe carried out experiences;- the spread of the results through thetraditional press means;the spread, through the set up of a portal

with a controlled access, able to gather andcommunicate the most significantexperiences;A third line of action could be devoted todevelop, among different countries, occasionsfor common search of some specificapplication opportunities concerning:- the knowledge of particular historic periods,allowing to understand connections andsynergies between different cultures;- the census of cultural moments that, even ifdeveloped in different geographic areas, seemto belong to the same cultural roots;- the overview of economic follow up in statedareas, produced through the valorisation ofcultural heritage, engendered by particularpolicies, in order to understand the relationbetween the existing cultural patrimony andthe specific possibility of its enhancement.This line of action can take advantage ofresearches already carried out by Universitiesof different countries and it can make use ofexchange opportunities provided byOrganizations and official Bodies.2. Local and Regional AdministrationsPriority Needs To study means and positions of LocalAuthorities in the Mediterranean countries ofthe MEDA area, in connection with objectivesof local development pursued through theCultural Heritage enhancement, could be ofinterest.Their institutional/functional/operationalneeds could be pointed out, for thestrengthening of their actions.3. Support policiesIt is necessary for the Administrations to beaware of the policies of the European Union,firstly, and of those of other Organizations andInstitutions, of the relevant financial supportand of the activities related to CulturalHeritage management.

It is essential as well that COPPEM submit tothe European Commission proposals forimplementation of policies and supports, inthe light of the requirements resulting fromthe meetings of its members, who representthe beneficiary Administrations.4. Proposals for action within specificsectorsOperational hypothesisshall be conceived,including the following,:- Setting up of thematic working groups(within the sectors suggested at point 1, forexample) that, started up by COPPEM,promote methods and studies for CulturalHeritage enhancement, and act as referencefor the involved Administrations;- To establish partnership and technicalassistance aimed at preparing projectproposals relevant to forecasted calls fortender (MEDA and others);- Exchanges of know-how and best practices,and training on the sectors above mentioned,among officials of Administrations of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Countries;- Development of synergies amongAdministrations and public and privateactors

CONCLUSIONSThe overall hypothesis is to promote thecreation, within the COPPEM, of a strongreference context on Cultural Heritage in theMediterranean that, by relying on synergiesbetween Local and Regional Administrations,might be able to conceive an “Agenda” of thecarried out actions and of the ones that couldenhance culture and history of theMediterranean Countries in the MEDA area.In this direction, it is not important to havespecific economies which obviously are useful,but it is better to formulate some commonprotocols in order to rely on an agreementbasis on which different economies, relevantto Cultural Heritage renewal andenhancement, can be based. The mostimportant aspect of this project is to givevoice and capacity of relationship toMunicipalities, Provinces and Regions, andthen to the Euro-Mediterraneancommunities.

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