26 October 2013. The Foundation “Metropoli Bisanzio” at the first International Conference of the Most Meautiful Villages of the Mediterranean Sea in Cisternino (Brindisi)

The Russian Foundation “Metropoli Bisanzio” participated in the First International Conference of the Most Beautiful Villages of the Mediterranean Sea, which was held on October 26 in Cisternino (Br) at the Teatro Paolo Grassi. The Foundation participated together with the delegations of 18 countries of the Mediterranean basin, gathered in Apulia in order to create a network of the most beautiful villages able to enhance their natural and cultural heritage and foster the trade and tourist flows.

The event, which has received the Medal of the President of the Republic and the patronage of the Ministry of Economic Development, was organized by the city of Cisternino in collaboration with Region of Apulia, ANCI (Association of the Italian Municipalities), “The Most Beautiful Villages of Italy” and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Valenzano. In this context the Foundation Metropoli has had the opportunity to present its project and the Association City Heirs of Byzantium (ACEB) that will born soon: “We start from the history and from the Byzantine culture, the trait d'union between Russia and Italy - said the president of the Foundation Igor Danilov - : to demonstrate that the cultures of different peoples have the same roots and that these can be the foundation for cooperation between countries on several fronts. With the Foundation we want to spread this historic and artistic heritage left by the empire of Byzantium and then from there develop cultural and tourism exchanges between Russia and Italy”.

In the occasion, the Foundation “Metropoli Bisanzio” presented the exhibition “Cities of Russia Heirs of Byzantium”, an evocative roundup of the 15 most interesting monuments of Byzantine architecture in Russia, Velikiy Novgorod, Cathedral Sofiyskiy; Kronshtadt, Naval Cathedral; Kursk, monastery Znamenskiy; Lipetsk, Life-giving Trinity Cathedral; Nizhniy Novgorod, St. Sergiy Radonezhskiy; Orel, Uspenskiy monastery; Pskov, monastery Mirozhskiy; Rostov Velikiy, Kremlin; Smolensk, Church of the Archangel Michael; Sochi, Kerch, Basilica of Ioan Predteci; Suzdal, Kremlin; Tambov, Basilica Spaso - Preobrazhenskiy; Tula, the Basilica of St. Radonezhskogo; Tver, Trinita White; Yaroslavl, male Monastery Spaso- Preobrazhenskiy.