The Aegean island of Ios in the Cyclades (which many associate with for clubbing and its great beaches) in was among six European locations awarded the European Union Cultural Heritage prize for 2008. Ios received the award for "outstanding quality of conservation work and above all the minimal and extremely sensitive character of the interventions, having no detrimental impact on a unique landscape" at the island’s archaeological site of Skarkos. Not only was the site carefully conserved, but efforts to rebuild rural houses using local methods and material from the Skarkos area have given it a unique and special setting.
Prizes were also awarded to two projects in the Netherlands, and one each in the Czech Republic, Spain and Romania. Each prize is worth 10,000 euros. The prizes are given in recognition of outstanding conservation, research and education efforts. They are awarded jointly by the European Commission and Europa Nostra, the pan-European Federation of Cultural Heritage.
DF: Have any of our readers been to Ios, or more specifically the ancient Cycladic settlment at Skarkos?
Europa Nostra
posted on Friday, September 5