Known to Game of Thrones fans as the city of 'Meereen', Klis Fortress will receive some exciting new additions this year.
The Municipality of Klis can commend themselves for applying for European funds for cultural heritage projects worth a total of more than HRK 17.5 million. Of this amount, they have already been approved for just less than HRK 15 million, while other projects are pending approval, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on January 7, 2018.
A good part of the funds will go to projects related to Klis Fortress. The projects include everything from setting up public lighting in the entire site, worth HRK 3.5 million, and digital content for guides and tourists within the cross-border project "Fortress ReInvented", to further archaeological conservation research and tourist presentations on the space between the living area ‘Providurov stan’ and the new powder room, as well as the space west of the church of St. Vida.
The public lighting project at the fortress should be completed this year.
“We will announce a public procurement tender in January, so the fortress should be illuminated by summer,” says Jakov Vetma, the Mayor of Klis.
One of the major projects is certainly the construction of an amphitheater at Klis-Kosa, worth HRK 6.7 million. The construction will include an amphitheater and a playground as a summer stage with a viewpoint, and the project should see its completion this year. The amphitheater will be suitable for holding numerous events and concerts. It will have 200 places, and along with the playground, 3,000 places.
“The location is ideal for us because the facility will be well-suited to the existing terrain configuration. On the one hand, it has a beautiful view of Klis Fortress, and on the other is the sea and the islands. This will be accomplished through the ITU mechanism within the Urban Agglomeration Split,” said Jakov Vetma, adding that the project included the complete technical equipment of the amphitheater.
“2018 is very important to us because this is the European Year of Cultural Heritage, and Klis celebrates its 370th anniversary of liberation from the Turks. Our identity is inwrought through the entire history of the Croatian people; this is a historic city and as such it must be renewed, preserved and handed over to future generations. Four years ago we received a budget of HRK 13 million, and now, thanks to EU funds, it amounts to more than HRK 55 million. It is proof that we are going in the right direction and for the benefit of those who live here,” the mayor concluded.
The projects awaiting approval are, among other things, the removal of undesirable vegetation from Klis Fortress for its protection from visual and physical degradation, which implies chemical and mechanical treatment of plant species in four cycles depending on the age of growth of certain species. The activity covers an area of 9500 square meters, i.e. indoor and outdoor walls. The project is worth over a million kuna, and was submitted to the Ministry of Culture in a contest.
Translated from Slobodna Dalmacija
