The Municipality of Veszprém, with the professional support of the Laczkó Dezső Museum, is a project partner in the international project "ISTER - Connecting the countries of the Danube region along the Roman roads", in the framework of which the archaeological profession, representatives of the cultural capital, the municipalities and tourism of the region, researchers from the University of Pannonia and the Municipality's staff discussed on 15 November the (re)discovery and exploitation of our ancient cultural heritage.

The first capacity-building workshop of the project was hosted by the Laczkó Dezső Museum's Visitor's Library, ensuring that participants were able to engage in a reflection in a dignified environment.

Brigitta Péterváry-Szanyi, Director of the Laczkó Dezső Museum, herself a Roman archaeologist, has provided the professional background for the project from the very beginning. In her presentation, she stressed that the depths of the earth in our region hold great potential, that we could even find serious scientific finds during excavations and even achieve a breakthrough. At the same time, the planned experiential excavations would also bring the locals closer to this heritage.

"Our cultural heritage becomes alive when we connect it with local stakeholders, with the inhabitants, who need to know what treasures they might pass by every day, and tourism can help a lot in this respect", said Dr Katalin Lőrincz, a researcher at the University of Pannonia's Faculty of Economics, who dealt in detail with the human and nature-oriented, alternative aspects of tourism development.

"Knowing the aim of the project, i.e. that it is not only concerned with scientific excavation, cataloguing and organising conferences but also with the promotion of the values, I was happy to join the initiative and enthusiastically presented the archaeological parks as a unique tool for the latter endeavour. An archaeological park is attractive for everyone, but especially for younger people, children, who enjoy it very much, while learning a lot without noticing it", said Loránd Olivér Kovács, Head of the Villa Romana Baláca Exhibition Centre of the Hungarian National Museum and the Gorsium Archaeological Park of the King Stephen Museum.

ISTER's main objective is to rediscover the ancient Roman road network and revitalise its heritage along the Danube. It is also a key driver for promoting territorial development based on sustainable cultural and natural heritage use. Veszprém as a project partner, focuses on the Villa Romana in Balácapuszta, the recently discovered Roman settlement of Nagyvázsony (Nagyreméz-dűlő) and the Veszprém Triangle and the roads connecting them," said Renata Kiss, project coordinator.

For more information, contact Renáta Kiss, kiss.renata@gov.veszprem.hu, 20/2109374