The mayor attends the Forum on cities of Canaanite, Phoenician and Carthaginian origin organized by Lebanon in Paris
Cartagena will partner with Mediterranean cities to develop a project to promote a cultural route of the Ancient Mediterranean before UNESCO, as explained by the mayor, Noelia Arroyo, in her speech at the Forum on cities of Canaanite, Phoenician and Carthaginian origin organized by Lebanon in Paris.
The Mediterranean Route will show the cultural heritages, the commercial practices and the technological and social exchanges of the Mediterranean peoples that are behind the history of the cities, the configuration of their ports and their defensive systems. “Cartagena is a historic port that can be presented to the world together with the oldest port cities in the Mediterranean. We share history and the same culture of the sea with them because we have been linked by navigation routes since ancient times. We want to join forces so that the old maritime routes become cultural routes with an international projection “, explained the mayor at Unesco headquarters.
During his speech at the forum, Arroyo gave the example of his city: “Cartagena cannot be understood if it is not understood to be linked by sea to the rest of the Mediterranean ports, forming part of a network of routes traced in ancient times. The city was born next to the port and its history, its economy and its own identity have always been linked to the port and to all the influences and cultures that came through it ”.
The forum, in which representatives and scientists from Lebanon and Tunisia participated, included a round table dedicated to Cartagena and its importance as a strategic enclave in the Mediterranean. Participants were María Agúndez, head of the World Heritage Area of the Ministry of Culture; Felipe Cerezo, Doctor in archeology and professor of maritime archeology at the University of Cádiz; and José Luis López Castro, Professor of Ancient History at the University of Almería and corresponding academic at the Royal Academy of History.
The mayor attended, also at Unesco headquarters, the delivery of the Elisa-Didon award, which bears the name of the founder of Cartago and was instituted to honor women who work for equal opportunities and reinforce the role of women in cultural, political, social, economic and scientific life.
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