HINA News

Đakovo and Lipik State Stud Farms awarded UNESCO charter

UNESCO charters were awarded on Friday to the custodians of the tradition of Lipizzaner horse breeding at the Đakovo and Lipik State Stud Farms, which was a Croatian nomination inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The charters are a token of gratitude to the custodians of this valuable tradition which they have been continually promoting and passing onto the new generations, it was said at the charter-awarding ceremony, organized by the Đakovo city authorities and the Culture and Media Ministry.

Attending the ceremony, among others, were Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković and Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen-Koržinek, who awarded the charters.

PM Plenković said Lipizzaner horse breeding was part of the Croatian cultural identity, having been inscribed in 2017 on the national list of intangible cultural heritage, on which there are 222 cultural goods inscribed, stressing that the multinational application for the inscription of the Lipizzaner horse breeding tradition on UNESCO’s list was an excellent success that also obliged Croatia to continue nurturing this custom.

“The Stud Farm adds to Đakovo’s wealth,” he said, adding that the government would continue financially supporting the farms, as well as projects and investments related to Lipizzaner horse breeding and the related infrastructure.

“I am confident that the numerous visitors to Slavonia, which now has a new reputational element – inscription on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage, will now also opt for a visit to Đakovo,” Plenković said.

Minister Obuljen-Koržinek recalled that Croatia had joined in the multinational application for inscription on the UNESCO list at the invitation of partners from Slovenia, and that in 2022 it was internationally recognized as a country maintaining the tradition of Lipizzaner horse breeding.

She said that Croatia was the European country with the largest number of cultural goods inscribed on the list of intangible cultural heritage and the first European country to enter its intangible heritage in a law on the protection and preservation of cultural goods back in 1990.