Via Transilvanica won the People's Choice Award with a record number of votes

The Via Transilvanica programme of the Tășuleasa Social Association, supported this year by Banca Transilvania, has won one of the European Heritage Awards, the People's Choice Award, with a record number of online votes - around 27,000 - for the category in which it was entered, Involvement and Awareness. The award ceremony took place in Venice at the end of September this year.

The six winners of the European Heritage Awards were selected in an initial phase from 28 projects from 20 European countries by the Europa Nostra Council on the recommendation of an independent jury of experts.

Banca Transilvania is the strategic partner of Via Transilvanica

Banca Transilvania and Tășuleasa Social announced in March this year a strategic partnership for at least three years to support Via Transilvanica, with BT contributing both financially and through volunteering and promotion.

The ten years of collaboration between BT and the Tășuleasa Social Association has so far meant the planting of the Transylvania Forest, i.e. 75 hectares in different areas of the country, afforested with 450,000 seedlings, with the help of over 15,000 volunteers.


Via Transilvanica - The road that unites

• It is aimed at people of all ages who want to discover places, history, culture and communities as well as outdoor activities.
• The project promotes Romania's cultural, ethnic, historical and natural values and diversity.
• The 1,400 km long Via Transilvanica links the country diagonally from Putna to Drobeta Turnu-Severin, passing through 10 counties.
• Via Transilvanica is also an open-air sculpture exhibition: Romanian and international artists have sculpted works of art on the markers that mark the route every kilometre. Miniature versions of the bollards can be purchased online.
• The initiative was launched by the Tășuleasa Social Association in 2018 and the trail was completed in 2022.

The 2023 Grand Prize winners are from Italy, Spain, France, Ireland and Ukraine: 

• The Royal Gardens of Venice (Conservation and Adaptive Reuse category)
• Deba Bridge, Gipuzkoa (Conservation and Adaptive Reuse category)
• ACTA VISTA, Marseille (category Education, Training & Skills)
• Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI), Dublin (Citizen Engagement & Awareness category)
• Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO) (Heritage Champions category).

The European Heritage Awards were launched by the European Commission in 2002 and so far over 3,700 projects from 46 countries have been entered into the competition, with the most entries coming from Spain (618 projects), Italy (394 projects) and the UK (325 projects). The competition helps to promote best practice in the field of cultural and natural heritage, and the awards bring winning projects greater international and national exposure and funding.