Minister of Defense Nicolae Ciuca was present on Tuesday at the military and religious ceremony marking the end of the major restoration, rehabilitation and conservation operations of the Commemorative Cross to the Romanian Heroes of the First World War also called the Heroes' Cross on Mount Cairaman.
"In 2016, we received a mission of honour, that of restoring and reintroducing in the circuit of national values this monument ennobled by the history of the nation. And here is the proof that the military managed to live up to the mission received and we can be today, again, proud of the Heroes' Cross on Caraiman, the highest cross in the world on a mountain peak. It was not an easy mission, it was not within everyone's reach, but through a lot of work, professionalism and dedication, the works were successfully completed," Minister Nicolae Ciuca affirmed in the speech delivered at the ceremony, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MApN).
Attended by Minister of Defense Nicolae Ciuca, Chief of Defense Staff, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu, and Minister of Internal Affairs Lucian Bode, the ceremony included the laying of wreaths in memory of fallen heroes and a visit to the exhibition space mounted inside the monument.
Between 2016 and 2021, the Ministry of National Defense, through the General Secretariat and the Domain and Infrastructure Division, implemented the project "Restoration, rehabilitation, conservation and arrangement of an exhibition space within the Commemorative Cross to the Romanian Heroes of the First World War/ The Heroes' Monument Caraiman Cross/ The Heroes' Cross on Mountain Caraiman)".
The project was co-financed from the European Regional Development Fund through the Regional Operational Program (ROP) 2014-2020, Priority Axis 5, Investment Priority 5.1 - Conservation, protection, promotion and development of natural and cultural heritage. The general goal of the project was to promote the national history and identity by preserving, protecting and capitalizing on a landmark historic and cultural monument for Romania - the Commemorative Cross to the Romanian Heroes of the First World War.
Furthermore, according to the Ministry of National Defense, the specific objectives focused, on the one hand, on the restoration, rehabilitation, conservation of the monument and the setting up of an exhibition space within it and, on the other hand, on the increase in the number of visitors to the monument by at least 6 percent upon the completion of the works, Agerpres.ro informs.
The actual restoration works of the monument took place over 11 months, mainly in the warm period, as follows: one month in 2018, 5 months in 2019 (July - November 2019) and 5 months in 2020 (July - November 2020).
"Considering the meteorological conditions specific to the site of the monument located at 2,291 m altitude, 2021 was allowed for analyzing the quality of the restoration works and remedying any deficiencies that might have appeared during the winter," the Ministry of National Defense said.
At present, specific reception activities are carried out upon completion of the works and specific interventions are performed according to the requests of the reception commission.
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