The OLKAS project “From the Aegean to the Black Sea” – medieval Ports in the Maritime Routs of the East, started in January 2012 within the framework of the Joint Operational Program" BLACK SEA 2007-2013" of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI). The aim of the project was to establish a comprehensive cooperation between the countries in the region for the promotion of the medieval city –ports of the Black Sea and the cultural heritage they embodied, in order to contribute to the development of the cultural tourism of the area, to preserve and to document the existing cultural properties.
The project was carried out by a participatory platform comprising various institutions from Türkiye, Greece, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Russia and Azerbaijan. The findings of the investigation and researches done throughout the project were shared at conferences organised by the Project partners. Secondary school students in Varna, Istanbul and Constanza took part in educational programmes and creative drama activities shedding light on the historical ports in their cities, ships visiting these ports and intercultural relations. The outputs of the project were displayed at the exhibitions organised in Istanbul, Thessaloniki, Aiani, Crimea and Odessa.
Türkiye took place in the programme with the support of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA). Istanbul University, Faculty of Literature, the Department of Preservation of Underwater Cultural Properties was one of the executors of the project and Cultural Awareness Foundation took part as the project partner.