European Heritage Days 2025 | The heritage of lime in Epirus

Boulouki celebrates European Heritage Days 2025 with a dual participation that once again highlights the craft of lime and the use of traditional building techniques for sustainability and landscape preservation.

Exhibition opening | Burning the bones of the earth. Stories of lime kilns on both sides of the Greece-Albania border

 📅 Saturday, September 27, 2025 📍 Historic Customs House, Plaka Bridge, Tzoumerka

The Regional Union of Municipalities (PED) and Boulouki invite you to the opening of the exhibition “Burning the bones of the earth” that is held in the framework of European Heritage Days (EHD) / Journées européennes du patrimoine (JEP) on Saturday, September 27, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at the historic Customs House next to the Plaka Bridge in Tzoumerka, Epirus. 

The exhibition presents the results of a three-year research project by the team on the traditional technology of lime kilns—ephemeral lime-burning structures that formed key dry-stone constructions in the mountainous regions of Epirus and Southern Albania, functioning as combustion domes for lime production. Today, they are often traceable only through their imprint on the landscape and a few material remnants; in some cases, peripheral support structures of the dome survive. The last functioning unit remains in a village near Korçë, still producing traditional lime through wood burning.

Architectural drawings, audiovisual material, and testimonies from local communities and craftsmen in Tzoumerka, Pogoni, Zagori, Korçë, the villages of Dropull and Gjirokastër, Rizë and Delvinë, reconstruct a practice—a body of traditional technology with highly significant contemporary implications for sustainable building and resilience. A shared archive of knowledge and memory from border regions, shaped by the continuous exchange of people and materials.

The exhibition opening is organized as part of the European Heritage Days. This exhibition is carried out in the framework of the project “Education and awareness-raising activities aimed at highlighting the value of traditional building materials based on aerial lime” is supported by the Green Fund’s funding program “Natural Environment and Climate Neutrality – Outreach Actions 2025” (Budget: €10,000. Funding: Green Fund, Beneficiaries: Regional Union of Municipalities of Epirus (PED Epirus) together with the NPO Boulouki. This initiative is carried out under the auspices and with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture. The research and development of the archive is supported by the Endangered Material Knowledge Programme of the British Museum. This project was produced with the financial support of the European Union and the Council of Europe. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the author(s). The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of either the European Union or the Council of Europe.

“Traditional architecture as cultural heritage and a tool for a sustainable future”

📅 Friday, September 26, 2025, 3:00 p.m. 📍 Museum of Modern Greek Culture, Monastiraki

Boulouki participates in the event “Traditional architecture as cultural heritage and a tool for a sustainable future” that is organized by The Museum of Modern Greek Culture, in collaboration with the Living Cultural Heritage Network, as part of the celebration of European Heritage Days (EHD) / Journées européennes du patrimoine (JEP) 2025. Representatives from both organizations will present their unique approaches and interpretations regarding the importance of sustainability in traditional architectural structures. Boulouki will participate in the discussion, presenting the theme “The use of traditional building techniques in the search for strategies for sustainability and landscape protection.” The event will conclude with a dialogue with the audience, offering an opportunity for active participation, exchange of experiences, and discussion of issues.