Commandaria wine was included in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List, Deputy Ministry of Culture and the Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO announced Wednesday.
The decision was taken by UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage which is meeting in New Delhi.
Deputy Minister of Culture Dr. Vasiliki Kassianidou said that this is milestone decision for Cyprus and its culture and for Commandaria villages.
She spoke of international recognition that goes beyond the boundaries of gastronomy, of vindication of the centuries-old tradition, the dedication of the winegrowers of the 14 Commandaria villages and the uninterrupted continuity of a cultural heritage that spans millennia.
The Deputy Minister also said that new roads for development are now opened, recalling that there is strategy for the protection, promotion and proper utilization of cultural heritage, which actively supports the bearers of the living traditions of Cyprus.
President of the Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO, Dr. Marina Solomidou Ieronymidou said that Commandaria is not only a special local product, but is a carrier of identity and collective memory, deeply connected to the place, its people and its rituals.
Academic Dr. Angel Nikolaou Konnari, who represents the Deputy Ministry at the UNESCO Intergovernmental Conference in New Delhi, expressed the belief that the resulting pride that the inscription of Commanderia on UNESCO’s list will serve as an incentive for the younger generations to follow in the footsteps of the older generation of viticulturists, winemakers and wine lovers.
Cyprus has seven inscribed products and material on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage namely the Lefkaritika embroidery (2009), tsiattista songs (2011), the Mediterranean Diet (2013), art of dry stone masonry (2018) and Byzantine chanting (2019), midwifery (2023) and Commandaria wine (2025).
In 2022, the International Tocatì Festival and the Traditional Games of Cyprus were included in the List of Good Practices for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
( Source : CNA )
