The Roads of Friendship: Ravenna-Jerusalem

From Beirut the road weaved its way in the Middle East to a site that is the symbol of the world’s three great monotheist religions. And, in Jerusalem, the meeting point of different cultures and the site of their conflict, the cycle of three Ravenna Festivals dedicated to “Pilgrimages of Faith” came to a close. On 1 July 1999 the Sultan’s Pool, one of the city’s most suggestive settings, hosted the festival’s most meaningful concert - Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem Mass. In February 2000 the exceptional occasion to meet and fraternise created by the concert moved the Jerusalem Foundation that was involved in the initiative’s complex and delicate organisation, to create and assign the “Jerusalem Foundation Award” to Cristina Mazzavillani Muti, President of Ravenna Festival. The reason for the award was also undersigned by Teddy Kollek, the Jewish people’s “ambassador” to the European nations during World War II and the Holy City’s legendary mayor for twenty-eight years: “…for her remarkable dedication to the quest for peace and understanding between the various nations and religions through art and culture. In Ravenna Festival’s framework the project “Roads of Friendship” mirrors her personal skill to overcome complex difficulties to reach people across seas and human barriers with a message of peace, love and co-operation.”