On Monday, September 19th, Ambassador Mary Warlick paid her first visit to the city of Zajecar to tour the Roman archaeological site of Felix Romuliana and give a grant to the National Museum of Zajecar in the amount of USD 65,800 for the conservation and restoration of Romula’s Consecration Mound on the Magura Hill at Felix Romuilana. While in Zajecar, Ambassador Warlick also met with Mayor Bosko Nicic.

The grant is given from the Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation, which was established by Congress in 2001 to help countries around the globe preserve historic sites, manuscripts, museum collections, and traditional forms of music, dance, and language.

The American Embassy has donated over $300,000 from this fund to help a variety of projects in Serbia including roof restoration of Belgrade’s Ethnographic Museum ($65,200 in 2010); roof restoration of the St. Ana Roman Catholic Church in Bela Crkva ($44,500 in 2009); restoration of frescoes in Studenica Monastery ($33,900 in 2008); preservation of the Roman amphitheatre at the Viminacium Archeological Site ($31,200 in 2007); restoration of the mekhteb adjoining the “Altun Alem” Mosque in Novi Pazar ($35,000 in 2006), and reconstruction of the Rakovica Monastery's roof ($17,000 in 2001).

The American Embassy in Belgrade views this project as a sign of the American people's respect for the diversity and cultural heritage of Serbia and strong ties between the Serbian and American people.