The publication Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe 2020 presents all the routes from the oldest ones, including Santiago de Compostela, the Hansa or the Phoenician Route - to the most recent ones including the Iron Curtain Trail, the Liberation Route Europe or the Routes of Reformation. They are divided into five thematic poles: history and civilizations, arts and architecture, religious heritage, landscapes and crafts as well as industrial and scientific heritage.
We also invite you to discover the publication «Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe - Brochure for travellers (2020)» which is an invitation to travel, learn and get involved in many programmes offered by the Cultural Routes.
FREE COPIES of these publications, available in English and French, may be requested via docrequest@coe.int.
Other thematic brochures can be also found on the website of the Council of Europe Cultural Routes Programme and on http://edoc.coe.int.
Since the Santiago de Compostela Pilgrim Routes, the first cultural route certified in 1987, the Council of Europe’s Cultural Routes programme has so far identified 38 thematic routes with thousands of cultural sites and events in 60 countries, across Europe and beyond.
In a very concrete way, the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe illustrate how the heritage of the different countries contributes to a common European heritage, allowing a better knowledge and understanding of the European cultural identity.They cover the various aspects of cultural tourism with its tangible and intangible manifestations that promote the common European memory, history and heritage for a wide variety of audiences.
This holistic vision of cultural heritage, at the centre of the Council of Europe’s Cultural Routes, was rewarded with the prestigious European Charles V Prize in 2019, awarded for the first time to a European programme.
With more than 2,500 members and more than 1,500 local authorities involved, the Programme is a major source of cultural, social and local development, boosting local employment linked to tourism, amounting to 12% at European level.
