A Culture Route of the Council of Europe, sometimes referred to as a European Cultural Route, is a certification awarded by the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

to networks promoting the European shared culture, history and memory. These routes must also match some fundamental values promoted by the Council of Europe such as

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and intercultural exchanges in the framework of cultural tourism. A Cultural Route of the Council of Europe is not necessarily a physical path to be walked through and can be made up of cultural stakeholders such as museums, municipalities or local governments clustered into one umbrella association. Being awarded the title Cultural Route of the Council of Europe opens the way to a larger visibility, network of cultural stakeholders or even funding. The programme was launched by the Council of Europe and not the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, even though it contributes to it. As a result, the programme goes beyond the borders of the EU, and even Europe in general - as some Routes go as far as

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

or the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. The programme was launched by the

in 1987. It is based since 1998 in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, at the

European Institute of Cultural Routes The European Institute of Cultural Routes is a non-profit association based in Luxembourg whose aim is to help the Council of Europe, as a technical body, in the establishment of European Cultural Routes. It was established in 1998 and its role ...

(EICR). Since 2010, the evaluation and certification-awarding process is managed by the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA). In 2022, 48 Cultural Routes were certified as listed below.

History

The Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe are tools of the European cultural cooperation implemented by the Council of Europe with the "European cultural convention" in 1954. On 23 October 1987, the

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

Declaration established the Santiago De Compostela Pilgrim Routes, the first European Cultural Route. From this point on, the Council of Europe gradually implemented a certification of routes with a cultural, social or historical interest with a view to bringing European cultures and peoples closer. The certification criteria have been revised throughout the existence of the programme, the last time was in December 2013. The

(EICR) was set up in 1998 following a political agreement between the Council of Europe and the

Government of Luxembourg Luxembourg is a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and the multi-party system. Executive power is under the constitution of 1868, as amended, exercised by the government, by ...

. The EICR have been in charge of managing the Cultural Route programme since then, ensuring connexions between the Routes’ associations, its university network, the Council of Europe and since 2010 the EPA statutory bodies. As a result, the institute organises several annual meetings between the programme's stakeholders, helps with the certification of new Cultural Routes, evaluates every three years the certified Routes or promotes the Cultural Routes. In December 2010, the

Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (French language, French: ''Comité des ministres du Conseil de l'Europe'') or Committee of Ministers (French language, French: ''Comité des ministres'') is the Council of Europe's decision- ...

adopted a resolution establishing the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA). This agreement aimed to making the programme's funding and organisation easier. The EPA is based in the EICR and periodically gathers representatives of some of the states that are the more interested in the programme who are empowered to certify new Cultural Routes as well as evaluating already-certified Routes.

List of the routes

This is a list of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, in order of their date of certification: #The Santiago De Compostela Pilgrim Routes (1987) #The Hansa (1991) #The Viking Routes (1993) #The

Via Francigena The Via Francigena (), also known as Francisca or Romea, is an ancient road and Christian pilgrimage, pilgrimage route running from the City status in the United Kingdom#Cathedral towns, cathedral city of Canterbury in England, through France and ...

(1994) #The Routes of El legado andalusí (1997) #European Mozart Ways (2002) #The Phoenicians’ Route (2003) #The Pyrenean Iron Route (2004) #The Saint Martin of Tours Route (2005) #The Cluniac Sites in Europe (2005) #The

Routes of the Olive Tree The cultural organization Routes of the Olive Tree is a non-governmental organization for research, documentation, protection and valorization of the civilization of the olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), ...

(2005) #The

Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the Historic roads, historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History ...

(2005) #TRANSROMANICA (2007) #The Iter Vitis Route (2009) #The

European Route of Cistercian Abbeys The European Route of Cistercian Abbeys is one of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe. Established in 2010, it is a tourist trail that links the monasteries of the Cistercian Order The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cist ...

(2010) #The European Cemeteries Route (2010) #Prehistoric Rock Art Trails (2010) #European Route of Historic Thermal Towns (2010) #The Route of Saint Olav Ways (2010) #The European Route of Jewish Heritage (2004) #The European Route of Ceramics (2012) #The European Route of Megalithic Culture (2013) #The Huguenot and Waldensian trail (2013) #ATRIUM - Architecture of Totalitarian Regimes of the 20th Century in Europe's Urban Memory (2014) #The

Réseau Art Nouveau Network Réseau Art Nouveau Network (RANN) was established in 1999 by European cities with a rich Art Nouveau heritage. The Network is committed to preserving this heritage. Through the use a scientific approach, it aims to keep professionals informed a ...

(2014) #Via Habsburg (2014) #The Roman Emperors and Danube Wine Route (2015) #In the Footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson (2015) #

Destination Napoleon Destination may refer to: Music *Destination (group), a disco studio group from New York * ''Destination'' (Eloy album), 1992 * ''Destination'' (FictionJunction Yuuka album), 2005 * ''Destination'' (Ronan Keating album), 2002 * ''Destination'' (EP ...

(2015) #The European routes of emperor Charles V (2015) #Route of the fortified towns of the Greater Region (2016) #Impressionisms Route (2018) #Via Charlemagne (2018) #

Liberation Route Europe Liberation Route Europe is an international remembrance trail that connects the main regions along the advance of the Western Allied Forces toward the End of World War II in Europe, liberation of Europe and final stage of the World War II, Second ...

(2019) #European Route of Industrial Heritage (2019) #Le Corbusier Destinations: Architectural Promenades (2019) #Iron Curtain Trail (2019) #Routes of Reformation (2019) #European Route of Historic Gardens (2020) #Via Romea Germanica (2020) #Aenas Route (2021) #Alvar Aalto Route (2021) #Cyril and Methodius Route (2021) #European Route d'Artagnan (2021) #Iron Age Danube Route (2021) #Historic Cafés Route (2022) #European Fairy Tale Route (2022) #Women Writers Route (2022)

References

External links

Cultural Routes on the Council of Europe website

Cultural Routes on the Council of Europe website (archived in 2017)

Cultural Corridors of South East Europe: European Cultural Routes
- Info and maps of most of the routes {{DEFAULTSORT:Cultural Route of the Council of Europe 01 *02 Council of Europe Cultural heritage of Europe Cultural landscapes Cultural policies of the European Union Tourism in Europe

History

List of the routes

See also

References

External links