The European Cultural Route: "In the footsteps of St Paul, the Apostle of the nations", is formaly launched by the Cult-RInG Project lead partner, as a candidate cultural route for certification by the Council of Europe.
The Governor of Central Macedonia Region in Greece and also the new President of the EU Committee of the Regions sent on 24 April 2020 a formal letter to the European Institute of Cultural Routes / Council of Europe. The full letter follows below:
EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL ROUTES
28 RUE MÜNSTER
L-2160 LUXEMBOURG
Attention: Dr Stefano Dominioni, Director
Date: 24/04/2020
Subject: Intention for Application Submission for certification as a “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” of the Cultural Route “In the footsteps of St Paul, the Apostle of the nations – Cultural Route”.
Dear Dr Dominioni,
With this letter we would like to inform you about our intentions of submitting an application for certification as a “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” of the Cultural Route: “In the footsteps of St Paul, the Apostle of the nations – Cultural Route” in the forthcoming certification cycle.
We are pleased to inform you that the ‘Region ofRegion of Central Macedonia’ from Greece, the ‘Lazio Region’ from Italy, the ‘Pafos Regional Board of Tourism’ from Cyprus and the ‘European Cultural Tourism Network’ from Brussels have agreed to form a ‘European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation’ (EGTC) that will manage, further develop, promote and support the Cultural Route ‘In the footsteps of St Paul, the Apostle of the nations’ as a candidate Cultural Route of the Council of Europe. All the above partners have worked together on establishing this important Cultural Route, as a result of their participation in the “Cult-Ring - Cultural Routes as Investments for Growth and Jobs” project co-funded by ERDF in the Interreg Europe interregional cooperation programme. The partners have already signed an MoU (attached), in which they have agreed to jointly develop and promote the transnational cultural route “In the footsteps of St Paul, the Apostle of the nations – Cultural Route” for certification by the Council of Europe, led by our Region of Central Macedonia, Greece.
The aim of the Cultural Route “In the footsteps of St Paul, the Apostle of the nations – Cultural Route” is to link up sites of St Paul's teaching, initially in the founding countries of Cyprus, Greece and Italy, to highlight the rich cultural heritage aspects and legacy of St Paul’s missions to the gentiles and the forming of Christianity in Europe, also through his epistles and intangible heritage in literature, arts and history.
We strongly believe that this proposed important cultural route will add value to the Council of Europe Cultural Routes programme, in bringing to the fore the strong cultural values of St Paul’s missions and legacy, towards regenerating the European ideals, with sustainable cultural tourism development along the route in several countries, regions and local communities. We plan to include other relevant regions in Greece (Eastern Macedonia & Thrace, Athens-Attica, Corinth, Crete), in Italy (Campania), as well as Malta, in the further development of the cultural route.
Therefore, we would like to ask you to consider our Cultural Route “In the footsteps of St Paul, the Apostle of the nations – Cultural Route” as a potential candidate for a “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” certification, in the very near future.
We remain at your disposal for any additional information and clarifications you may require and we express our readiness to discuss with you and your services the next steps in preparing and submitting our joint application, as soon as possible. We would welcome the opportunity to present our ideas with our partners from Lazio IT, Pafos CY and ECTN BE, at your convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Apostolos Tzitzikostas
GOVERNOR OF THE REGION OF CENTRAL MACEDONIA
President of the EU Committee of the Regions
CC Presidents of :
Lazio Region, Pafos Regional Board of Tourism, European Cultural Tourism Network
Enc: MoU
The development and promotion of this Cultural Route as a candidate for Council of Europe certification is a joint action in their Cult-RInG project action plans by partners Regional Development Fund of Region of Central Macedonia - Greece, Lazio Region - Italy, Pafos Regional Board of Tourism - Cyprus, supported by Cult-RInG advisory partner European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN).
