Greece’s Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni held a press conference on Monday where she announced plans to launch five new cultural routes covering all the periods of Greek history.
According to the news, the 32 million euro project will be part of Greece’s recovery plan being mulled over in Brussels. Once EU funds are approved, the new cultural pathways will include:
- “In the footsteps of the Apostle Paul”
- “The Cultural Egnatia Odos”
- “Road to the West: From Homer to Cervantes”
- “Monumental works of Cyclops and People in the Mycenaean Era (2nd millennium BC)”
- “The Castle Network: From Byzantium to the Ottoman Empire”.
The routes will be divided according to two distinct geographical zones. First, an area connecting the archaeological sites and museums of Northern Greece. Secondly, a south and southwestern zone starting in Epirus and moving to the Ionian Islands, Central Greece, and the Peloponnese. Minister Mendoni had this to offer according to the news from GTP:
“The project’s main goal is to develop cultural tourism in a balanced way in all regions of the country,” said Mendoni, explaining why the region of Attica has been excluded. “Attica accounts for 44.7 percent of all visitors to archaeological sites and 46.5 percent to museums.”
The minister added that 500,000 euros will be allocated to each cultural route for upgrade and enhancement works, 1 million euros will go into the development of digital applications for each itinerary, and 27 million euros will be channeled into maintenance, restoration, and promotion of the sites, monuments, and routes. The entire project is suggested to be complete by 2025.