On 11 – 13 January 2021 the European Association of the Via Francigena ways EAVF participated in the kick off meeting of the European project “rurAllure: Promotion of rural museums and heritage sites in the vicinity of European pilgrimage routes”.

This project aims to foster cultural cooperation and tourism along the historic pilgrimage routes. It leverages the state-of-the-art in information technologies in order to promote rural museums and heritage sites in the vicinity of major European pilgrimage routes. The goal is to foster symbiosis between the rural environment and the pilgrimage routes to enrich the cultural experience of the pilgrimage by the vast cultural heritage of rural areas that most often goes unnoticed.

The kick off meeting which was conducted digitally brought together project partners and associates under the leadership of the University of Vigo. The 16 cutting-edge European organisations and research institutions, including the EAVF, participate in this ambitious project, working on common strategies and developing the project’s pilots: literary heritage along the Saint James’ Ways, thermal heritage on the road to Rome, ethnological heritage on the Saint Olav’s ways and the naturalistic heritage on the way of Mary.