Organised by the EAVF and Grand Besançon Métropole, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of France, a crossroads of Cultural Routes will take place on 25 November 2024. The Cultural Routes programme was set up by the Council of Europe in 1987 with the Santiago de Compostela Pilgrim’s Way, and currently includes 48 certified routes. The Via Francigena was certified in 1994 and celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. In France, the French Federation of European Cultural Routes (Fédération Française des Itinéraires Culturels Européens, FFICE), which was set up in 2010 and re-founded in 2022, brings together certified routes and non-certified routes that are currently applying to set up projects with the support of the Ministry of Culture to promote these routes in France.
In 2024, several routes were once again able to obtain a grant to organise events at ‘crossroads’, strategic points where several routes intersect, in order to showcase the sites and partners, organise events for the general public and increase synergies.
The Via Francigena, which is a member of the FFICE, has received support from the World Heritage Mission to organise, as part of the 30th anniversary of its certification, an event in Besançon on 25 November 2024, in which 8 Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe will take part.
The aim is to continue working in favour of a structured and dynamic network at regional level, to raise awareness among local players and professionals, to encourage this dynamic between French and European players, and to raise awareness among all citizens of our common European heritage and shared European values.
