Original title: »NewPilgrimAge: 21st century reinterpretation of the St. Martin related shared values and cultural heritage as a new driver for community-sourced hospitality«
St. Martin, a symbol of mutual cooperation, is one of the most popular saints in Central Europe. Thousands of monuments have been dedicated to him, and the rich intangible cultural heritage (folk storytelling and legends) keeps alive the memory of his life.
The NewPilgrimAge project (NPA) runs from 1 June 2017 to 31 May 2020 and has been selected for co-financing by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Interreg Central Europe 2014-2020 program (priority »3. Cooperating on natural and cultural resources for sustainable growth in CENTRAL EUROPE ", under the priority "3.2 To improve capacities for the sustainable use of cultural heritage and resources) ". Maribor is the city through which the European cultural route of St. Martin goes. The route connects his birthplace, Savaria (now known as Szombathely, a Hungarian city with a leading partner role), with Tours in France, where St. Martin became a bishop. Partner cities of NewPilgrimAge, situated along the road or their branches, are committed to safeguard and via a 21th century reinterpretation to revive this cultural heritage and promote the common European values of solidarity and hospitality linked to St Martin.
Cities and cultural organisations from 4 Central European countries - Hungary, Slovenia, Italy and Croatia - will, through NPA, be equipped with up-to-date knowledge due to specialised trainings delivered to them, and will mobilise their citizens, most of all young people and small enterprises, to propose and jointly work out new creative initiatives to valorise the untapped heritage potentials (e.g. voluntary services in CH preservation and cultural tourism, digitisation, “reuse” heritage through creative and cultural industry). NPA will develop and pilot IT applications to promote the heritage-driven cultural products and services, thus also reaching out to younger generations of our digital age. The novel solutions will be summarised in the ‘Community-sourced CH Valorisation Model’, replicable in any CE city with similar profile or ambitions.
Partners, together with local stakeholders (from e.g. culture, education, innovation, community), will develop local roadmaps to define the next strategic steps on the way to sustainable CH management schemes, also empowering local communities. NPA will lay the foundation of a transnational network of St. Martin Cities, to be fostered by a common brand and a Joint Visibility Strategy, aiming at enhancing responsible cultural tourism contributing to boosting local economies and societies.
The website and application of St. Martins Route throug Municipality of Maribor were created as part of the NewPilgrimAge project.