Cultural Corridors of South East Europe

South East Europe

Via Adriatica



Via Adriatica

Via Adriatica spreads all over the western seaside of the Ionian and Adriatic Sea. It passes through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, Greece.
The cultural corridor reflects the strong Roman and West-European influence (Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque), refracted by the understanding and philosophy of the local population. Alongside this corridor took place processes of international exchange among the Aegean, Roman, Byzantine, Dalmatian and West-European civilizations. Here, by the ancient town of Durres (Dyrrachion, Drach) – an important political and cultural centre of the region – Byzantine culture penetrated into the Adriatic along the direction of the cultural corridor Via Egnatia. Thus, along Via Adriatica, Byzantine influence from Constantinople penetrated into Central Europe up to Venice. Within the main direction of Via Egnatia was the trace of the Road of Olives – from Western Europe to the South of Peloponnesus (Greece) and the Mediterranean coast. In its northern part – Slovenia and Croatia – Via Adriatica connects to the cultural area of central and west Europe with the pilgrims cultural routes Saint Jacque de Compostela and Saint Martin.
Along the cultural corridor one comes across historical towns with outstanding stratification – a great number of them are recognized as World Heritage at present – Porec, Sibenik, Trogir, Split, Dubrovnik (Croatia), Kotor (Serbia and Montenegro), Gjirokastra (Albania). The corridor reveals exceptional examples of clusters of layers of past periods, on the basis of which it’s easy to decipher the most outstanding historical periods of the towns along the coast – Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and Modern Times. Via Adriatica is a corridor that preserved also exceptional single antique sites – Amphitheatre in Pula, the ancient town Butrint. The seacoast reveals picturesque fiords, once selected by our ancestors to be their home. The mystical caves Skocjan (Slovenia), the vast lake Shkoder (Albania), the park Valia Kalda (Greece) makes one be absorbed by nature’s embrace.

Expert network




Albania

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Croatia

Greece

Montenegro

Slovenia