Aromas Itinerarium Salutis – The European Route of Historical Pharmacies and Medicinal Gardens awarded the Cultural Route of the Council of Europe certification
With great enthusiasm, President Esther Alba Pagán and Director María Luisa Vázquez de Ágredos Pascual of Aromas Itinerarium Salutis (AIS) announce that the European Route of Historical Pharmacies and Medicinal Gardens has received the prestigious Cultural Route of the Council of Europe certification. This recognition has been awarded in accordance with the certification criteria set forth in Resolution CM/Res (2023)2 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The decision was confirmed by the Governing Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA) through written procedure on June 27, 2024.
Following the decision of the Governing Board and in accordance with its Regulations, the certification will be officially conferred during the award ceremony organized by the EPA Secretariat, to be held in Visegrád and Budapest, Hungary, during the 13th Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe Annual Advisory Forum from September 25 to 27, 2024.
The European Route of Historical Pharmacies and Medicinal Gardens is a unique route that connects emblematic sites such as monastic pharmacies, ancient hospital and secular pharmacies, historical libraries, and botanical and medicinal gardens. In these places, the transmission of knowledge and traditional practices related to the therapeutic, hygienic, cosmetic, ritual, artistic, and culinary use of medicinal plants has fostered intercultural and interreligious dialogue over centuries. It represents a living natural and cultural heritage that celebrates common European roots and promotes intercultural dialogue, cultural identity, social cohesion, and sustainable human development.
Currently, the European Route of Historical Pharmacies and Medicinal Gardens is represented by eleven European countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland) and, through international governance, primarily focuses on the following areas: promoting research and development projects concerning the safeguarding, museumification, and dissemination of this millennia-old legacy, which serves as an inexhaustible source of historical memory and intercultural and intergenerational dialogue; fostering cultural and educational exchanges for young Europeans, leveraging frameworks such as the Erasmus+ program; documenting and promoting contemporary cultural and artistic practices that preserve and perpetuate this rich and ancestral heritage; developing a model of cultural tourism that is sustainable, scientific, and immersive, committed to inclusion and universal accessibility; and applying all of the above in promoting sustainable human development.
The certification as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe confirms the importance and relevance of this project in the European cultural landscape and is a testament to the excellent collaboration and cooperation among partners in the international network Aromas Itinerarium Salutis (AIS).
President Esther Alba Pagán and Director María Luisa Vázquez de Ágredos Pascual express their gratitude to the members of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA) for granting the certification, to the European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR), and to all who have contributed to achieving this important recognition.
