Vision

The Phoenicians’ Route is the network of the great nautical routes that have been used by ancient Mediterranean civilizations since the XII century B.C. as the main trade and cultural lines of communication in the Mediterranean Sea. Through these routes the Phoenicians gave rise to a great civilization contributing to the creation of a Mediterranean cultural koine` («community»). These routes became an integral and basic part of the Mediterranean culture. Nowadays, these routes symbolize the intercultural model on which a Mediterranean Cultural Route that crosses numerous countries of three different continent is based. Following the legacies of the ancient civilizations on the Mediterranean Sea, the Intercultural Dialogue is realized for a sustainable, responsible and creative development of this area. Along these routes, which are very rich in history, goods and cultures have moved. In 1994, the “Phoenicians‘ Route” is nominated within the Cultural Routes Program of the Council of Europe. In 2003, the route is embedded in the program and in 2007 the management network is recognized and enabled. The certification is now renewed every 3 years. In 2016 the World Tourism Organization created a Core Working on the Phoenicians’ Route in collaboration with the European Institute of Cultural Routes, the Ministry of Tourism of Lebanon and several Mediterranean countries.

The Phoenicians’ Route is an International Confederation that includes over 10 territorial and thematic networks collaborating on the development of new models for the enhancement of the cultural and natural, tangible and intangible, heritage in a context of intercultural dialogue in the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians’ Route cooperates with international and national institutions dealing with promotion of cultural, tangible and intangible, natural and landscaped heritage, including the Réseau Unitwin Chaire Unesco “Culture, Tourism, Development”, ICOM, CTN, ECTN and others.