The Ancient Theatres of Epirus Cultural Route
“Amvracia, Gitana. Lonesome words? Not any longer. The “Ancient Theatres of Epirus Cultural Route” breathes life and substance into monuments and transforms them into drivers for sustainable development and ambassadors of history, nature and culture…”
| Progress of Actions and Projects | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Planning | Inclusion in a Funding Programme | Infrastructure | Marketing Plan - Digital Strategy | Entrepreneurship | Destination Management & Marketing Organisation (DMO) | |
Description
The “Ancient Theatres of Epirus Cultural Route” was designed and is in operation following a proposal by DIAZOMA, with the Region of Epirus and the Ministry of Culture taking a central role. It is an innovative project, not only on a European but a global scale, as the Route is a specialized and branded holistic cultural tourism product designed around the five ancient theatres of Epirus, which act as a single cohesive element underpinning the Route.
The Cultural Route spans four Regional Units and includes five archaeological sites (Dodona, Nicopolis, Cassope, Amvracia, and Gitana), eight sight and sound spaces (which include the theatres of Nicopolis, Dodona, Cassope, Amvracia, and Gitana), and covers over 344 kilometres and 2300 years of history. Indeed, this is the first project in the country to have been included in the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2014-2020.
In November 2018, the Route’s launch event took place with the participation of citizens, the local community, and the domestic and non-domestic tourism market (tour operators, bloggers, and journalists) who were invited to become acquainted with the Cultural Route. The Region of Epirus appointed the EPIRUS SA Development Company as the Route’s Destination Marketing and Management Organization (DMO), charged with ensuring daily that the high quality of the “chain” of resources and services of this product is maintained. The project has its own website and Facebook page.
Poles of Attraction
The Cultural Route’s poles of attraction are the five ancient theatres of Epirus and the archaeological sites that surround them: the Archaeological site and Ancient Theatre of Dodona; the Archaeological site and Ancient Theatre and Bouleuterion or Little Theatre of Cassope; the Archaeological site and Ancient Theatre and Odeon of Nicopolis; the Archaeological site and Ancient Theatre of Gitana; and the Ancient Theatre of Amvracia.
Budget
The Ancient Theatres of Epirus Cultural Route is an Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) programme of the Epirus Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020 and is realized with funding of 37 million euros.
Cultural Itinerary in the Ancient Theatres of Epirus – Powerpoint presentation
