Around the year 1000, artists from all over Europe were inspired by the Roman and early Christian tradition, giving birth to a unique architectural style: the Romanesque.
The Romanesque style incorporated local myths and legends to reinvent old traditions, thus reflecting the specific geographic characteristics of each region of medieval Europe over a period of 300 years.
Council of Europe values
Despite the difficulties involved in travelling, medieval Europeans were extremely mobile, with thousands of travellers journeying by water and land, most of the time on foot. As a result of these movements, a common way of thinking and shared values became manifest in architecture and, specifically, in the cathedrals that were the focus of urban life. The Romanesque style thus became the first common language of the old continent. This ‘first’ Europe, dating back to the Middle Ages, incorporated values which still unite the continent today: diversity and understanding between civilisations.
TRANSROMANICA – The Romanesque Routes of European Heritage is certified Cultural Route of the Council of Europe since 2007.