The theme was integrated into the Council of Europe programme in March 1992 and the route is awarded certification as a “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” on 9 December 2004.
Whether they are historic in origin or recent creations, parks and gardens are the product of artistic, scientific and technical exchanges, the study of which yields a wealth of information about the relationship between human beings and nature.
The integration of this theme in the Council of Europe programme is based on a selection of symbolic sites, a series of tourist circuits have been established in a number of European regions, featuring the work of leading landscape architects and main types of gardens that have emerged over the course of history in various geographical, social and political contexts: Arab-influenced gardens in Andalusia, the gardens and villas of the Medicis, the villas of Lucca in Tuscany, the large parks of 18th and 19th century English and Belgian estates and the contemporary gardens such as the “Jardin de Deux Rives” in Strasbourg.
 

European Institute of Cultural Routes
Information source: The Council of Europe Cultural Routes brochure, 2004
Photo: Bosco di Fonte Lucente, Fiesole; © EICR