Rijeka has joined the European Route of Historic Pharmacies and Medicinal Gardens, a unique project that connects important places such as monastery pharmacies, ancient hospitals, secular pharmacies, historical libraries, and botanical and medicinal gardens. The route represents a living natural and cultural heritage that celebrates common European roots and promotes intercultural dialogue, cultural identity, social cohesion, and sustainable human development.
The project welcomed several new partners, i.e. Rijeka Tourist Board, JGL Museum of Pharmacy, and the University of Rijeka. To mark the importance of the topic, in March this year, the partners organized the second international forum “Hygeia Legacy” in cooperation with the Aromas Itinerarium Salutis, a non-profit association founded in 2021 in Valencia to preserve and promote tangible and intangible European heritage related to the history of pharmacy through the realization and management of the European Route of Historic Pharmacies and Medicinal Gardens.
Currently, the European Route of Historical Pharmacies and Medicinal Gardens is represented by 11 European countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland) and 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).
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.