Project information

The "Via Sacra" is a tourist product in an ancient cultural area. It leads to unique sacred buildings and art treasures in the border triangle of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic and looks back on over a thousand years of shared history. The "Holy Road" follows old trade and pilgrimage routes through Upper Lusatia, Lower Silesia and Northern Bohemia. The monuments, places of worship, sacred art treasures and many more have been forgotten over the years and the relevant historical events and are often unknown to tourists and locals alike. The project and the project measures are intended to counteract this and improve the overall image of the Via Sacra.

The aim of the major project "Via Sacra - a contribution to the preservation and promotion of the common cultural heritage" 2019 - 2021 is to improve the attractiveness of the promoted area and to preserve the common, cross-border and sacred cultural heritage. In addition, an authentic tourist product that can be experienced across borders will be designed and subsequently marketed. The project partners have set themselves the task of intensifying marketing activities and quality tourism and optimizing the image of the Via Sacra and the border region.

In order to make a positive contribution to improving the attractiveness of the area and preserving the shared cultural heritage, in particular the sacred history and sacred monuments and facilities, the aim is to link the German and Czech stations of the Via Sacra. This connection is to be achieved by designing a cycling and hiking route along existing cycling and hiking trails on both sides of the border. The result will be a new tourist product: the Via Sacra pilgrimage route - a sacred experience.

The project partners are also aiming to transfer the results and activities of the project to the Polish border region on a pro rata basis and to include the Polish stations of the Via Sacra in the project wherever possible.

This perspective is being further developed in the current large-scale project "Via Sacra - A contribution to cross-border networking and development of a tourist product in the border triangle". The project is part of the Interreg Poland - Saxony 2021-2027 cooperation program and runs from 01.02.2024 to 31.01.2026.

A key result of this project is the successfully completed design of a cycling and hiking route on the Polish side, which now connects to the existing routes in Germany and the Czech Republic. This represents an important milestone in the complete cross-border development of the Via Sacra.

In addition, further accompanying measures were implemented to publicize the new route and integrate it permanently into the region's tourist offer. These include the creation of a Polish-language website and the expansion of the existing online presence as well as the creation of target group-oriented information materials in German and Polish. Furthermore, a cross-border final conference is planned for the beginning of 2026 to present the project results.

The aim remains to further strengthen the Via Sacra as a shared European cultural heritage and to make the sacred cultural assets in the border triangle a sustainable experience - both for locals and visitors to the region.