Dear readers,

Let us bring you information about the European Cultural Route of Saints Cyril and Methodius (ECRSCM) from February 2026 and wish you a pleasant reading.

The new video "Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in Italy" introduces viewers to 36 cultural itineraries, including the Cyril and Methodius Route, part of which also winds through this country. The one-hour audiovisual story travels through Italy with the aim of promoting cultural cooperation and sustainable territorial development.

The document is divided into topics: Production, crafts, and trade; The first Europeans; European history through itineraries; European architecture; Religious heritage; Roads and trails; Landscapes and territories; Art, literature, and music. The Cyril and Methodius Route is presented starting at the 42-minute mark.

Document produced by the Ministry of Culture (Italy) in collaboration with the Central Institute for Sound and Audiovisual Heritage, is now available on the website of the ministry and YouTube.

Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (North Macedonia) became a member of the University Network for Cultural Routes Studies following the signing of a general framework agreement for cooperation with the European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR).

Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje through its Institute of Macedonian Literature has actively engaged in the study of Cultural Routes and other related fields such as: Byzantine Cultural Studies, European Cultural Context, Cultural Tourism, Cultural Heritage, Cultural Geography. The university has contribute to the development and promotion of the Cyril and Methodius Route by organising conferences and publishing research papers. 

In February, the third training course for guides on the Cyril and Methodius Route took place. The course includes educational seminars and field trips prepared in cooperation with the White Carpathians Education and Information Center. The project will culminate in a conference. The aim of the course is to train a total of 45 Czech and Slovak guides during three theoretical and three practical two-day training sessions. These guides will then organize their own events on the walking trails or in the territory of the Cyril and Methodius Route monuments. The course program therefore emphasizes the acquisition of guide knowledge that will increase the competence of registered participants: cultural and historical knowledge, organizational skills, and crisis management. The course lecturers are people with many years of guiding experience and the necessary expertise. For example, Vlaďka Vintr, a mountain guide and former member of the mountain rescue service, or Vladimír Šácha, an educator, natural scientist, and experienced guide in the White Carpathians region.

Participants in the guide training course are mainly employees of information centers, destination agencies, or heritage sites. The practical part of the course will take place in the spring in the vicinity of Velehrad in Czechia and Kopčany in Slovakia, close to important monuments associated with the legacy of the Slavic missionaries and Great Moravia. The activities are part of the cross-border project Cyril and Methodius Route – Training of Tourist Guides, funded by the Small Projects Fund of the Interreg SK-CZ program. The Slovak partner in the project is the Trnava Self-Governing Region. 

Training at Smolenice Castle (Slovakia), photo by Martin Peterka.

The Cyril and Methodius Route is preparing something new! Thanks to its involvement in the European HIKE4ALL project, it is organizing Cyril and Methodius Days – an event for the public that will take place from June 12 to 14 in the area of Velehrad, Modrá, and Staré Město near Uherské Hradiště. The varied program will offer different types of hiking, workshops, live history demonstrations, a cultural performances, lectures, and local products. Mark the date in your calendar, it will be worth it!                                                                 

The HIKE4ALL project emphasizes accessibility, inclusion, and equal participation. Therefore, it aims to make hiking and cultural activities accessible to everyone, including people with special needs and disabilities, and to ensure that everyone can enjoy the benefits of exercise, nature, and shared discovery. Activities focused on well-being and sustainability will involve communities, territories, and vulnerable groups across Europe. Six weekend events will be organized throughout 2026, one in each partner country, and a final conference in the French city of Troyes. The one-year project is coordinated by the European Association of Via Francigena (AEVF).

At the academic celebration of the Cyrillo-Methodian Research Centre on the eve of the Feast of the Dormition of St Cyril, a jubilee scholarly volume was presented in honour of the 70^th anniversary of Prof. Dr. Slavia Barlieva.

The collection brings together 41 articles by scholars and researchers from ten European countries - Albania, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. Thematically, the articles reflect the principal fields of research to which Prof. Barlieva has devoted her academic work on the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition.

The volume is titled LOQUI DIVERSIS LINGUIS NOLITE PROHIBERE (Do not forbid speaking in different tongues) - words of St. Paul the Apostle from the Epistle to the Corinthians, later cited by Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher during his dispute with the proponents of the trilingual doctrine in Rome. Link for open access.

Prof. Dr. Slavia Barlieva, photo by CMRC Sofia.

An exhibition by the Archaeological Museum Veliki Preslav was opened in the Historical Museum in Perushtitsa. It marks two major anniversaries in Bulgarian history: 1160 years since the adoption of Christianity and 1140 years since the arrival of the disciples of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in medieval Bulgaria. These landmark events are presented as decisive turning points that laid the foundations of Bulgarian statehood, literary culture, and spiritual identity.

The curatorial focus falls on epigraphic monuments of both secular and religious character originating from the literary centres and scriptoria of Veliki Preslav. A special highlight of the exhibition is a fragment of a faience tile from the Round Church, but also crosses, an inkpot, book clasps, and inscriptions on stone and clay that testify to the intensive spiritual and literary life of Preslav and to its role as a centre of literacy and education.

Exhibition in Perushtitsa (Bulgaria), photo by Alexander Gorchev.

The memory of the Equal-to-the-Apostles enlightener of the Slavs was included in the cultural calendar of the Municipality of Rila and the feast of his dormition was celebrated on 13 February 2026 in the Aleksi Rilets Municipal Museum. Dr Andrey Bobev from the Cyrillo-Methodian Research Centre delivered a lecture entitled “St. Constantine the Philosopher and the Mysteries of the Glagolitic Alphabet”. The event was attended by museum guests as well as students from Averkiy Popstoyanov Primary School.

In addition to presenting an overview of the life of St Cyril, Dr Bobev outlined key scholarly questions surrounding the creation of the Glagolitic alphabet. He also addressed some of the most widespread non-academic myths found in Bulgarian public discourse and school textbooks concerning the origins and meaning of the script.

Following the lecture, the children joined the Museum’s weekly workshop programme that was dedicated to the Glagolitic alphabet. Together with museum specialists and the guest lecturer, they coloured Glagolitic initials, wrote their names using St Cyril’s script and created secret messages.

Educational event in Rila (Bulgaria), photo by Andrey Bobev.

On February 20, 2026, the Bulgarian National Library "St. Cyril and Methodius" marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of its Restoration Centre - the oldest and largest laboratory in the country specializing in the conservation and restoration of objects on paper.

Over 1 700 000 sheets have been restored at this Centre over 70 years. Among them are some of the most valuable monuments in the library collections – including old printed and rare books, archival documents, maps, graphics, drawings, photographs, oriental archival documents, old printed books, albums, documents on parchment and numerous Slavic manuscripts.

Photo by National Library.

The Aquileia Walking Festival is an invitation to slow down, observe and rediscover the pleasure of travelling on foot. An experience open to everyone: enthusiasts, experts and curious occasional explorers. From 17 to 19 April, Aquileia will become a meeting point for those who love walking, listening and being inspired: scientific dissemination events will be accompanied by walks along the main paths that intertwine in Aquileia, which has always been a meeting point for itineraries and ancient pilgrimage routes, dialogues and experiences among evocative places of art and archaeology, wineries, cafés and green spaces. Programme being updated: www.fondazioneaquileia.it

Hiking along the Cyril and Methodius Route in White Carpathians

We are preparing another hike along the Cyril and Methodius Route in the Bojkovice area on April 25. It will follow the White Carpathian trail from Bojkovice to Žítková (Czech Republic). Participants will visit the Bojkovice Museum exhibition, climb to the viewpoints above the town, and walk around the Lokov peak to the well-known village of Kopanice. The destination will be the milestone stone erected in the village square. 

New milestone in Žítková (Czechia), photo by Martin Peterka.

European Cultural Route of Saints Cyril and Methodius, I.A.L.E.

J. A. Bati 5520, 760 01 Zlín, Czech Republic

Tel: +420 733 161 674

E-mail: info@cyril-methodius.eu

Web: www.cyril-methodius.eu

The European Cultural Route of Sts. Cyril and Methodius is an interest association of legal entities based in the Czech Republic, founded in 2013. It promotes the living Cyrillo-Methodian legacy and values based on respect and dialogue between people of different cultures and faiths. As a cultural tourism product, the Cyril and Methodius Route was awarded the title of a  Cultural Route of the Council of Europe in 2021. The Association European Cultural Route of Sts. Cyril and Methodius is responsible for its management and marketing.

The Cultural Routes programme, launched by the Council of Europe in 1987, demonstrates in a visible way, by means of a journey through space and time, how the heritage of the different countries and cultures of Europe represent a shared cultural heritage. The Cultural Routes support the mission of the Council of Europe in promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law across Europe and beyond. They promote awareness of Europe’s common heritage and put into practice cultural democracy and cultural diversity, dialogue, and mutual exchange across boundaries and centuries within Europe as well as with other countries and regions. As of 2025, there are 49 certified Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (www.coe.int/routes). 

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