In September, do not miss the European Heritage Days.

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This initiative of the European Heritage Days, launched by the Council of Europe in 1991, has been since 1999 a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission under the slogan'Europe, a common heritage'. All 49 States parties to the European Cultural Convention actively take part in the initiative and the number of annual visitors is now estimated to be around 20 million at more than 30,000 participating monuments and sites.

The cultural events highlight local skills and traditions, architecture and works of art, but the broader aim is to bring citizens together in harmony even though there are differences in cultures and languages. Each year, national and regional events are organised around a special theme. These themes vary in each country from year to year. They include such topics as:

• specific forms of heritage (e.g. farmhouses, musical instruments, culinary traditions, garden architecture);
• specific periods in history (e.g. the Medieval heritage, the Baroque heritage);
• society's approaches to heritage (e.g. heritage and citizenship, heritage and youth).

The Council of Europe and the European Commission encourage the selection of trans-national themes which can be illustrated by cross-border activities that are jointly set up by the different countries. Read more:

• European Heritage Days - website
• List of themes and dates of the events by country – PDF
• Presentation leaflet - PDF

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