The Concept

The “Egeria” project submits that the concept of pilgrimage in general and pilgrimage monuments in particular are the ideal vehicles for the promotion of peaceful coexistence, tolerance and creative cooperation among people with different cultural, religious and ethnic background.

Pilgrimage is a practice inherent to numerous religions. Two characteristics of pilgrimage have been especially inspiring for the project “Egeria”: first, the convergence of the spiritual and the material in pilgrimage practices, and second, the fact that these practices usually bring together individuals or groups of diverse ethnic upbringing and of varied cultural and even religious traditions.

The pilgrim as an individual participates in the ritual process in order to cleanse his or her mind and soul of worldly concerns in pursuit of a higher spiritual state. But, at the same time, the spiritual and the material merge into each other in pilgrimage practices. This is particularly manifest in pilgrimage monuments.

A great number of pilgrimage monuments are dispersed in the wider region of Eastern Mediterranean. This region has been home to most important pilgrimage destinations of many religions. The monuments are the material elements of innumerable pilgrims’ trajectories and of their various cultural and religious traditions. In addition, some of the monuments are witnesses of the fact that different religions and cultures have often coexisted side by side without necessarily constituting sources of conflict and have at times influenced each other positively.

Project “Egeria” advocates that pilgrimage monuments, except for being carriers of religious and spiritual significance, are also most important cultural treasures. The religious, historical, architectural and artistic importance of pilgrimage monuments necessitates international collaboration among those involved in the study and management of the monuments. The project submits that the quest for the most appropriate ways to study, preserve and incorporate historical pilgrimage monuments within the contemporary world offers an appropriate framework for collaboration among people from diverse cultural and religious environments in the wider area of Eastern Mediterranean.