Cultural Routes Of Sacred Sites

CROSS (Cultural Routes of Sacred Sites) is a cross-border project that connects the regions of Epirus (Greece) and Gjirokastra (Albania) through their shared Religious Cultural Heritage (RCH) i.e. sacred sites, oral histories, traditions and religious crafts. The project documents, digitises, safeguards and re-interprets both tangible and intangible RCH assets to create interactive and customisable Cultural Routes ultural Routes based on spatial, temporal and thematic narratives.

These Routes are accessed via the CROSS mobile app and digital platform, which serve as the entry points to personalised journeys tailored to users’ interests. Through the use of 3D reconstructions, augmented/virtual Reality (AR/VR) experiences and interactive multimedia content, CROSS enables a multisensory engagement with RCH.

Immersive, site-specific art installations co-created with local artists offer spatial narratives and emotionally charged encounters, enriching each sacred sites’ atmosphere. CROSS promotes Religious Cultural Heritage as a living, dynamic cultural system, embedded in place, sustained by communities and shaped by memory, rather than as a static collection of monuments.

The project explores new modes of heritage access, interpretation and experience through the integration of architecture, art, digital technology and storytelling. CROSS also works closely with local communities to collect oral histories, safeguard endangered rituals and revive traditional religious crafts.

A Training Programme and Educational Toolkit support knowledge transfer among youth, educators and cultural professionals. In parallel, the Sustainable Religious Tourism Handbook and the CROSS Network foster long-term impact, capacity building and integration into local policy. CROSS offers a scalable model of digitally-enhanced cultural tourism that links heritage preservation with local development, cross-border cooperation and inclusive, multisensory access to culture.