The European Cultural Route of Saint Martin of Tours

This chapter analyses the case of the Saint Martin of Tours Route. This itinerary was incorporated as a Council of Europe Cultural Route in 2005; it links 45 countries. In accordance with a descriptive approach to the fields of human and tourism geography, this chapter explores the phenomenon of modern-day cultural and rural tourism, analyzing a faith route linked to Saint Martin of Tours. More specifically, the aim of this chapter is to investigate the activities of this route as a coordinated network, to identify possible strengths and weaknesses of the itinerary and eventually to pro- pose some suggestions to remedy and answer the challenges. A key aspect is the role that the administrative center and each local actor can play in enriching and developing the Route as a social, cultural and economic network. Other, the chapter starts with an overview of the life of Saint Martin, seeking to understand his importance to European memory and the route, with particular attention paid to the significant architectural and immaterial heritage linked to his veneration. Then, the relevance of the Route and the practices related to the actions of the actors to add the value of the itinerary will be highlighted. The final section presents the salient features of the points discussed and makes suggestions for possible application of these findings. The chapter is part an international research.