The Balkans – Eastern Serbia and Western Bulgaria
The project objective is to promote the crossborder region as a tourist destination by the development of a unique tourist route, which encompasses the most attractive places in Western Bulgaria and Eastern Serbia. It is kind of traveling through time, history, traditions, culture and customs of nations.
The Balkans is a peninsula at the south of the European continent. Gods have given this part of the Earth almost more than they had and could. They have surrounded it by five seas, namely Ionic, Adriatic, Mediterranean, Aegean, and Black. They have gifted it continental part with the richness of waters, mountains, forests, meadows, and sunshine. They have given it life, designated it to be the cradle of the earliest civilization, dating back to prehistory, from Ice Age and first human cave communities, which is testified by rich archaeological sites that reveal only a small portion of the secret of life in these lands, the secret of human existence through the Neolithic Period, Bronze and Iron Ages, Archaic Period, Roman Period, Middle Ages, and so on.
Although endowed by many blessings, the Balkan Peninsula is also followed by a curse: to be a link between Europe and the rest of the world, to be fought for and over by both big and small empires, to be a place where many civilizations would, over centuries, leave marks of their presence, preserved at various archaeological sites. Therefore, there isn’t a smaller place with more history of human life, a history that is so complex, layered, still incomprehensible and secretive, but nevertheless attractive to learn about, and explore.