Multifaceted natural & cultural landscapes in the heart of Europe

The project area stretches along part of the rediscovered medieval ways of St. James, which was named the first European cultural route in 1987 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. The routes included in the project, the so-called Starry Paths, run between the old episcopal seats of Mainz, Worms, Speyer, Metz and Strasbourg in the direction of Thann, which were already among the major junctions and gathering points for pilgrims on the Way of St. James in the Middle Ages.

The diverse routes cover more than 1,600 kilometers of paths, which are lined with numerous medieval cultural monuments. Crossing the border, they lead through the Pfälzer Bergland and German Wine Route regions, along the Haardt into neighboring Alsace; here the routes lead through the Pfälzerwald-Nordvogesen UNESCO biosphere reserve. In the north, they lead us from the Rhine, along the Nahe and Glans rivers, through the Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park, then through the Saargau region via the Saarbrücken account point, along the Lorraine coal basin to Metz. The northern and southern routes in Saarland wind like a red thread through the Bliesgau UNESCO biosphere reserve.

Reason enough to explore the different natural areas and regional characteristics and the get to know different cultures, rituals, mentalities and people - French and German, Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate, Alsace and Lorraine.

With the help of our interactive map, you can plan your own individual routes, both on the marked paths of the pilgrims and to the stone witnesses of the Middle Ages in the surrounding area.