A walk through the heart of Europe - An international project to valorise Italian-Swiss itineraries by various mobility means through the Ticino, Verbano , Ossola, Cusio, Valsesia and Biellese areas.

The Interreg IT-CH “CoEur, in the heart of the great European itineraries” project was born from the great development of and growing interest for the historical-devotional itineraries experienced in the last few years. The international connection between the Swiss-German Camino de Santiago (the Via Jacobi) and Via Francigena in its Piedmontese track creates a transalpine path of great value and splendour.

This itinerary enables to visit about ten Unesco world heritage destinations, half of which include the upper Piedmontese Sacred Mountains which add up to others such as the archeo-palafitte structures of Viverone and Mercurago and the Bellinzona castles.

The CoEur project provides for recovery interventions and promotion of excursion tracks and surrounding realities along a breathtaking itinerary extending from Viverone (Italy-Province of Biella) to Einsielden (Switzerland-Canton Svitto).
The itinerary valorisation is also enhanced through cultural initiatives (theatrical shows, concerts and animation) and a partnership with the Borsa dei Percorsi Devozionali e Culturali of Oropa. www.borsaoropa.it
The use of new technologies (website, audiovisuals), combined to traditional communication means, will enable to confer greater visibility to the rich artistic and devotional patrimony present along the itinerary which will then become an interesting and new opportunity of eco-sustainable tourism, enjoyable through various means (walking, mountain bike, water ways, etc.)

The origins of CoEur date back to more than ten years ago when a few Mountain Communities (Valle di Mosso, Valsessera, Valsesia and Cusio-Mottarone) identified an historical itinerary connected to the presence on and passage through their territory of Saint Charles Borromeo.
This intuition gave birth to the Way of Saint Charles initially connecting Arona to Viverone (Via Francigena) and then extended to Verbano, Ticino and beyond the Gottardo, to finally reach the Einsiedeln Abbey, the greatest Swiss catholic sanctuary and stopping place of Via Jacobi.
Many other historical paths intertwine with this main “transalpine cultural highway” to offer a full picture of touristic proposals to be enjoyed by various mobility means, from walking to mountain bike, water ways, etc.