This morning the Mayor of Brindisi, Ing Riccardo Rossi, and the Director of the Phoenicians’ Route, Mr Antonio Barone, inaugurated the new plaque of the Casa del Turista (House of the Tourist). The medieval building, Domus of the Knights of Jerusalem, is home to the History Digital Library, community library and Interpretation Center of the Phoenicians’ Route – Cultural Route of the Council of Europe since 2003.
The Phoenicians, together with other ancient contemporary civilizations, by navigating and trading throughout the Mediterranean contributed to the formation of a common European identity, spreading, for example, the culture of oil, wine, glass processing, metallurgy and the alphabet. “We cannot understand what is happening in the Mediterranean if we do not look back to the past” declared the Director, Mr Antonio Barone.
“Brindisi has always been the crossroads of the most important communication routes, including the Via Appia which ended here. Now we are opening up to the Mediterranean thanks to the Phoenicians’ Route“, added the Mayor.
Within this Center, proposals for slow, sustainable, responsible, experiential, creative and community tourism will be developed, in collaboration with local operators, to make people discover the rich historical, food and wine, landscape, tangible and intangible heritage along the Apulians’ Smart Ways of the Phoenicians’ Route. In this way, Brindisi is presented as a hub, as a starting point for the discovery of an unknown Puglia and outside the traditional routes.
But the Center will also be a place for training activities for young people and professionals on issues related to the Route and new technologies.
Prof. Maria Oliva, School Head of the E. Palumbo High School of Brindisi and the Councilor for Productive Activities Dr. Massimo Vitali also participated in the inauguration.
The collaboration between the History Digital Library and the Phoenicians’ Route integrates and enhances the tourist vocation of the City of Brindisi and the strong drive towards integration and hospitality that has always characterized it.
