Category: 2026
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FORTE CULTURA at UNESCO Heritage Site Hwaseong Fortress, Suwon (KOR)
Korea’s unique fortified heritage is rooted in a tradition stretching back thousands of years and stands as a deeply ingrained symbol of national identity and sovereignty. Hwaseong was built as a fortified town between 1794 and 1796 by King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty. The design was provided by the scholar and engineer Jeong Yak-yong,…
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FORTE CULTURA Malta Symposium 2026: will you contribute?
From 14 to 17 October 2026, the Department of Tourism Management of the University of Malta, in collaboration with FORTE CULTURA, will host the FORTE CULTURA Malta Symposium 2026 – Fortified Heritage for Tourism and Leisure at Fort St. Elmo, Valletta. The Symposium will bring together professionals, researchers, managers, curators, architects, tourism experts and heritage…
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FORTE CULTURA represented at Brutal Assault festival in Josefov (CZ)
Author: Tomáš Jirouch Photos by: Tomáš Jirouch, Tomáš Karlík; https://brutalassault.cz/sk/o-brutalu Every August, Josefov in the Czech Republic transforms into one of Europe’s most remarkable cultural destinations. Tens of thousands of visitors from across Europe and around the world gather inside the eighteenth-century military fortress to attend Brutal Assault, one of the world’s leading festivals dedicated…
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Naarden (NL) – Fortified Ideal City strengthens FORTE CULTURA network
Image: ©Nederlands Vestingmuseum FORTE CULTURA warmly welcomes Stichting Monumentenbezit as a new member of the European fortress heritage network. The Dutch heritage organisation will represent the fortified ideal city of Naarden, one of Europe’s best-preserved star-shaped fortified towns and an outstanding example of the close relationship between military architecture, urban planning and hydraulic engineering. Stichting…
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A Major Step Forward: FORTE CULTURA Submits Its Application to Become a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe
Today, FORTE CULTURA has reached an important milestone. After several months of intensive work by the Board, the Scientific Committee and many members of our network, we have officially forwarded the application documents for certification as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe. This is an important moment for the whole FORTE CULTURA community.…
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Zuiderwaterlinie (NL) strengthens Europe’s fortified heritage within the FORTE CULTURA network
With the new membership of the Alliantie Zuiderwaterlinie, FORTE CULTURA gains a strong partner in Dutch fortified heritage. The Zuiderwaterlinie is known as the oldest, longest and most frequently used waterline in the Netherlands: a unique chain of historic fortified towns, forts, redoubts, dikes and inundation landscapes that defended the country with water for centuries.…
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Discover TripLeap: Interactive Family Adventures for Fortified Heritage
FORTE CULTURA is excited to announce a new partnership with TripLeap, a digital platform dedicated to transforming cultural heritage sites into interactive playgrounds for families. Following our successful collaborations with Reveel and SmartGuide, TripLeap brings a specialized focus on “meaningful gamification” to the European Cultural Route of Fortified Monuments.
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Petrovaradin Fortress (RS): A Forgotten Masterpiece of Habsburg Military Engineering
Today, we have a more history-oriented article of one of the most significant Habsbourg fortresses ever created – Petrovaradin. Author: Nenad Šeguljev, an independent researcher from Novi Sad, Serbia, specializing in the military architecture of the Petrovaradin Fortress. In order to protect Habsburg possessions in the southeast, along the border with the Ottoman Empire, the…
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Discover SmartGuide: A New Digital Partner of FORTE CULTURA
FORTE CULTURA is pleased to welcome SmartGuide as a new digital partner for the European Cultural Route of Fortified Monuments. SmartGuide is a mobile-first platform that helps destinations, museums, tourist attractions and heritage sites turn every visitor’s smartphone into a personal digital guide.
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Fortified Ideal City Fredericia becomes first Member from Denmark
With the Fredericia Museum, FORTE CULTURA has gained a new partner for its cultural route and network. The museum represents the ‘fortified ideal city’ Fredericia in Denmark and strengthens the cluster of ‘ideal cities’, which now comprises six historic urban complexes.
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FORTE CULTURA visibility: an urgent request to all members
FORTE CULTURA is preparing its application for certification as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe. This is an important step for the future of our network and for the European visibility of fortified heritage. At this stage, the active participation of all members is essential. A Cultural Route is not only a central…
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FORTE CULTURA was awarded the EFFORTS Europe Award 2026!
The EFFORTS Congress 2026 in Diest, Belgium, brought together stakeholders, experts, and partner organisations engaged in the preservation and sustainable development of fortified heritage across Europe. The programme focused on ongoing cooperation between sites, exchange of practices, and discussions related to the management and reuse of fortification structures. A particularly significant moment of the congress…
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Sustainable Development Principles in Ukraine Fortifications
Author: Oresta Remeshylo-Rybchynska; This article addressed the theme of sustainability and its growing significance in contemporary spatial, cultural, and architectural discourse.
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From Luxembourg with confidence: FORTE CULTURA moves closer to certification
On 28–29 April, FORTE CULTURA took part in the training seminar for candidate Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe certification at the European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR) in Luxembourg. For us, this meeting was an important step forward. During the different sessions, the requirements of the certification process became even clearer: a Cultural…
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Successfully completed Erasmus+ Spring School “European Fortified Landscapes – Sustainable Reuse” in Pula (HR)
The intensive week-long Erasmus+ Spring School programme, which brought together 45 students and their professors from Technische Universität Graz, Università degli Studi di Cagliari and Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, along with Erasmus students from…
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International Symposium History and Typology of Fortifications, Naarden (NL)
More than 50 participants from 10 countries gathered in the fortified town of Naarden at the initiative of Stichting Monumentenbezit, including representatives from the International Fortress Council, the Fortress Study Group, the German Society for Fortress Research, the New Holland Foundation, EFFORTS and FORTE CULTURA, or the Associacion Vauban. The guest of honour was Hyunuk…
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FORTE CULTURA Congress 2026, La Línea de la Concepción (ES)
The FORTE CULTURA Congress 2026 in La Línea de la Concepción (ES) was a fantastic event. Under the theme ‘From Cádiz to Europe: Fortifications and Sustainable Tourism’, 72 fortification and tourism experts from 17 countries came together. We have had four exciting days, packed with information, personal exchanges and fascinating excursions. We would like to…
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Experience the Ulm Federal Fortress (DE): Guided Tours, Insights & Living History
The Ulm Federal Fortress is one of Europe’s most significant fortification systems, but many visitors only appreciate its scale, history and hidden structures through a guided tour. Each year, Ulm/Neu-Ulm Touristik GmbH and the Förderkreis Bundesfestung Ulm e.V. offer family-friendly tours as well as exclusive visits to rarely accessible outer forts.
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La Línea de la Concepción (ES): A Frontier Shaped by Fortifications
This week, the FORTE CULTURA Conference took place in La Línea de la Concepción, a location closely tied to the fortified landscape surrounding Gibraltar. Before turning to the key outcomes of the conference, lets revisit the local history with its fortifications—sites that offer a step directly into the layered history of this remarkable frontier.
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