Working knowledge trip to VVV Zuid-Limburg

With the aim of exchanging knowledge and carrying out joint actions, the European Federation of Saint James Way visited the Dutch region of VVV Zuid-Limburg for the first time since joining.

In addition to holding a technical conference to analyze the projects and activities in which the Federation is involved and learn first-hand experiences of good practices in this region, for two days, the delegates of France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland and Lithuania, developed a religious tourism program in southern Limburg and the Euro-region.

Delegates visited the underground Valkenburg, an exponent of the region’s religious past, St. Gerlach Castle with the Church of San Gerlaco as a place of pilgrimage, Rolduc Abbey (the largest abbey complex in Benelux), the historic center of the city from Sittard, the Basilica of Saint Servaas in Maastricht and the Basilica of Meerssen.

The delegation also learned about the religious heritage in Aachen, with the Church of St. Jacobs and the Aachen Cathedral as an exponent. The two-day visit ended with the presentation of a ‘plaque’ to Mayor Jos Hessels of Echt-Susteren in the Basilica of Susteren.

Delegates expressed satisfaction with the way VVV Zuid-Limburg markets its past and religious heritage. VVV Zuid-Limburg considers it their task to put this region on the map as the destination for reflection and pilgrimage in the Netherlands and the Euro-region.