ECSO starts collaboration with ERHG

The official accession was made during the General Assembly in Lloret de Mar, Spain.  On that day, the ERHG celebrated the European Cultural Route certification of the Council of Europe. The ceremony was attended by the Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes, Stefano Dominioni, Members of the European Route of Historic Gardens Board – Jaume Dulsat i Rodríguez (President) and Łukasz Przybylak (Vice-president), Sergio Ortega Muñoz – Director of the Department of Heritage Protection and European Programs at the Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Kingdom of Spain and members of the European Route of Historic Gardens from all over the continent. The main point of the program was the official certification ceremony organized in the Saint Clotilde Gardens in Lloret de Mar – the founding site of the European Route of Historic Gardens.

Speech by Łukasz Przybylak, Vice-president of the European Route of Historic Gardens:

Dear distinguished guests, dear friends and colleagues,

It is a great honour for me to stand here today before you and say these few words. The enchanting garden that surrounds us is the quintessence of dreams that have beenrealised and a monument to the creative perseverance that accompanies them. It is more than a hundred years since Raül Roviralta i Astoul made his dream of a private paradise a reality here and also contributed to the birth of one of the leading Catalan architects and landscapers of the early 20th century, Nicolau María Rubió i Tudurí. Although Marquis Roviralt’s visionary work stemmed from an inner desire for a unlimited contact with nature, it was nevertheless firmly rooted in the timeless patterns of European garden art which have united all the countries of the old continent for centuries.

It was also here, nearly a century later in 2016, that the vision and dream of the Mayor of Lloret de Mar, Jaume Dulsat i Rodríguez and his colleagues to create a European Network of Historic Gardens was crystallised. It is five years since we first met here to celebrate the realisation of the dream of a “visionary Mayor”. Determination, professionalism and teamwork have, in a remarkably short time, resulted in the greatest distinction we could have received. And today, in spite of the many difficult circumstances of the modern world, we are gathered here in the presence of the Director of the European Cultural Routes Institute to celebrate the certification of the European Route of Historic Gardens.

The presence of all of us here representing different regions, countries and professional specialisations is not only the fulfilment of the dream of the creator of this garden and the originator of the European Route of Historic Gardens. It is a living proof of how garden heritage is a fantastic platform for cultural diplomacy and international cooperation. As members of ERHG we are ambassadors of European integrity and cultural equality, of which all historic gardens created on the old continent are timeless monuments. It is also a correct time and place place to mention that any form of placing one culture above other leads at the end to nothing else than the exclusion and solitude.

When defending our candidacy in 2020, I said ‘historic gardens are an emerald mirror that refelcts the European common cultural identity of all of us’. I firmly believe that in carrying out the strategic tasks of the ERHG we will be able to look at our reflections in these emerald mirrors in an atmosphere of cultural fraternity, discovering and consolidating the timeless and borderless links that connect us all.

Thank you very much!