Revival of the historical path - ViaRegiaUkraine
en
  • uk
  • pl
  • de

Revival of the historical path

The history of the old Via Regia as a military route according to historical sources begins with the campaigns of the Franks and, interestingly, ends with the campaigns of the French. The last time this route gained European significance was through Napoleon’s troops, when they used it not only during their conquests of Russia and Spain, but also during their retreats.

One and a half thousand years of European history lies between these events, which is closely connected with the Via Regia. With the construction of the railway in 1835, the roads lost their significance. People who walked on the roads were able to overcome sections of the road faster and travel very long distances.

ransporting goods over long distances was no longer as difficult as on poorly adapted roads. In the following period, industrialization contributed to the rapid development of railway lines. Trains have become a suitable vehicle for heavy industry, as well as for the supply of rapidly developing cities.

Although paving roads in some cities began as early as the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, most roads were not fortified, and even before that, the lack of suitable vehicles led to the decline of the road network for decades.

Since the development of cities was constantly changing routes, the Via Regia never had an exact course that would be the same for centuries. Due to the fact that most of the East-West trade took place on this road already in the Middle Ages, each ruler tried, if possible, to drag the way to his territory, as the profits from tolls were high.

Today, the road full of history is a direct section of the European highway E-40 and the new A4 motorway and thus a highway for a sense of individual mobility.

Technically, the road is transformed into a high-tech asphalt road, which cuts through landscapes and populated areas and gives the individual the opportunity to move reliably only with the help of complex technical means. For example, the entire newly built section of the A4 motorway, which is part of the European E-40 route, in the new German lands is a model of engineering achievement in Germany in terms of safety and manufacturability.

Can the autobahn under such conditions unite cultures and peoples as the old way of Via Regia? Can this path mean “life”?

Via Regia, as the path of Boniface, who on behalf of Rome and Karl Martel founded stamps and bishoprics in Hesse and Thuringia and thus created stable state and church structures, or as the future six-lane A4 motorway, has been a “European highway” with important economic, cultural, political and military significance, alive as never before and, at the same time, a strong unifying symbolic force.

Directions of the Route

The long-term goal of the Via Regia network, which in the future will include 48 regions from 8 countries, is, if possible, a broad and detailed depiction of historical, cultural and contemporary objects and events in the Via Regia Corridor. This makes the European common path obvious. This information will have real value to the user only when it is accurate.

If you are interested in detailed information on each region of the Via Regia Corridor in a particular European country, with modern motorways, highways, footpaths and cycle paths and other tourist routes, you can find it on the official website of the Via Regia network coordinator in Europe here