Cultural Routes and Intangible Heritage

The theoretical interpretation of thematic routes helps to predict the effects on the territories visited by cultured tourists who want to enrich their cultural and emotional baggage. After the analysis of some interpretations, this paper will examine how the practical implementation of an itinerary approved by the Council of Europe has evolved over the years. And it will also reflect on the practical results in the areas involved in that project. "The Hannibal Pathway ", the main overland walk on the "Phoenician Route - Cultural Route recognized by the Council of Europe" – represents a case of study that allows to reflect over the impact of cultural tourism based on immaterial heritage. In fact, in the areas where the battle of 21 June 217 BC took place, nothing tangible is left, except the landscape that has kept its conformation intact. In these areas, thanks to the foresight of the local governments in the last three decades, the landscape of the plain has been preserved. This makes possible today to propose an historical path precisely based on the landscape and on the new techniques for the valorization of the heritage. In the Tuoro plain it is possible to see the battlefields, thus retracing the various stages of the battle, supported by the Documentation Centre of the Capra Palace and virtual reconstructions of high technical quality.