On July 15, 2023, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki (http://www.amth.gr) joined the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe Iter Vitis – Les Chemins de la vigne – (https://www.coe.int/en/web/cultural-routes/the-iter-vitis-route), following the coordinated actions of the General Director of the Museum Dr. Anastasia Gadoulou, of the president of the Route Emanuela Panke and of the Directorate of EU and International Relations of the Ministry of Culture, which is the point of contact for the Cultural Route Program of the Council of Europe.

The culture of winemaking and wine-growing areas are an important part of European and Mediterranean culture. The purpose of the Iter Vitis route is to highlight, utilize and promote the relevant points of interest. The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki will be an important station and will serve the purposes of the route, as its collections include important discoveries from Macedonia, which reflect the importance of the production and consumption of wine as well as the dissemination of the cultural value of wine drinking in the context of banquets during antiquity.

It is enough to mention the famous Derveni Krater, the mosaic floor with a Dionysian scene from a luxurious house in Thessaloniki, Attic sarcophagi with a representation of the harvest, statues and of course a multitude of commemorative vessels and vessels for serving, storing and transporting wine.

The Cultural Routes Program of the Council of Europe was launched in 1987 and aims to promote, preserve, exploit and transfer to the next generations the common European tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Its purpose is to develop intercultural dialogue, the exchange of people and ideas and to contribute, in general, to the understanding of European history and its multiple cultural manifestations. At the same time, it promotes cultural tourism with remarkable economic results.