Italia-Croatia

30/09/2026

Discovering the shared history of Italy and Croatia now starts online. DIOMEDE is the digital platform that brings together the cultural and archaeological landscapes of the Adriatic, from the lagoons and deltas of Italy to the islands and coastal towns of Croatia. It does this through interactive maps, thematic itineraries and storytelling tools.

The platform was created within the Interreg Italy–Croatia project VALUE and is being expanded through VALUE Plus. New communities and territories are joining the network, and the platform is being improved to make it more accessible and easier to use. At the same time, the partners are building a shared cross-border strategy. Together, the two projects are creating a living atlas of Adriatic heritage that belongs to everyone.

Five districts, one map

At the heart of DIOMEDE is an interactive map of the five VALUE Plus cultural districts:

• Po Delta (Italy)
• Patù (Italy)
• Cres (Croatia)
• Medulin (Croatia)
• Dubrovnik (Croatia)

Users can explore each district on its own or move across the whole Adriatic. Along the way they discover archaeological sites, museums, monuments and landscapes.

Thematic routes across the centuries

The platform links places that are far apart but share the same story, through cross-border thematic routes:

• Roman presence in the Upper Adriatic: from the villas and mosaics of Vižula and Pomer in Medulin to the Roman centuriation of Bassa Romagna, the ancient port of Adria and the Fossa Augusta between Ravenna and Comacchio;
• Water landscapes: the great land reclamation of the Po Delta, from pumping stations and canals to the eel tradition of Comacchio and the Land Reclamation Museum at Ca’ Vendramin;
• Middle Ages and centres of spirituality: frescoed parish churches in Bassa Romagna, the sacred places of Medulin, the last stretch of the pilgrims’ route to Santa Maria di Leuca, and the Po di Primaro near Ferrara;
• Byzantines and mosaics and contemporary mosaic: from the UNESCO monuments of Ravenna to street art, artisan workshops and the Park of History in Banjole;
• The Renaissance and the influence of Venice: Dubrovnik’s Renaissance aqueduct and Onofrio’s Fountain, and the Venetian heritage of Cres and Osor;
• Rural landscapes: the Messapian, Roman and medieval hill of Vereto in Patù, among olive groves and dry-stone walls;
• Ancient trading posts and routes: from Classe to the Comacchio Valleys, and along the ancient course of the Po di Spina to the Etruscan site of Spina and San Basilio;
• Islands and nature trails: slow routes across Lošinj and the smaller islands of the archipelago, from Mount Televrin to Susak.

Travel packages designed by students

DIOMEDE also hosts four cross-border travel packages created by 36 Italian and Croatian students from Ravenna, Cres and Mali Lošinj during the VALUE Plus study trips. Working in mixed teams for more than 120 hours, they met local operators and designed itineraries for different travellers:

• “City to Island” for active, outdoor holidays;
• “Two Cities, One Sea” for accessible and inclusive travel;
• “Tutti Frutti” for young people aged 18 to 25;
• “No Stress in Ravenna and Cres” for families.

An open network: bring your territory into the Meta-District

The five districts share a model that brings together public bodies, businesses and communities to promote cultural heritage. The network is now open to new territories in the Adriatic-Ionian area, which can apply to join the Meta-District through the form on the platform’s page.