Abstract

The Regional Center for Historical Monument Studies and Documentation in Poznań suggested to mark out and put under protection over 50 national heritage trails in order to complement 23 Cultural Parks which are to be designed and created in Wielkopolska. This suggestion was entered into the Wielkopolska Province program of protection of historical monuments between 2008-2011 which had been approved by the Wielkopolska Province Regional Council on December 17, 2008 and incorporated into the 'Development Plan for Wielkopolska' in 2008. The trails were divided into eight theme sets which reflect a rich cultural heritage of the Wielkopolska Province: 'The birth of a state', 'Multicultural heritage', 'Famous families, people and houses', 'Wielkopolska's ways to freedom', 'Agriculture, craft and technology', 'Historical communications routes', 'Railway stations and trains', 'Water heritage'. All of them vary in their range. They can be divided into: European trails ('Amber trail, ' St. Jacob's trail', St. Wojciech's trail', 'Otto's III trail', 'Roman trail', 'Cistercian monks' trail', 'Napoleon's trail', 'Fryderyk Chopin's trail'), national trails (The Piasts' trail, 'Adam Mickiewicz's trail') and regional trails (such as wooden churches, monasteries, synagogues, chapels and roadside shrines, cemeteries, technological museum pieces and weavers' towns), the range of which is limited to districts. All of these trails partially overlap and complement each other, constituting a varied heritage of the Wielkopolska Province. This paper will concentrate on 'Napoleon's trail' which was marked and mapped out in 2006 on the occasion of the 200 anniversary of Napoleon's arrival to Poznań. The trail comes in two variants. The broader one includes over 200 places and revolves around Napoleon's era in the Wielkopolska Province. The narrower one, which has been discussed in this paper, includes only those places which were visited by Napoleon in person.(original abstract)