The European Route of Impressionism will connect cultural heritage and tourism in places which were put on canvas by the landscapes painters of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The National Gallery, which keeps the largest collection of Slovenian Impressionists, has selected Ivana Kobilica, Jurij Šubic, Rihard Jakopič, Matija Jama, Matej Sternen and Ivan Grohar as Slovenia's representatives in the project.

The Slovenian part of the route will take visitors to places and landscapes that either served as motifs for their most acclaimed paintings or are known to have played a significant role in their lives.

The project will also offer web applications and suitable maps for walkers, cyclists and drivers.

Buildings and scenes that are known to have played an important role in the Slovenian Impressionism will be given a special focus.

The route will connect other Slovenian institutions that watch over Slovenian Impressionists' legacy, National Gallery director Barbara Jaki has told the STA.

She has explained that one of the project's aims was also to promote visits to art collections.

The project will enable linking Slovenian Impressionism to that in neighbouring countries.

Once it gets the final green-light from the Council of Europe, which is expected by March or April 2016, the project will have to look for partners to secure funds.

The new route will then join the Cultural Routes programme, which was launched by the Council of Europe and its non-profit Luxembourg-based European Institute for Cultural Routes in 1987 to preserve and promote cultural heritage and advocate cultural dialogue.

As many as 29 routes have already been added to the Institute's web site, with the Santiago de Compostela Route being the first to have been launched in 1987.