Peace Trails & Walks Around the World

Click here for list of cities worldwide rank ordered by number of peace monuments.

Right click image to enlarge.

T R A I L

Date? - Friedensweg / Peace Trail, Kaltern, South Tryol (Italy). Leads from Kaltern to the Church of St. Vigil or Vigilius in Altenburg and the ruins of St. Peter. There are seven art objects designed by different artists from the Alps along the way, including the four cardinal virtues (moderation, wisdom, justice and courage) and the Triassic biblical (faith, hope and love)... The sixth station "courage" is a beautiful table at the entrance to the Rastenbachklamm, on narrow wooden bridges is the gorge and along a steep iron level down. The last station of "love" is formed by the ruins of St. Peter... The term "Friedensweg" in northern Italy has yet another meaning. It is a long mountain trail in the South Tyrolean and Italian Dolomites. It runs along the so-called Alpine southern front of the First World War length of 500km.

P A T H

1986? - Beachy Head Peace Path, West Sussex (England). Commemorates the UN International Year of Peace (1986). "A 750 metre circular route starting opposite the main Beachy Head car park and leading to a viewpoint on the Head. One of several trails in the South Downs suitable for people with impaired mobility, wheelchairs, mobility scooters and push chairs." One of 13 sites on the MAW Peace Map of the British Isles as of January 2009.

W A L K

1996 - Nobel Peace Walk, Wagga Wagga (Australia). "Historical and educational project paying tribute to those people who's [sic] life's work was to promote peace. The project's theme is 'peace for all time.' The walk was conceived by master stonemasons J Shephard & Son and commenced in 1996. It was inspired by their involvement with the design and construction of the Rotary Peace Monument [qv]." Click here for monuments to other Peace Prize laureates.

August 2002 - Itinéraire de la paix dans les rues de Genčve / Itinerary for Peace in the Streets of Geneva, Geneva (Switzerland). Three separate routes to 43 peace places, e.g. Palais des Nations, ICRC/CICR headquarters, birthplace of Henry Dunant, the original homes of the High Commission for Refugees and the League of Nations, and the new Swiss-backed Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). The "Itinerary" was created to celebrate the centennial of the Nobel Prize in 2001. Image is a map of Geneva with all 43 peace places marked in three colors. Click here for peace monuments in Geneva.

n/a - Peace Monuments in The Hague (Netherlands). No officially designated trail, but the city contains many peace monuments in a relatively small area, e.g. the Peace Palace (1913).

n/a - Peace Monuments in Washington, DC (USA). No officially designated trail, but the city contains many peace monuments in a relatively small area, e.g. the Naval Peace Monument (1878). Entries #1074-1178 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

n/a - Peace Monuments in New York City, New York (USA). No officially designated trail, but the city contains many peace monuments in a relatively small area (particularly due to the presense of United National headquarters), e.g. the Japanese Peace Bell at the United Nations (1954). Entries #676-760 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001). Click here for UN peace monuments.

1998 - A Peace Trail Through London, London (England). "Discover some of the people and visit [nine] places associated with national and international peacemaking." Leaflet 40p + SAE from 11 Venetia Road, London N4 1EJ. Compiled by Valerie Flessati. Click here for peace monuments in London.

June 27, 2003 - Carter-King Peace Walk, Freedom Park (National Park Service), Atlanta, Georgia (USA). 1.5 mile trail with six outdoor exhibits. Honors two Nobel Peace Prize laureates: Martin Luther King, Jr. [1929-1968] and Jimmy Carter [born 1924]. Links the Carter Center & Library with the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historical Site. Image shows former President Jimmy Carter & Coretta Scott King during the dedication of the Peace Walk. Click here for MLK monuments.

2004 - Coventry Peace Trail, Coventry (England). Guides visitors to more than 30 landmarks beginning at the ruins of Coventry Cathedral and concludes in the scenic Priory Gardens. Described in a 12-page booklet published the city. Image shows logo of Coventry Peace Month 2004.

2005 - Bradford Peace Trail: A Walk Around Bradford, City of Peace, Bradford (England). Created by Bradford: City For Peace and the Bradford Peace Museum. "A total of 29 different locations all with a story to tell." Click here for a 7-minute video of the trail on YouTube.

2005 - Freethought Trail, Council for Secular Humanism, Amherst, New York (USA). "A collection of locations in west-central New York State important to the history of freethought. In the 19th century, [this area] was a hotbed of social, political & religious innovation. Fayetteville suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage [1826-1898] called religion the enemy of women. Writing from Elmira, Mark Twain [1835-1910] raised irreverence to an American art form. At Ithaca, Andrew Dickson White [1832-1918] co-founded Cornell University, the nation's first secular institution of higher learning. In 1848 reformers & freethinkers thronged Seneca Falls to demand new roles for women. Corning native Margaret Sanger [1879-1966] led the birth control movement. The birthplace museum of orator, political speechmaker & outspoken agnostic Robert G. Ingersoll [1833-1899] is in Dresden." The trail was wholly redesigned and expanded in 2009.

Date? - Bristol Slavery Trail, Bristol (England). "This is a town trail with a difference. It aims to show you what the handsome squares and quaint buildings of a pleasant English city have to do with one of the ugliest and most destructive events in human history... the Transatlantic slave trade." Route available from Museum Shop, City Museum & Art Gallery, Queen's Road, Bristol. Click here for other slavery monuments.

2006? - Annual Peace Garden Tour, Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA). Sponsored by Omni Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology (OMNI). Click here for set of photos from the "OMNI Peace Garden Tour 2007." Click here for a list of privately owned peace gardens on the 2008 tour.

Date? - Wellington Peace Walk, Wellington Botanic Garden, Wellington (New Zealand). "Wellington City has planted a number of trees, and installed a range of sculptures and monuments, commemorating peace and peacemakers. The ones in the Botanical Gardens and inner city can be viewed through a [50-minute] leisurely walk."

2008? - Christchurch Peace Walk, Christchurch (New Zealand). Peace walk brochure shown during International Conference of Peace Museums in Kyoto, October 2008. Christchurch has been a Peace City since June 2002.

T R A I L

2008 - Stadswandeling Erasmus in Rotterdam / Erasmus City Trail in Rotterdam, Rotterdam (Netherlands). Describes 24 points of interest related to Desiderius Erasmus [1466-1536]. Created by Stichting Erasmushuis Rotterdam.

October 2008 - Atlanta Peace Trails (APT), Atlanta, Georgia (USA). Developed by Tourism For Peace (TFP) & Partnerships In Peace (PIP). Click here to download the APT booklet. Click here for Atlanta: City of Peace. Click here for peace monuments in Atlanta. Click here for a chronological list of 24 peace monuments in and near Atlanta, Georgia (Word format).

September 21, 2009 - Leeds Peace Trail, Leeds (England). Nineteen peace sites, including Mandela Gardens, Mayors for Peace Monument & Nuclear Test Veterans' Memorial Stone (qv). Presented in a 32-panel old-out brochure (of which one side is the map shown in the image). Supported by Leeds City Council, Together for Peace (T4P), and The Peace Museum (of Bradford, England).

Fall 2010 - Glick Peace Walk, Walnut Street (between Meridian Street & Capitol Avenue), Indianapolis, Indiana (USA). Adjacent to Scottish Rite Cathedral and within sight of American Legion headquarters building. Will have 12-foot illuminated steel-and-glass scuptures honoring Susan B. Anthony, Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt, Jonas Salk, Mark Twain, Booker T. Washington, and the Wright Brothers. From article dated June 26, 2009: "Indianapolis real estate mogul Gene Glick always wanted to build an homage to peace in a city whose icon is the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument." The Peace Walk will be a segment of the 8-mile, $55 million "Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick" which is now under construction and toward which Glick donated $15 million. Visited by EWL 08Aug09.

Future - Vienna Peace Trail, Vienna (Austria). In formation. No information yet available on-line. Will undoubtedly include the Congress of Vienna (1814-15), Bertha von Suttner [1843-1914], Alfred Fried [1864-1921], the UN peace bell (1995), & the inauguration of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) in 2005. Click here for peace monuments in Austria. Information courtesy of Peter van den Dungen.

Future - Peace Trail in "Attersee Region of Peace," Attersee Region (Austria). "Between St. Gilgen & Wolfsegg (Peace Abbey & Peace Museum). With many peace stations -- peace pole, peace labyrinth, peace stone, etc. [and] peace communities surrounding Lake Wolfgangsee (Mayors for Peace), a peace regatta, etc." Information courtesy of Gerard Lössbroek.

Future - Peace Walk, The Hague (Netherlands). From Peter van den Dungen, General Coordinaator, Inernational Network of Museums for Peace (INMP), March 17, 2010: "The city has published several brochures which are relevant and of interest, but nothing which really compares with the guides for Atlanta, Bradford, Leeds. In 1999 (during the large Hague Appeal for Peace conference), I helped organise a peace history symposium, and as part of this conducted a peace history walk in the city. The group was about 25 strong, with many leading US and European peace historians, all dear friends. Of course, the focus was very much on the famous 1899 and 1907 peace conferences. Regrettably, many of the buildings and places included had no plaques or memorials. This also applied to the building which was the first home of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the creation of which was the most significant and lasting outcome of the 1899 conference. The Peace Palace only dates from 1913, and of course needs no plaque... I should draft a proposal for the city, and perhaps submit it on behalf of INMP, suggesting a number of plaques. Then some might be there when the city celebrates the centenary of the Peace Palace in 2013 (or the unveiling of them could be part of the celebrations)." Click here for peace monuments in the Netherlands.

Please email your comments & questions to geovisual at comcast.net. Thank you.

Return to Peace Monuments main page.