The objectives of the project are to trace the origins and development of the guidebook genre, with focus on the city of Rome; to define the elements, functions and strategies that shape the identities of the author, the traveller and the place, and to discuss the impact of the guidebooks through history on the modern guidebook of today and its role in cultural meetings and exchange in Europe. These objectives will be attained by studying a wide range of material, not limited to pre-modern and modern guidebooks, but also including antique and medieval material such as geographical maps, pilgrim itineraries, liturgical guides, martyr calendars and inscriptions, and thus provide new knowledge and open a totally new field of study. Methodologically and theoretically, the project will broaden scientific horizons by crossing borders between fields such as literature, art history, philology, cartography and history. By working interdisciplinary, the project will be able to shed light upon the subject from various aspects and questions and benefit from a manifold theory basis, through the study of the guidebook, the traveller and the city of Rome from textual, visual, topographical, cultural and identity-focussed aspects respectively.