Cultural Heritage of East Central Europe. A Historical Outline 1 East of the West

 East of the West
The title of this series expresses a certain degree of ambivalence in defining Central and Eastern Europę. It nas been often regarded as the periphery of the so-called "real" Europę, or even a world in itself. Nevertheless, especially in the minds of the inhabitants of this region, the cultural relationship with the rest of the continent is obvious and unquestionable. Even though currently it is the region economically delayed in comparison to the rich countries of the West and often dominated by the influence of external powers, it isan equal heirto most of the historical heritageof Europę. Differentfrom the West and varied? Certainly. Although it is an integral part of Europę not only geographically, in many respects the East of the West still remains unexplored and fuli of surprises. Hence, it has also become a source of fascination for science. Our subsequent publications, presenting various points of view and (perhaps) discovering new fields of research, will interest both skeptics and all those who simply want to know morę so that they could reach their own point of view on the issue.