Search Results (3)

Focusing on maritime pilgrimages to the Madonna of the Reef in Perast (Montenegro) and the Madonna of Zečevo in Nin (Croatia), the authors explore how tourism—which has become the primary economic driver for local populations—has impacted these centuries-old and deeply religious sites and practices. Local religious and cultural heritage, which has evolved into a tourist attraction, is deeply integrated into the local way of life, particularly within maritime and fishing communities. The shift in the dynamics of everyday life and the evolution of these sites and communities—now framed predominantly within the realm of tourism as the primary economic driver—has resulted in religious practices and pilgrimage sites transforming into tourist attractions. The research is divided into two segments. The initial phase, conducted between 2021 and 2023, involved group interviews using a consistent methodology and research instrument, engaging pertinent stakeholders from the respective local communities. The second segment involves a content analysis of websites promoting maritime pilgrimages and categorising them into two distinct groups: (1) websites of national, regional, and local tourist organisations responsible for promoting tourism in Croatia and Montenegro, and (2) Tripadvisor. The research and analysis indicate that local stakeholders lack the intention to promote and utilise maritime religious pilgrimage as a tourist attraction. While both maritime pilgrimages have undergone transformations and incorporated new elements, these changes are not primarily driven by tourism. Instead, they result from general shifts in everyday life. Full article

In this article, we argue that the different ritual structures of maritime pilgrimages result from the different historical backgrounds of each site. We have focused on two maritime pilgrimage sites in the Adriatic Sea: Nin, in contemporary Croatia (Northern Dalmatia), and Perast, in contemporary Montenegro (Kotor Bay). We compared these two locations and maritime pilgrimage processions because they have similar historical backgrounds (both were under Venice’s significant influence), and comparable boat processions with similar structural elements. We concluded that multilayered customs, consisting of diverse popular traditions, were fused in these pilgrimages through ecclesiastical (para)liturgical processions. Based on material presented in this article, we concluded that the Nin and Perast elites drew on local traditions and developed maritime pilgrimage boat processions in order to draw out their political, religious, social, and economic potentials. Full article

This article is about the Fašinada custom. The Fašinada refers to the transporting of stones by boat from the coast to a small island named Madonna of the Reef in Perast, Montenegro. This custom both commemorates the finding of a miraculous painting of the Madonna on a reef in the sea, and it furthers the island’s construction by piling stones on that reef. I consider issues of both representation and relationality linked to this site. These two aspects constantly intermingle, and one cannot be understood without the other. In the first part of the article, I draw more on a political economy perspective on human intentionality and consider the material results of social relations. I describe and explain the complex background to the Madonna of the Reef pilgrimage, the different practices linked to this island and her saint, the transformations that Perast in general and maritime pilgrimages in particular have undergone over time, and then, I describe the multivocality of the contemporary Perast community. In the second half of this article, I consider relational and dwelling perspectives on the co-option and construction of the Madonna of the Reef, and how nature has affected social relations. In doing so, I consider “nonhuman agency” as one of the main reasons why the custom of the Fašinada has transcended its religious context and become a space for interreligious encounters. Full article