Search Results (14)

The article presents selected results of research related to the use of outdoor lighting, mainly street lighting, in the design of facility illumination. The indicated subject matter primarily concerns architectural structures that are located in urbanized city spaces and in the strict centers of old cities. It is in these areas that there is usually a significant saturation of historic secular and sacred buildings with significant tourist values. At the same time, the immediate surroundings of the structures are usually wrapped by a dense network of street lighting infrastructure. This illumination can be a major setback in the process of illumination planning. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account the extent of this impact on the planned illumination work, related to the selection, mounting, and direction of illumination equipment. This is related to the distance of the street luminaires from the facade, the height of their installation, the distance of the poles from each other, the power of the street luminaires, and the luminous flux distribution of the luminaires used. The purpose of the work undertaken was to analyze the extent to which outdoor lighting influences the planned illumination of an architectural structure and to explore the possibility of its potential use as a component of illumination. Analytical work was conducted at two levels of detail using advanced graphical computer applications. After general considerations and the derivation of conclusions, an example of illumination of a large sacral building was realized successfully using the element of street lighting as a component of illumination. Full article

This article presents a pilot study investigating the multidimensional diversity of cemeteries as an important element of cultural heritage and green infrastructure within the urban landscape. We studied the state and diversity of nature, perceptions, and activities of visitors. As religion is an important aspect that differentiates cemeteries from each other, we studied a sample of four multi-confessional urban cemeteries in Łódź (Poland) and Leipzig (Germany) by using site observation and a questionnaire survey. We found that cemeteries are far undervalued as public green resources that can perform important functions in sociocultural life and the mental well-being of the general public, as the perceptions of silence- and contemplation-seeking visitors tell us. The perception of cemeteries depends on the level of secularization, varying from a sacrum sphere up to specific recreational and touristic opportunities; findings that should be considered by town planners when optimizing the cultural ecosystem services of green spaces. Full article

During fieldwork in Ladakh in July–August 2018, three authors from Asian studies, anthropology, and religious studies backgrounds researched “multiple Buddhisms” in Ladakh, India. Two case studies are presented: a Buddhist monastery festival by the Drikung Kagyü Tibetan Buddhist sect, and a Theravada monastic complex, called Mahabodhi International Meditation Center (MIMC). Through the transnational contexts of both of these case studies, we argue that Buddhist leaders adapt their teachings to appeal to specific audiences with the underlying goal of preserving the tradition. The Buddhist monastery festival engages with both the scientific and the magical or mystical elements of Buddhism for two very different European audiences. At MIMC, a secular spirituality mixes with Buddhism for international tourists on a meditation retreat. Finally, at MIMC, Thai Buddhist monks learn how to fight the decline of Buddhism through missionizing Theravada Buddhism in this land dominated by Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Paying attention to this multiplicity—to “multiple Buddhisms”—we argue, makes space for the complicated, ambiguous, and at times contradictory manner in which Buddhism is positioned in regards to secularism and secularity. Full article

My article explores how Catholicism interacts with various forces and players in the local and political arena since it migrated into Bailu, China. My argument is based on extensive fieldwork done at two seminaries and one church there. I have shown that: (1) Catholicism encountered different secular forces and survived through effective interaction with them, (2) a market-oriented economy led to the commercialization of once-authentic religious sites for tourism and economic development, and (3) the secularization of Catholicism results in a unique paradox: Catholicism’s public influence on tourism and economic development has been increasing, while its activities and church attendance have not followed synchronously. This paradox manifests itself in two facts: though the town has benefited from Catholicism’s presence, measured by religious symbols and in numbers have been gradually reduced and even removed; and though its French influence makes this town a tourist destination, the prevailing Chinese culture has not been undermined but reinforced. Full article

The following study is the first Swedish study on Halal tourism in Sweden. The purpose of this exploratory research is to get insight into the perception of Halal tourism in Sweden among representatives of tourism stakeholders. The overall methodology approach in this research is qualitative, consisting of 25 qualitative questionnaires, 21 short letters, four follow-up interviews, and a web observation, and content analysis was employed. The results indicate that there is a low knowledge of Halal tourism in Sweden including Swedish tourism industry. The concept is very challenging, and profits are low. It might result in problem scenarios such as detrimental effects on non-Halal tourism, cultural difficulties and increased risk of xenophobia, anti-Islamism, and tension in the society. There is low interest for Sweden among Muslim tourists as the interest and priority for Halal tourism is rather low from Swedish tourism industry. Despite Halal tourism’s importance internationally, these representatives are rather cautious and doubtful about promotion of Sweden towards this niche. Still, a majority seems to be positive to a lighter version of Muslim-friendly tourism with secular/moderate Muslims as a target group. Full article

The Clementine Gnomon was built in 1700–1702 by the astronomer Francesco Bianchini, upon the will of Pope Clement XI. This meridian line is located in the Basilica of santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome, and it is visited by thousands of students and tourists per year. This 45-m meridian line was designed to measure the secular variation of the obliquity of the ecliptic ε and to verify the tropical years’ length used in the Gregorian Calendar. With a pencil and a meter, a synchronized watch and a videocamera, we can obtain an accuracy of up to one arcsecond in the position of the solar center. The observations from 21 November 2020 to 19 January 2021 are analyzed to recover the solstice’s instant in Capricorn, the ingresses into Sagittarius and Aquarius, and the corresponding observational uncertainties. Astrometric corrections to the total length of the meridian line and to the pinhole’s height are found. The 5′11″ Eastward deviation of the meridian line between the two solstices, found by comparing our observations and the ephemerides, and the aberration of Sirius’ light explain the timing of the solstices and equinoxes calculated by Bianchini for 1703. The aberration in declination of Sirius explains the variations of its meridian position observed in 1702-3. Full article

Customer classification is an integral part of marketing planning activities. Researchers have struggled to classify “pilgrims” and “tourists” because these groups overlap to a large extent in terms of their identities while participating in religious activities/sightseeing. To achieve sustainable tourism development for the region with rich religious and cultural characteristics, the present article outlines a process for analyzing the motivation of participants attending religious festival of Mazu in Taiwan and then classifies religious festival participants according to their motivations. Using cluster sampling, a total of 280 responses were obtained and analyzed. The results revealed four different motivation categories: Fun traveler, devout believer, cultural enthusiast, and religious pragmatist. The study concludes that while festivalgoers are influenced by secularization to some extent, the original doctrine of the religion epitomized in the festivals fundamentally retains the essence and spirit of its religious rituals. The findings may have a significant value for the development of religious tourism marketing as it offers a foundation for future research seeking to develop regional cultural and religious sightseeing attractions sustainably. Full article

The Way of St. James in Spain is the main European pilgrimage route. Currently, it is a cultural, tourist, monumental, spiritual, and sports route. For this reason, the paper aims to discuss the concept of the “Polysemy of The Way”, by analysing how the new pilgrims’ motivations are creating an inclusive and complex space, which is making a shift from religious space to a multifaceted tourism reality. We study the characterisation and interaction of the new actors involved in its development, maintenance and promotion. As a result, its original “space of faith” is now a “live heritage space”, thanks to the rehabilitation of routes, monuments, and landscapes. The combination of these motivational and spatial transformations enhances the factors of post-secular pilgrimage, such as slow mobility, the liminality and the sense of community, which the same actors assume as priorities for territorial management. Full article

The cultural and spiritual repository of religion is an indispensable resource for shaping public and cultural life in a post-secular era. Although the floods of culturally intrigued ‘pilgrims’ and spiritually ‘captivated’ tourists have marked religious sites on nationwide cultural maps, religious sites have yet to achieve a holistic interpretative experience which will reveal the deeper meanings of ecclesiastical art. The absence of ‘holistic interpretations’ from European Christian churches, addressing the tangible and intangible (faith) aspect of Christian tradition, run the risk of undermining both the cognitive and emotive aspects of visitors. Following a thematic analysis on interpretations found at Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches in Europe, this article investigates how religious sites adapt different interpretational strategies to communicate their stories. The findings are discussed with reference to heritage practices found at religious sites expressed through two coexisting cultural ideologies: the prominent postmodern cultural paradigm, expressed through New Museology, and the religious cultural paradigm, expressing religious tradition and vision. The research concludes that the more content a denomination appears to be over the postmodern cultural paradigm of New Museology, the more likely it is to experiment with postmodern interpretative strategies. In this context, the article raises the question of whether museum theory is applicable to religious settings. The bottom line is that stakeholders’ ontological presuppositions are the catalyst of how religious history, tradition, and faith, are negotiated and presented in religious settings. Full article

The Slovak Republic is a country of a deeply rooted Catholic religion and rich cultural, religious and craft tradition. The authors, in their own research, primarily focus on a group of pilgrims, believers, mostly Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic, who are inhabitants of the Slovak Republic (not necessarily the region in which the object of interest is located). The research is based on geographic and sociological selection. The authors define the research object as cultural and historical secular monuments—museums, castles, chateaux, and the like—located in the centre attractive for this group of tourists, that is to say, in places connected with pilgrimage sites, cathedrals, historically important objects from the point of view of religious belief in individual regions of the Slovak Republic. The aim of the authors is to provide the management of these objects with valuable recommendations reasonably justified by the result of their research, in the context of attracting the target group to visit a selected cultural object not directly related to the tourist activity of the target group, but located in the region of which the target group expresses a strong interest, solely for reasons of religious belief and pilgrimage. The primary research phase target of the authors was to solve the problem of the existence of a specific spectrum of common dominant motivation factors of pilgrimage tourist participation as a target group of exploration of activities and an offer of secular objects in the region (see Materials and Methods, H1). We analysed the results of our research through the SPSS program. We used the factor analysis method to extract the key motivation factors, and we have extracted key factors using principal component analysis and VARIMAX rotation in the right-angle system (rotated solution), clusters, assuming that each corresponds to one of the expected motivation factors. Detailed research conception and methodology as well as the results are described in the article. Full article

Religious destinations today are visited by a large number of tourists, whose travel motives may vary from purely religious to purely secular. Diverse motives and on-site experiences are, in turn, causing a shift in the identity perception of these destinations. However, research is still limited regarding the dynamic relationship between travelers’ motivation and the perceived identity of a religious space. Using a theoretical–thematic analysis, this study analyzes the online written accounts of visitors to Camino de Santiago (a route-based pilgrimage site) to understand (i) the motivational and experiential differences among religious versus non-religious travelers, and (ii) the perceived identity of Camino with respect to Smith’s “pilgrimage–tourism continuum”. Despite the increase in secular motives, the majority of travelers showed some form of spiritual connection with Camino. Concurrent with the contemporary shifts in the idea of “religion”, Camino continues to be a religious place driven by inner goals, albeit in a more personal, interpretive, and “spiritual” way. Full article

Participatory action combined interventionist research approaches can offer possibilities for community-based facilities and institutions attempting to re-engage with their communities and assert their presence. St. Cuthbert’s Church is a heritage-listed property, located on a major landholding, right in the heart of the summer tourist town of Lorne, on Melbourne’s peri-urban ‘sea change’ fringe. Its sloping hillside vantage offers spectacular views to the beach and Bass Strait, beyond. The congregation, however, is aging, while the broader community is increasingly secular. In response to these circumstances, the Church is looking to assert its relevance with the procurement of a community centre to be erected on the property. Using an interventionist research approach, with a professional facilitator in ‘participatory action design’, it was found that while both residents and visitors to Lorne were favourably disposed to the idea of a community centre, it was also clear that the locus of power that needed to realise this objective lay outside the congregation’s control. A conclusion of this research is that community-based organisations may have to pro-actively engage in professional marketing and prepare business plans, as well as engage in substantial political lobbying both within and external to the Church, if the project is to progress and succeed. Full article

Antwerp, the fictional home of Nello & Patrasche from A Dog of Flanders (1872) written by Marie Louise de la Ramée, attracts thousands of tourists every year to see the city and get close to the fictional text. European children’s literature such as this inspires dedicated fans who long to make more real the imagined spaces described by authors. The city and associated monuments and markers become sites of secular pilgrimage; people traveling to them experience children’s literary culture as localheritage. Traveling across borders, visiting these European spaces of children’s literature, taking official and unofficial tours, and listening to the stories which people share while physically present help to secure a place in which international fans can play with notions of local identity and culturalheritage. Or, as Yi-Fu Tuan argues, “When space feels thoroughly familiar to us, it has become place.” This case study seeks to interrogate the importance of place in the transcultural fan community of A Dog of Flanders. I analyse the touristic pilgrimage to Antwerp and the social/communal rituals associated with what John Urry calls the “mediatised gaze” as fans inhabit spaces typically reserved for city locals. This paper also considers the importance of place in the transcultural fan community of European children’s literature, discussing how glocalization allows texts to travel across international borders and encourage transcultural appropriation. Full article

“Awesome” is one of the most highly desirable experiences for tourists. This study investigates how tourists’ awe emotion is induced when tourists visit sacred mountains and how the awe experience influences their satisfaction. A survey is administrated at a famous sacred mountain in China—Mount Emei. Results reveal that the awe experience is more elicited by the perceived vastness of natural environment for secular tourists, while is more encouraged by the perceived sanctity of religious ambience for pilgrim tourists. Awe experience is a mediator between the sense of perceptual vastness/sanctity and tourists’ satisfaction. The mediation relationships through awe experience are moderated by the visitor types (pilgrims and secular tourists). Findings suggest that destination marketers should apply tourism strategies to encourage tourists’ sense of awe. Full article