Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 94 No. 2, 2024.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.53745/bs.94.2.4
The Phenomenon of the Translation of Sacred Sites the Example of the Replication of the Sanctuary of our Lady of Lourdes in Vepric
Mislav Stjepan Čagalj
orcid.org/0009-0005-6221-4623
; Department of Geography University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia
Branimir Vukosav
orcid.org/0000-0002-9096-1467
; Department of Geography University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia
Denis Radoš
orcid.org/0000-0002-5706-6663
; Department of Geography University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia
Abstract
The geography of religion is a subdiscipline of cultural geography that deals with the social, cultural and environmental interactions between religion and space. In this sense, it studies all the changes that religion as a cultural phenomenon induces as a factor of special transformation. One specific topic in geography of religion is the influence of religion on the shaping the landscape. This framework also includes the emergence, i.e. the creation of sacred sites or sanctuaries as spaces of special significance for a part of society associated with a specific religion or belief. Sanctuaries are often linked to some historical event or narrative about a supernatural phenomenon and are frequent destinations for pilgrims. In Catholicism there is also a phenomenon of the so-called “translation” of the sanctuary, which involves the physical and symbolic replication of the sacred site in another geographical setting. This article deploys an analysis of available literature and sources to investigate the origin and development of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in Vepric, near Makarska, as a typical example of the translation of a sacred site. Modelled after the sanctuary in Lourdes at the beginning of the 20th century through the process of translation of sacred sites, it quickly became the leading Lourdes shrine in Croatia. The landscape reminiscent of Lourdes and a favourable location are the main factors in the popularization of the sanctuary in Vepric and its significance as an important religious destination in southern Croatia.
Keywords
Vepric; Lourdes; Geography of Religions; shrine translation; Massabielle Grotto
Hrčak ID:
320463
URI
Publication date:
3.9.2024.
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