Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Book | Chapter

195557

Sacred crossroads

landscape and aesthetics in contemporary Christian pilgrimage

Veronica della Dora

pp. 745-765

Abstract

Different Christian denominations attribute different values and theological meanings to pilgrimage practices and the geographies that surround them. In the Roman Catholic Church, pilgrimage tends to focus on journeys to places associated with the shrines of saints, holy relics, healing and revelation. Reformed Churches, grounded in a theology of direct access, have traditionally rejected pilgrimage practices as corrupt and unnecessary. Nonetheless, over the last 20 years Protestant Christians have increasingly re-engaged with pilgrimage with a strong emphasis on meditation and mobility. Orthodox pilgrimage primarily on the shrine and the physical act of veneration of relics and icons, largely downplaying the role of the journey. In each instance, pilgrims move through and interact with landscape and attribute different values and functions to it. While most literature on pilgrimage has usually focused on the journey to reach the shrine, the concept of landscape has been is largely ignored. We argue that in all the three above-mentioned Christian denominations landscape and aesthetics play out in different ways and to different pilgrims' experiences. This chapter explores the significance of landscape in contemporary Christian pilgrimage through three different case studies: the Cave of Saint Benedict at Subiaco, Italy; the Isle of Man and the Greek Orthodox rock-monasteries of Meteora, in Thessaly. Each study approaches landscape from a different denominational and geographical perspective, destabilizing traditional binaries such as nature and culture, meaning and performance, tourism and pilgrimage.

Publication details

Published in:

D. Brunn Stanley, Brunn Stanley D. (2015) The changing world religion map: sacred places, identities, practices and politics. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 745-765

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-9376-6_37

Full citation:

della Dora Veronica (2015) „Sacred crossroads: landscape and aesthetics in contemporary Christian pilgrimage“, In: S. D. brunn & S. D. Brunn (eds.), The changing world religion map, Dordrecht, Springer, 745–765.