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Abandoned Sacred Places: Case Study of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches in Croatia

Through the description of destroyed and abandoned churches in Croatia, this paper aims to contribute to the discussion on the status of minority religious communities in the socialist and post-socialist context. Acts of desecration, devastation, or conversion of sacred places and churches established by minority religious communities were the acts of extreme repression toward religious rights and their cultural heritage. However, from the perspective of believers, the destruction of sacred places also raises the question of facing and coping with political repression, and maintaining the faith and religious lifeworld in the circumstances of discrimination and violence. From the anthropological perspective, we aim to describe the meaning of “spirituality” related to “sacrilege” of the religious secret places. The authors are focused on two Orthodox churches, one, Serbian in the Eastern part of Croatia and, the other, Russian on the Adriatic coast. In the inquiry, the authors use a variety of archival materials from state archives, as well as from private archival collections of minority religious communities. Also, the results of the analysis are based on ethnographic field research, in-depth interviews, and visual analysis of archival photographs. The study provides an analysis of the complex political and historical circumstances that trigger the erosion of the multireligious heritage of marginal communities in the Croatian social landscape.

Sacred Places, Russian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church, Croatia

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