Naslov
Mirila - Sacred Place as a Tourist Attraction

Autori
Katić, Mario

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
Pilgrimage and Sacred Places in Central and Eastern Europe: Place, Politics and Religious Tourism

Mjesto i datum
Zadar, Hrvatska, 27.09.2012. - 30.09.2012

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Nije recenziran

Ključne riječi
Mirila; Sacred Place; Tourism; Dark Tourism

Sažetak
Mirila is a custom which was once a segment of the funeral customs in the region of Velebit mountain. Either in a casket or shrouded in cerements, the deceased was placed on the ground, onto a designated area previously used as a resting spot - mirilo, for the first and the last time before arriving to the cemetery. The bearers of the body then laid one stone at the head and one at the foot of the deceased. After a short prayer, the procession would head toward the cemetery where the deceased was then buried. Mirila once had a religious significance associated with the souls of the deceased and the boundary between the living and the dead. Since the 1970s people from that region have migrated to work outside Croatia or along the Adriatic coast. They have built houses and apartments and increasingly started basing their everyday life on the new tourism opportunities (sun and sea). The custom of mirila over time has been completely deserted, and their localities where destroyed by paving of new roads. In early 2000 the Tourist Board of Starigrad in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture protected some sites of mirila, cleaned them and presented to tourist. There was a need for an expansion of the tourist offer on cultural heritage and mirila were a good example. Since then, considerable effort has been made by the Tourist Board of Starigrad to make mirila recognizable tourist attractions, which led to a 2011 award for "most original tourist attractions" in Zadar County. During last few years scientists have become also interested in mirila. One scientific project has already resulted in a monograph, and there are two scientific projects in progress. Scientific results and publications are also being used for touristic purposes by adding their theories to constantly constructing stories about mirila. In my presentation, I intend to problematize the role of tourism in the "conservation" and/or commercialization of sacred places in example of mirila. In addition I will try to consider the possibility of approaching this touristic use of mirila as a concept of dark tourism or thanatourism.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Etnologija i antropologija

POVEZANOST RADA