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THE PILGRIM’S SATCHEL: EVOKING THROUGH MEMORIES The substitute pilgrimage to holy places in the ancient world and in the important living religions

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2nd-6th october 2007

The custom of going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Places is common to all the major religions, although each presents unique features and characteristics.
The origins of this important religious and social phenomenon lie in the search for a more intense and more direct contact with the divine or the sacred, which the believer wishes to experience for a wide variety of reasons: a pilgrimage may be undertaken for a spiritual purpose, or even to fulfil a duty or keep a vow, to obtain material benefit, whether freely without any precise constraints on timing, or on special occasions: in the latter case, pilgrimage sometimes leads to the mass movement of persons, not only with major social repercussions, but also assuming political and economic importance.
The goal of the pilgrimage is usually a place where, by tradition, a special manifestation of the divine had taken place, with or without a temple or a sanctuary, or a series of sacred buildings capable of preserving and transmitting the memory of that holy event. In some cultures, pilgrims wear special clothing and comply with precise rules governing diet and behaviour throughout the pilgrimage, whereas in others the custom tends to resemble a sort of tourism with religious undertones.
Owing to these possible convergences, and - above all - the evident differences, it is worthwhile making a comparison, purely the purpose of dialogue, between cultural and religious sites that are far apart both geographically and historically: it is important to use a diachronic perspective because it allows us to trace the origins of this custom in the world’s most ancient civilisations.
Set in a geographical area and a cultural context that numbers several important sites for Catholic pilgrims, and in the light of the experience acquired at the previous conference on the theme of “Religions and Sacred Mountains” (2004), the Conference aims to offer another opportunity to reflect on the values and assets - starting from the experience of the Sacred Mountains recently recognised as World Heritage sites by Unesco - that communities of every religious faith and political conviction are bound to preserve and protect.
In particular, the conference intends to highlight two different aspects of pilgrimage. 
• The first concerns the way of travelling, since historically the pilgrim is a someone who pays careful attention to the complexities of the world with which he comes into contact; pilgrims wish to  discover more about their destination than just the surface and immersed themselves in the religious dimension, but also in the landscape, the landscape, the society and culture of the place they are visiting. This is why pilgrims represent a model to imitate and, as such, an essential component of any process that aims to highlight the wealth of values in a particular area.
• Secondly, pilgrims are the harbingers of faith and culture since they aim to preserve the memory of the places visited. Once they return to their home countries, pilgrims make great efforts to reproduce, either wholly or in part, the buildings and setting that they have seen, creating, on the one hand, “substitute” models that evoke and remind visitors of the distant places of worship, and on the other, provide grounds for the development of new expressions of popular piety. 

Amilcare Barbero 
Director of the Documentation Centre for European Sacred Mountains, Calvaries and Devotional Complexes 

Stefano Piano
President of the Interdepartmental and Interfaculty Centre of Religious Sciences at Turin University 

Conference Organizing Secretariat
Piedmont Region - Planning Sector for Protected Areas 

Via Nizza, 18 - 10125 Torino (Italy)
Tel +39 011 4325977 - 5985 Fax +39 011 4324759
bisacciapellegrino2007@regione.piemonte.it - Sito internet: www.sacrimonti.net

For scientific information regarding the Conference’s Programme:
Stefano Piano - President of the Interdepartmental and Interfaculty Centre of Religious Sciences at Turin University
stefano.piano@unito.it
Amilcare Barbero - Director of the Documentation Centre for European Sacred Mountains, Calvaries and Devotional Complexes
c.doc@sacrimonti.net


Sacri Monti Educational

Visita Sacri Monti Educational


Questo portale www.sacrimonti.org è un progetto finanziato a valere sui fondi della Legge 20 febbraio 2006, n. 77
Misure speciali di tutela e fruizione dei siti italiani di interesse culturale, paesaggistico e ambientale inseriti nella lista del patrimonio mondiale posti sotto la tutela dell'UNESCO
This work was carried out with funds made available under Law 77 of 20 February 2006


Progetto Interreg "MAIN10ANCE" ID 473472

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Progetto GAL TERRE DEL SESIA: PSR 2014-20, MISURA 7.6.4

 

 

 

 


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