EVENTS
REPORTS
St Mark’s Basilica roof
drawn by the architectural splendour of the city and its many
famous churches such as the Byzantine masterpiece of St Mark’s
Basilica. It should be said that many consider this number
unsustainable and are calling for a cap to be put in place to protect
the heritage and infrastructure. Don Gianmatteo Caputo, Director
of the Pastoral Tourism and Cultural Heritage for the Patriarchate of
Venice and Director of Museo Diocesano d’Arte Sacra, discussed
how they are managing this tourism. Of primary concern is that the
churches remain first and foremost sacred places and do not
become simply museums. They have introduced a variety of
measures to ensure the atmosphere of the churches is not
compromised, whilst at the same time enabling as many people as
possible to enjoy their surroundings. In order to meet the
maintenance costs they introduced the ‘Chorus Pass’ which, for €10,
grants access to 16 churches across the city for a whole year,
representing a substantial saving on the €3 individual charge.
Although some may be nervous about charging admission to
churches, there are no charges during service times. The money is
distributed amongst the churches and makes a significant
contribution to their upkeep.
Whilst we may not be faced with the same issues of mass tourism
in Scotland, faith tourism still has its part to play and is by no means
limited to grand urban cathedrals. For example, Iona Abbey attracts
40,000 visitors to the small Hebridean island each year alone. In rural
areas other opportunities which are being explored include the
creation of faith trails and pilgrimage routes. The Whithorn Pilgrim’s
Way in the Machars, which has the attraction of being the birthplace
of Christianity in Scotland, has drawn many visitors to the area since
its inception in 1992. There are many other historic routes which
could be reinstated and the Scottish Pilgrim Routes Forum was
established in February last year to promote the development of
new routes.
The enthusiasm of the delegates was apparent and this resulted in
a very positive and productive debate. The ambition is that all of the
groups will continue to work together to share ideas and develop
resource material. There is much to be learned from other European
examples and there is certainly no sense in needlessly duplicating
research and continually reinventing the wheel. Cooperation is
fundamental to the success of the organisation and in the protection
of our heritage, as Odd