Spiritual Values of Landscape for a Recomposition between Nature and Culture

Abstract

The natural, cultural and spiritual values that local communities assign to holy lands is a fundamental concept to consider in landscape conservation. In sacred sites, people meet and express their spiritual meanings trough their individual experience. Among these holy lands are the sacred natural sites, with habitats and ecosystems which comprise endangered or sacred species. Sacred natural sites support nature conservation, expand human well-being, encompass tangible and intangible values and create that spiritual relationship between people and the web of life. Sacred sites, moreover, embeds natural, cultural and spiritual values that communities put into holy land, which in turn become a sacred landscape. As outlined in this special issue of Alma Tourism, in sacred landscape the connection between nature and culture is explicated by the values that people attribute to a holy area. Natural, cultural and spiritual values of landscape are the main aspects analysed in this research, which starts from the hypothesis that sacred landscapes serve to conserve both natural and cultural heritage. It also analyses and evaluates sacred landscapes under threat, and proposes measures to preserve them. Natural, cultural and spiritual values of sacred landscape are here introduced and discussed though European and global conventions, and are described with several examples in Italy in general, and with a case study in Tuscany in particular.

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