THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIOUS TOURISM DESTINATIONS BETWEEN SACRED AND PROPHANE: THE CASES OF LOURDES AND SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO

The current historical phase of uncertainty and social, economical and political instability constitutes the scenario for the increasing appeal and demand for religious and spiritual experiences. The constant growth of pilgrimages and religious trips seems to forecast some promising chances for local systems to trace a path out of the crisis, allowing this way several locations to develop or to propose themselves as religious tourism destinations. Nevertheless, as known, the turn-up of tourist loads challenges other aspects which go far beyond the mere economical aspect, stressing the identity of the local community and the geographical framework as well. The perception of Tourism as a panacea free from negative effects is quite outdated: a careful weighting of the possible scenarios for each specific context is necessary. Religious tourism and pilgrimage are generated, led and moved by faith and spiritual needs. Nevertheless, they have secular implications which sometimes may dramatically conflict with the nature of the pilgrim and tourist activity itself, especially for what concerns the physical space. The pilgrim-tourist flow and human load impact directly on the urban space (urban range) and local community (tourism index), influencing, urban development, territorial infrastructures and landscape changes, land use and consumption, logistic matters, business and commerce, political decisions, interaction between stakeholders and so on. Moreover, some ideological dilemmas are entered by religious tourism becoming massive: how to combine the right for the faithful to perform his/her devotion with the local carrying capacity limits? Which kind of ethical and actual conflicts can spark from the interests related to the religious tourism business within the community? What is the relationship between religious power and secular authority in the management of such frameworks? Is the pilgrim-tourist becoming more and more a new, de-differentiated traveler figure? This paper aims at exploring religious tourism destinations through a holistic approach. The different motivations and effects of religious tourism and pilgrimage on communities will be analyzed, using urban planning and territorial management as key to the reading of geographical effects and dynamics. The research will present two study-cases : Lourdes (France) and San Giovanni Rotondo (Italy), two of the major destinations for Christian pilgrimage and religious tourism in Europe. Both locations have in common the origin as humble rural villages and derive their rapid development from mystic events and the devotional rituals which followed, becoming this way destinations for the solely religious travels. The comparison between the study-cases will highlight the different approach held by the two communities, focusing in particular on the territorial strategies of development, techniques and tools adopted for urban planning, environmental policies, role of the architectural interventions in the regulation of rituals and worship, ways of involvement and participation of the local community and stakeholders, relationship between religious and secular institutions in the territorial and economical management. The reconstruction of such frameworks aims at contributing to the current debate around the sustainable religious tourism by drawing possible perspectives, practices and challenges for the virtuous management of devotional places as religious tourism destinations.