Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5757-7708
Abstract
Religious-cultural tourism is a form of alternative tourism associated with trips taken by individual travellers or organised groups to areas, sites or monuments with a strong religious character. Simultaneously, pilgrimage is manifested in these places as the totality of activities carried out by individuals or groups in areas, spaces, sites, and monuments of religious significance, with the predominant motivation being spiritual ascent from earth to heaven, i.e., communication with the Divine, fulfilling vows, or substantial participation in religious ceremonies and events (as part of one’s religion). A significant site with intense visitation and a large number of pilgrims is the Athos peninsula in Greece. Mount Athos, or the ‘Garden of the Virgin Mary,’ is the easternmost of the three parallel peninsulas included in the region of Chalkidiki in Greece. According to the Constitution of Greece, the region is autonomous, representing a global natural and cultural heritage monument and featuring twenty historically significant Holy Monasteries, sacred icons, religious artefacts, and a splendid natural environment.
Quantitative research was conducted between May 14, 2023, and June 30, 2023, with the aim of exploring the spiritual or secular quests of visitors to Mount Athos. A questionnaire was distributed to a targeted audience (specifically students at Schools of Theology in Greece and Cyprus, male students of ecclesiastical academies, and the Patriarchal Higher Ecclesiastical Academy of Crete, who had visited Mount Athos at least once, as well as through religious interest web pages and special interest groups on social media). A total of 1,065 responses were collected. The responses reflect the perceptions of the respondents regarding the characteristics and motivations of their visit to the region, their satisfaction levels, perceptions of experience quality, and their future intentions regarding revisiting the site.
The research indicates that visitors travel to the ‘Garden of the Virgin Mary’ primarily for the satisfaction of spiritual needs and for pilgrimage, showing interest in both the activities of the monks and the treasures of the cultural heritage of Athos, as well as in the activities a visitor can engage in within the natural environment of the region (e.g., hiking, mountaineering, etc.). These findings could be useful to the administration of Mount Athos and the Greek state for the proper management of this sacred place.
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Recommended Citation
Mylonopoulos, Dimitrios; Moira, Polyxeni; and Tselegidis, Kyriakos
(2026)
"Spiritual Wanderings in ‘The Garden of The Virgin Mary’ - Mount Athos,"
International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage:
Vol. 14:
Iss.
3, Article 16.
Available at:
https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ijrtp/vol14/iss3/16