Understanding the Continuous Sustainable Nature of Cultural and Sacred Heritage - The Cultural and Sacred Sites of the Majella National Park in Abruzzo

Abstract

Since time immemorial there have been places that held a special meaning and were perceived to be endowed with special powers or of special spiritual or cultural significance. It is surprising to discover that many cultural and sacred sites have a long history reaching back hundreds of thousands of years (Mallarach & Papayannis, 2010). While some cultural traditions have their source in civilisations that have long since disappeared (Hamilton, 2006), many of their beliefs are still alive and their sacred sites have continued to be used for millennia, like in the Apennine, the old traditional Italian mountain. These sites, a true example of study, provide some understanding of how societies evolve, how the histories of people, their legends, their traditions, their beliefs, their laws, their rituals and religions play out in the evolution of human cultures to bring us to where we stand today: a composite of the past that survived through geographical and cultural diversification (Frascaroli & Verschuuren, 2016).