THE SPIRITUAL RETREAT CENTERS – INNOVATIVE APPROACH IN THE FIELD OF RELIGIOUS TOURISM: ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN PLANNING ASPECTS

The article contributes to the phenomenon of religious tourism which has gained an increasing popularity throughout the world and caused the emergence of a new type of religious institution ‒ the spiritual retreat centre, which, being a valuable multifunctional social structure, needs deep investigation and further recommendations on the choice of the territory for its location in the planning structure of cities and in the general network of such institutions. The article sheds light on the typology and the basic urban planning principles of their formation in the case of Western Ukraine, as the territory of largest spread of the Greek Catholic Church.