The Diversity of Sacred Lands in Europe - IUCN

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Throughout history, the Carpathian region has been a ‘border area’ for the large empires, such as the Ottoman, Habsburg, or Russian/Soviet. Solidarity rather than joining of forces was in the political agenda and strategies of the smaller nations in this ‘border area’; moreover, the great powers sustained hostility among these nations. The state borders changed many times, and in some areas even the ethnic composition of the population changed substantially. For all these reasons, the border areas remained deliberately underdeveloped and were not industrialised; during the communist era even the collectivisation was not carried out in some mountainous areas, so the direct impact of modernity, with all its implications, is quite low, even today. Ancient sacred natural sites Lepenski Vir, situated in the Carpathian Mountains near Danube in Djerdap National Park, Serbia, is considered the oldest urban settlement in Europe. It was a permanent settlement established at a time when elsewhere in Europe only temporary shelters of nomadic hunters were in use. Lepenski Vir was a Mesolithic site of significant religious importance. The fishlike humanoid figural sculptures discovered are related to primeval religion, and represent one of the oldest stone sculptures in Europe. The remains of numerous sacral buildings dating from 6500 BC to 5500 BC have been found. Artefacts covered with pictograms dated around 5000 BC, constitute another reason to rank Lepenski Vir as one of the most outstanding spiritual sites in the European and world prehistory. Around 1000 BC, the Geto-Dacian civilisation had spread through the entire Carpathian Mountains region. The main deity of the Geto-Dacians was Zamolxe, its name deriving from the words ‘zelmo’ that means skin and ‘olxis’ that means bear. According to mythology, after his birth he was blanketed in a bearskin and spent long parts of his life living in an underground cave, appearing and teaching people occasionally. This is why each ancient sacred place in the Carpathians is associated with caves or tunnels. The centre of this civilisation, located now in Grădiştea Muncelului Cioclovina Nature Park, Romania, is a colossal complex of hundreds of temples, sanctuaries and fortresses spread over an area of around 3000 square kilometres. All the mountains around this complex are terraced and walled. The Dacian buildings and complexes are positioned following precise geometrical patterns, occult symbols, and maps of the sky. The greatest achievement and mystery of this ancient civilisation is the capital, Sarmisegetuza, called also the ‘City Calendar’. ‘Sanctuarul Mare Rotund’ (Big Round Sanctuary) has an identical structure with Stonehenge, whereas another sanctuary, called ‘Soarele de Andezit’ (The Andesito Sun), resembles strongly the famous Maya calendar. (Daicoviciu, 1991). The Romanian Carpathians are famous for their cultic anthropomorphic rocks, the most famous being the ‘Sphynx’ 219
(which has the same height as the Egyptian one), the ‘Babele’ (The Old Women) in Bucegi Nature Park, and ‘The Twelve Apostles’ in Călimani National Park. For ancient Romanians, the sky, ‘cerul’ in Romanian, was called ’Caelus Manus’, ‘Kerus Manus’, or ‘Duonus Cerus’ that means the Lord Sky. The actual name of some Romanian mountains such as ‘Căli-man’ and ‘Carai-man’ represent not only the mountain, but also Divinity (Geticus, 2003). In Romania, there are three Caraiman Mountains and four Calimani Mountains, all of them considered sacred. The Bucegi Mountain, located in the Bucegi Nature Park, Romania, is believed to be one of the possible locations of the Dacian holy mountain Kogainon, in which Zalmoxe resided in a cave. In that mountain, there are some amazing and mysterious places like the Omu Peak, known as ‘Zamolxe throne’, which includes the name ‘om’ that is also the sacred syllable of Hinduism and Buddhism as well as the Caraiman Peak and a vast system of caves, some of them not yet explored. The top of Caraiman, due to its numerous anthropomorphic rocks positioned in a specific way, is considered to be an immense stellar temple, compared with Glastonbury (Geticus, 2003). The Bucegi Mountain is considered to be an intersection of Earth energy lines, an area of very strange magnetic abnormality. It has been discovered that a specific site near the Ialomicioara Cave had positive effects on human bodies, resetting physical and chemical bodily functions to normal state and restoring energy levels. In the popular Romanian tradition this site is called the ‘Gura de Rai’ (the Mouth of Heaven), and is considered to be sacred, a gate between different worlds, a road to Heaven. Because of the combination of these unique features and its natural beauties, Bucegi Nature Park is currently the most visited park in Romania, receiving around one million visitors per year. Mosul, Calimani National Park, Romania. The Romanian word Mosul means the Old Man, but it is also a popular name for the Divinity. 220
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The Diversity of Sacred Lands in Eu
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The designation of geographical ent
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table of contents 7 All creation gr
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All creation groans and sighs... Hu
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The borders of science In two areas
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ment. Their intention is the same a
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Introduction to the proceedings of
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have preceded the establishment of
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unique position in Northern Lapland
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Greece, the only monastic republic
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References Aikio, A. (2000). The ge
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Greetings from the Saami Parliament
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Lake Inari. Some of them are planne
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Words of welcome Tarmo Jomppanen Th
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threatened. It is extremely importa
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The concept of indigenous religions
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Kola Sámi oral tradition it is nat
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tic religion today; it is thought t
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References Bäckman, L. (1975), Sá
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Archaeology of sieidi stones. Excav
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fell tops, rock formations, islands
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to know more about the way their an
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jects, cigarettes, alcohol, candles
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place have been considered importan
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Manker, E. (1957), Lapparnas heliga
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Conserving sacred natural sites in
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abies), but they can also be from o
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Sacred natural sites and customs In
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were carried out. It was concluded
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The sacred grove (hiis) of Tammealu
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cial conservation area (IUCN Catego
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Glossary Looduslik pühapaik - a SN
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The location of the Mikytai Site in
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The Mikytai Alka Hill in the landsc
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The topography of sacred places in
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the mid-seventeenth to the first ha
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Zilais kalns - Blue Hill in Latvia
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gators in many publications have be
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It is worth to mention that the ric
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Cukurs, R. (1936). Valmiera - Burtn
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Alevi-Bektashi communities in south
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Additionally, the central concept o
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tine state. By the eighteenth centu
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The most venerated natural elements
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people) (Kressing, 2002) and Bektas
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Balkans and Asia Minor. Most of the
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Mélikoff, I. (1998), Bektashi/Kizi
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Part Three: Managing lands of mains
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The cultural and spiritual sites of
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has been dedicated and since time i
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December 1991. It was founded in 19
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ison, elephants, rhinoceroses, lion
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These places often became places of
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1200 BC to AD Iron AD to 476 Roman
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As was mentioned above, there is a
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Holy Island of Lindisfarne and the
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es facing Holy Island Lindisfarne.
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somehow helps sanctify a geographic
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ality into early Christian forms ar
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gree of reconstruction of the (redi
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housing the islanders established T
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UNESCO, (2011), Durham Castle and C
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Landscape linkages between cultural
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asin to be connected with other num
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The only remnant of the ancient Ple
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The Quadrilatero Project, threats H
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an ensemble, as they lack connectiv
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servation of the wetland ecosystem
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The wetland. Steps of protection. 1
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Sargolini, M. et al. (2006), Reti E
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Part Four: Managing lands of monast
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Monastic communities and nature con
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or ‘wild’ terrain, the longevit
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natural shelter, such as in caves.
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verse ancient Coptic monasteries in
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Therefore, ‘the actuality of mona
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The Holy Island of Arran, UK. Tibet
Page 170 and 171: Conclusion An analysis of the manag
Page 172 and 173: Mallarach, J.-M. (2005), The Way of
Page 174 and 175: Acknowledgements I am deeply indebt
Page 176 and 177: Managing the heritage of Mt Athos T
Page 178 and 179: miskis, the area has been dedicated
Page 180 and 181: the Athos authorities who have atte
Page 182 and 183: 1992), and to promote the certifica
Page 184 and 185: the necessary arrangements for moni
Page 186 and 187: tive - and decisive - involvement o
Page 188 and 189: Παπαγιάννης, Θ. και
Page 190 and 191: Special Nature Reserve Milesevka an
Page 192 and 193: Serbs. From the eleventh century to
Page 194 and 195: monastery. The Venetian diplomat Ra
Page 196 and 197: Muslim populations of the region, w
Page 198 and 199: community. Thanks to the enormous e
Page 200 and 201: different needs of the stakeholders
Page 202 and 203: References Cmiljanovic, M. (2009),
Page 204 and 205: Part Five: Europe: a wealth of sacr
Page 206 and 207: Diversity of sacred lands and meani
Page 208 and 209: A rock painting portraying an elk f
Page 210 and 211: the protected areas of Finland. In
Page 212 and 213: management and conservation of the
Page 214 and 215: culture is a part of the duties of
Page 216 and 217: References Anonymous (2010a), The v
Page 218 and 219: The Carpathian Mountains, a realm o
Page 222 and 223: In Ceahlău National Park, Romania,
Page 224 and 225: Christian sacred natural sites Nowa
Page 226 and 227: grims; Wadowice, the birthplace of
Page 228 and 229: The Dacian King Decebalus, Porţile
Page 230 and 231: References Borsa, M., Chifelea, C.,
Page 232 and 233: The ‘sacredness’ of natural sit
Page 234 and 235: experience as part of the healing o
Page 236 and 237: Fox’s experience wears very diffe
Page 238 and 239: The word, sacred, has an etymology
Page 240 and 241: St Clement’s Church and Mt Roinea
Page 242 and 243: point of human ecology. From here a
Page 244 and 245: Posey, D. A. (ed.) (1999), Cultural
Page 246 and 247: Synergies between spiritual and nat
Page 248 and 249: A map of the Barents Euro-Arctic Re
Page 250 and 251: is associated with an area filled w
Page 252 and 253: tected area was included in the UN-
Page 254 and 255: Finland. The pictures on the rock w
Page 256 and 257: Concluding remarks Sometimes common
Page 258 and 259: Федотов Г.П. Будет л
Page 260 and 261: Part Six: Other related issues 259
Page 262 and 263: On the other hand, the UNESCO-IUCN
Page 264 and 265: the world (Eliade, 1959), there are
Page 266 and 267: to assess the applicability of the
Page 268 and 269: plicable as they are, eight would r
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References Burckhardt, T. (1958). P
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Inputs and comments from the worksh
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equally effective tool as interpret
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Conclusions Results The Delos3 Work
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growing, even within legally declar
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ny, beauty and the interconnectedne
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the world, make to the conservation
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2.7. Friday 09.00-10.30 Session 4:
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Appendices Appendix I: Workshop par
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Pirjo Seurujärvi Park Superintende
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P. 102 Ggia: el.wikipedia.org/wiki/
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The ecological footprint of the Del
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International Union for Conservatio
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