Managing and interpreting living religious heritage : challenges and solutions

Abstract

It is widely documented that tourism to sites of living religious heritage value is on the increase. This has led to different visitor management scenarios at a number of churches in Malta, geared at offering visitors a good experience, involving adequate access, interpretation and information. This study documents the visitor management arrangements at six churches that represent a wide spectrum in the numbers of the visitors that they receive, from the most visited church in Malta, to one that has not yet opened its doors to any visitors beyond those attending its religious activities. Through personal interviews with the curators of the six case-study sites, and through observational surveys, insight into the challenges involved, such as the security of the artifacts within the church, as well as the impact of high visitor numbers, is documented. Visitors' experiences at these sites of living religious heritage are documented qualitatively through personal interview schedules carried out on a sample number of visitors at each site. A key finding was that most visitors to living religious heritage sites prefer to see the artistic objects in their original context, rather than in a museum setting. Another unexpected result was that even those visitors who were not there for religious motives showed a sensitivity for the religious significance of the objects and their surroundings. Based on the results obtained, a number of recommendations are made for best practice at living religious heritage sites aimed at protecting their multiple values whilst informing good management practices. All photographs, were taken by the author, unless otherwise indicated.