Cistercian abbeys in Poland and their influence on the development of tourism

The purpose of the study was to investigate the meaning of Cistercian abbeys in Poland for tourism development. The basic thesis was the assumption that Cistercian abbey has the influence on increasing the attractiveness and tourist promotion of the area. The research involved four Cistercian abbey in Szczyrzyc, Mogiła, Jędrzejowo and Wąchock. The presence of these objects affects the tourist attractiveness of the area, which is connected with the fact that they are high-ranking advantage of touring. As monuments of architecture and construction possess often in their area art museums, art collections. At the same time organize contemporary cultural events and are places of pilgrimage. This, in turn, entails the development of tourism management. A particular example is the creation of hiking trails. Abbey, in consultation with representatives of local government and with other subjects often participate in creation of tourism products and participate in the promotion of the region, resulting in arrivals of both tourists and pilgrims.

This article proposed a structure of geography of religion : confessional geography, sacred geography, geography of pilgrimage. This structure considers three elements: 1 ) the spatial situation of religious life in Ukraine and defined regional denominational  structure ; 2 ) the geography of the sacred center The meaning of religious centers in religious life are divided into levels : national, regional, local ; and 3 ) the geography of pilgrimage – for different denominations within Ukraine, abroad from Ukraine, from abroad into the country.
The general trends in the geography of religion, created in the early 21st century: 1 ) revitalization of the Moscow Patriarchate with the active support of the Russian Orthodox Church and the public authorities. This is evident in the increasing number of religious communities and the active construction of churches; 2 ) increases the number of Protestants and charismatic churches of believers; 3 ) the strengthened position of Greek Catholics; 4 ) a “return ” of some Ukrainians to ancient religious roots, promoting actually paganism (Native Ukrainian National Faith), rituals of which are reconstructed.