“How to Visit a Church” is a training action for guides and tourism agents, which will take place in Tavira, this Saturday, November 24th, and is the result of a partnership between the Pastoral do Turismo of the Diocese of Algarve and the Secretariat National for the Church's Cultural Goods, with the support of the Municipality of Tavira.
The event, which will take place at the Church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo, is structured so that participants can acquire skills and use tools in order to better help temple visitors to understand the space they visit, exploring the specificity of the churches affected to worship, contextualized in a broader program of interpretation, capable of counteracting the frequent superficial readings, as a valuable and enriching factor for the visit.
There are six key moments in this knowledge process that will be addressed by various specialists: understanding the cult, knowing the space, understanding the objects, interpreting the images, transmitting the story, knowing how to guide.
Considering the sacredness of the place and its primary function, the training “How to visit a Church” also aims to transmit the original meaning of the various artistic expressions present, highlighting the potential of its heritage collection, living manifestations of faith at the service of evangelization, integrated into the liturgical context for which they were conceived.
Understanding worship, knowing how to read the space and letting yourself be challenged by the beauty of Christian Art, discovering the intrinsic message in each monument and its works, are some of the approaches to be developed by the various specialists.
This action (as well as its two previous editions, which took place in Coimbra and Seia) results from the recognition of the growing importance of the religious heritage, as an irreplaceable source of cultural fruition and one of the main tourist resources in the world.
Registration costs 25 euros, and interested parties should consult the website http://www.bensculturais.com/como-visitar-uma-igreja for this purpose.
Program:
09:30 am Welcome to the participants
09:45 Opening
P. Miguel Neto, Pastoral Ministry of Tourism of the Diocese of Algarve
Sandra Costa Saldanha, National Secretariat for the Church's Cultural Goods
10:15 am INTRODUCTION
Tourism and Church Teaching – Fr. Carlos Godinho | National Work of the Pastoral of Tourism
Religious tourism in Portugal: facts, constraints and perspectives – Varico Pereira | turel
11:15 pm Break
11:30 am UNDERSTANDING THE WORSHIP
The art of celebrating: knowing the acts and deciphering the symbols
12:15 PM GETTING TO KNOW THE SPACE
Reading and understanding a Catholic temple: places of worship and key spaces
Octavio Carmo | Ecclesia Agency
13:00 pm Lunch
14:30 pm UNDERSTANDING OBJECTS
Living instruments at the service of faith: the function of liturgical works and implements
Artur Goulart | Archdiocese of Évora
15:15 pm INTERPRET THE IMAGES
From the splendor of art to the manifestation of faith: experiencing and knowing how to communicate
Victor Teixeira | Portuguese Catholic University
16:00 pm Break
16:15 PM TRANSMITTING THE STORY
Historical-artistic circumstances in the process of recognition and appreciation
Nuno Resende | Diocese of Lamego
17:00 HOW TO GUIDE
From reception to route: eligible locations, recommended circuits and attractiveness factors
Maria de Fátima Eusébio | Diocese of Viseu
17:45pm: Closing
Jorge Botelho, Mayor of Tavira
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