Cartography and pilgrimage trails. Tradition, modernity, and tourism

Abstract. This article focuses on the theme of the pilgrimage trails and their cartographic representation in two specific historical periods: the Middle Ages, during which the drawing of the world was a reminder of the places of Christian faith, and the mapped locations were those characterised by some sacred event narrated in the Bible or by the dominant theology of the time, joined together in routes that led to prominent sacred temples, as a sort of ascetic and geographical path along the ways of faith of biblical and evangelical tradition, which were evoked on the map; the contemporary world, in which pilgrimage trails have (additionally) become an opportunity to explore the territories crossed, and to activate local development processes thanks to the presence of pilgrim-tourists. In both cases, the pilgrimage has played a major role in these different types of representations, contributing to the discovery and knowledge of the world in the former and enhancing the territory’s potential through tourism in the latter.