Sacred Sites: An Overview

This work consists of the authors’ summary of a report providing a general overview to this subject. It is important to appreciate that the concept of ‘sacred site’ used by the authors includes areas that have been preserved in a natural state – natural sacred sites – as well as sites in which buildings and other structures have been raised as part of the site’s function. The authors thus propose an operative definition of sacred sites based on three dimensions: descriptive, spiritual and functional. This work is structured in five parts: the context and definition of sacred sites, the motives for protecting sacred sites, the main stakeholders in this process, the principal challenges and strategies to follow, and the main conclusions and proposals. The work includes eight case studies from Australia, the United States of America, Ghana, Canada, Ireland and Colombia. Finally, there is a page of bibliographic references and a list of web sites.