Potential of the European Cultural Route of Saints Cyril and Methodius for the Development of Cultural Tourism

The Cultural Route of Saints Cyril and Methodius was established in 2021 as a certified route within the program of Cultural Routes managed by the Council of Europe. The idea was to connect places with the Cyrillo-Methodian and Great Moravian traditions. The development of this cultural route is managed by the European Cultural Route of Saints Cyril and Methodius with a Permanent Secretariat in Zlín in the Czech Republic. The association currently has 23 members from 8 countries (CZ, SK, GR, SI, HU, BG, HR and IT). The Cultural Routes Program of the Council of Europe, which has been in development since 1987, is an expression of the basic principles of the Council of Europe: human rights, cultural democracy, cultural diversity and identity, mutual dialogue, mutual exchange and enrichment across borders and centuries. Certified cultural works are expected to initiate innovative projects in the field of cultural tourism and sustainability of cultural development. The aim of this paper is to point out how the European Cultural Route of Saints Cyril and Methodius can contribute to the development of cultural tourism – at international, national, regional and local level. These co-patrons of Europe are closely linked to Slovakia, specifically to the city of Nitra where the Bishopric of Nitra was established in 880 by Pope John VIII. From a methodological perspective, this work is based on qualitative approach (excerpts from print and electronic information sources of varying provenance; comparative analysis; authors’ own experiences with creation of strategic documents). The critical approach to information was supported by fieldwork and communication with stakeholders. The results of our research show that Saints Cyril and Methodius are part of everyday life in Slovakia in various forms – spiritual, landscape, cultural and economic. Religious tourism, which is also associated with their cult, significantly contributes to the visibility of several municipalities and cities and supports their development, especially in connection with the construction of infrastructure. The European Cultural Route of Saints Cyril and Methodius has great potential to connect not only some of the most important European locations / points with a strong legacy of Saints Cyril and Methodius and their disciples spreading their ideas, emphasising the authenticity and uniqueness of this legacy in each of the countries involved, but also, and above all, human generations throughout the centuries

Catchworks: A Historical Water-Distribution System on Mountain Meadows in Central Slovakia

Water meadows or flooded meadows are known from many European countries. A historical irrigation system—catchworks—was identified in only one locality in Slovakia. This article brings a methodical approach to the identification of catchworks on mountain slopes. The main aim was to delineate catchworks using terrain and land use geospatial data intended to supplement existing data on catchworks from the field survey. The identification of shallow and narrow channels in the field is difficult, and their detection in a digital terrain model (DTM) and orthomosaic photos is also challenging. A detailed DTM elaborated from laser scanning data was not available. Therefore, we employed break lines of a Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) model created by EUROSENSE Ltd. 2017, Bratislava, Slovakia. to determine microtopographic features on mountain slopes. Orthomosaics with adjusted red (R) green (G) and blue (B) band thresholds (digital numbers) in a time sequence of 16 years (2002–2018) and the Normalized Green-Red Difference Index (NGRDI) (2018) determined vital herbaceous vegetation and higher biomass. In both cases, the vegetation inside wet functional catchworks was differently coloured from the surroundings. In the case of dry catchworks, the identification relied only on microtopography features. The length of catchworks mapped in the field (1939.12 m; 2013) was supplied with potential catchworks detected from geospatial data (2877.18; 2018) and their total length in the study area increased above 59.74% (4816.30 m). Real and potential catchworks predominantly occupied historical grassland (meadows and pastures) (1952–1957) (4430.31; 91.99%). This result corresponds with the findings of foreign studies referring that catchworks on mountain slopes were related to livestock activities. They are important elements of sustainable land use with a water retention function in traditional agricultural landscapes

Reflection of Political and Social Development in the Religious Street Names of the City of Trnava and their Potential in Tourism

Aim. From the point of view of the period of creation and historical development, we consider the streets of the historical core of Trnava to be the most dynamic, and why we focused on street name changes in the period from 1900 to the present in the area of the historical core of the city. Methods. As part of the methodology the classification by urbanonym, with the help of which we included the names of streets and squares into individual categories. A classification was used that divides urbanonyms into socially motivated and socially non-motivated, which are further divided into several subcategories. Urbanonyms are further divided into domestic and foreign. This classification is the most up-to-date of those mentioned and includes a category of religious names. Results. The category of socially significant street names, are divided at a lower level into the categories of politics, art and culture, church, science, crafts and trade, historical names and institutions. The most numerous is the group of names in the art and culture category, which includes 70 domestic and 10 foreign names, which together represent 25.89% of the total number of streets in the city. There are 15 streets in the categories of politics, church and science (4.85% of all 309 streets). Conclusion. Currently, Trnava can be characterised as a modern, dynamic city with a great influence on its surroundings. The restrictive measures taken in connection with the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 greatly affected the tourism sector and meant permanent closure for many businesses

Raising and Educating Children in a Roma Family to Practice their Faith Through Roma Customs

Aim. The main aim of the paper is to highlight the education of children in Roma families to practice their faith through Roma customs. The authors identify the practice of faith in Roma holidays which are baptism, sacrament of Eucharist and Confirmation, funeral. Methods. The authors use the literary-descriptive method which they use for analytical-synthetic gathering of professional and scientific knowledge. They overlap these with the practical field empirical experience of the authors dealing with the issue. Results. The Roma family is a patriarchal constitution ensuring the transmission of the cultural and customary heritage of the Roma. Through education by imitation, children learn through the customs and habits of their relatives to observe and practice the faith, thus ensuring the continuation of the family line in a living faith. Conclusion. The Roma have adopted majority Christianity in Slovakia as their own. However, Roma groups retain their customs and rituals, which they have incorporated into their religion and practice of faith. For the Roma, religion and its association with customs and traditions is a connection to God. Therefore, these rituals need to be observed in order to be handed down to the next generation

Cultural Tourism in Nitra, Slovakia: Overview of Current and Future Trends

Cultural tourism has undergone fundamental changes in several countries of post-socialist Europe. In Slovakia, this fact concerns, for example, localities with a strong connection to the church and its cultural heritage. These monuments belong to the foundations of cultural tourism, yet the state intentionally did not prefer them as tourist destinations until 1989. Only after political and social changes were such localities exploited by tourism with a qualitative and quantitative increase in cultural tourism. The aim of this paper is to investigate the recent changes in cultural tourism in urban areas and to address alternative cultural tourism products to diversify the offerings. To do so, Nitra (Slovakia) was used as a case study area. The main used methods were comparative analysis of information sources and questionnaire surveys, aimed at residents, entrepreneurs, and tourists. The main result is that Nitra has the potential to become an important center of cultural tourism/stage destination of various cultural routes. The presented results will increase awareness of the present and future of cultural tourism; they can be beneficial for organizations dealing with tourism management in the city (city office) and its marketing (Nitra Tourism Organization) for the academic and public sphere

Flood Risk Assessment for the Long-Term Strategic Planning Considering the Placement of Industrial Parks in Slovakia

The intention of the article is to demonstrate how data from historical maps might be applied in the process of flood risk assessment in peri-urban zones located in floodplains and be complementary datasets to the national flood maps. The research took place in two industrial parks near the rivers Žitava and Nitra in the town of Vráble (the oldest industrial park in Slovakia) and the city of Nitra (one of the largest industrial parks in Slovakia, which is still under construction concerning the Jaguar Land Rover facility). The historical maps from the latter half of the 18th and 19th centuries and from the 1950s of the 20th century, as well as the field data on floods gained with the GNSSS receiver in 2010 and the Q100 flood line of the national flood maps (2017), were superposed in geographic information systems. The flood map consists of water flow simulation by a mathematical hydrodynamic model which is valid only for the current watercourse. The comparison of historical datasets with current data indicated various transformations and shifts of the riverbanks over the last 250 years. The results proved that the industrial parks were built up on traditionally and extensively used meadows and pastures through which branched rivers flowed in the past. Recent industrial constructions intensified the use of both territories and led to the modifications of riverbeds and shortening of the watercourse length. Consequently, the river flow energy increased, and floods occurred during torrential events in 2010. If historical maps were respected in the creation of the flood maps, the planned construction of industrial parks in floodplains could be limited or forbidden in the spatial planning documentation. This study confirmed that the flood modelling using the Q100 flood lines does not provide sufficient arguments for investment development groups, and flood maps might be supplied with the data derived from historical maps. The proposed methodology represents a simple, low cost, and effective way of identifying possible flood-prone areas and preventing economic losses and other damages