Heritagisation and commodification of sacred places: preliminary findings from Assisi, Italy

In modern times sacred places around the world had to face many challenges, from secularization to heritagization and commodification, which are the subjects of my article. The rise of mass tourism is stretching the limits of many cities around the world, and sacred places are no exception. They are struggling to preserve their identity and are constantly fighting between the need to keep their spaces dedicated to believers and the need to open to tourists, which can be valuable for both proselytism and economic reasons. In this article I will analyse the case of Assisi, Italy, the subject of my research. I will first report the observations I conducted during the field work, and then I’ll discuss the preliminary findings of my research. Assisi in fact, and above all the clergy who administer the sacred places of the city, is well aware of the risk bring by mass tourism and is adopting many ways to defend itself.