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.
The Byzantine mission of saint brothers Cyril and Methodius had a major impact on the spiritual history of Great Moravia. In the centuries that followed, their works paved the way for the political and historical development of the Slavic nations, mainly in South-East and East Europe. The mission, which reached Great Moravia in 863, had several dimensions. The most important were evangelism and the cultural and civilizational dimensions. Translations of the Gospel and liturgical texts into Old Church Slavonic intensified the religious life of our ancestors and laid the foundations of literature and culture for almost the entire Slavic world. From this point of view, research should be focused on the role and reflection of this historical and cultural heritage in the ecclesiastical and spiritual, national and cultural life of the Slavic nations. The aim of this article is to assess the significance of Christian and Byzantine cultural values in terms of the collective Slavic identity. The Cyrillo-Methodian idea manifests itself in the history of the Slavic world as a complex but solid foundation, capable of renewing the sleeping or inhibited energy and values in the areas of faith, culture, literature, arts, education, upbringing, as well as national consciousness.
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