The Rupite Protected Area, Bulgaria: Construction of a Landscape

Abstract

By examining the different layers and roles of related actors, this study aims to reveal the ways in which the local people view the locality of Rupite in southwest Bulgaria and in which the landscape is constructed. The construction of Rupite as a landscape and tourist destination is mainly happening from the bottom up, through separate initiatives of different actors rather than following a certain vision or development plan created by the responsible institutions. Rupite is being constructed as a multi-layered landscape of sacred, cultural, historical and natural significance, on which different actors draw to develop various forms of tourism: religious, cultural and historical, spa. The inextricable connection, which was built between the image of the prophetess Vanga and Rupite, leads us to think about the locality as an extremely sacred place. Vanga and the sacrality form the main layer of the landscape. The rest of the elements (cultural, historical and natural) characterising the landscape, on the one hand serve as additional ‘evidence’ of the sacrality, and on the other, win recognition by means of the image of Vanga. Each actor related to Rupite constructs the place in a specific manner. However, all of them use one main mechanism and draw symbolic capital (and thus legitimise their positions and activities, even though these are often contradictory) from one main source – the image of Vanga.