Литийни шествия и съвременни градски празници по примера на град Асеновград
The Prayerful Processions and the Contemporary Urban Celebrations by the Example of the Town of Asenovgrad

Author(s): Vasil Karadzhov
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Theology and Religion, Eastern Orthodoxy
Published by: Пловдивски университет »Паисий Хилендарски«
Keywords: prayerful processions; contemporary urban celebrations; Asenovgrad
Summary/Abstract: In the text are presented religious and urban feast days, which are distinguished by festive processions, following the example of Assenovgrad. The town is known for its Christian cult buildings and culture. In the narratives, the town is compared with the world's Christian centers and is recognizable by its constructed images such as the Little Jerusalem, the Rhodope Holy Mountain and etc. Twelve urban events with the participation of the local community are gathered in the text. The addition of the prayerful processions in the Bachkovo Monastery can create a regional calendar of the feast days. The religious feasts with their prayerful processions in Asenovgrad are mass and turn into town-wide. The secular celebrations borrow from the festive processions the festive movement in urban space. The routes connect two or more town topos such as churches, monasteries, chapels, Holy Water sources, town fountains, monuments, small streets, central town boulevards and the town square. This symbolically confirms the connections between them and makes them valuable to the local community by creating certain collective ideas about them and the past of the town. Often this happens on the basis of a reconstructed legend or story. The Asenovgrad locals enjoy celebrating and gladly participate on various occasions in festive processions like those gathered in this study.

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