Istanbul In Russian Hojdenies Within The Scope Of Religious Tourism

Authors : Semra Aycı, Aysel Kaya

Pages : 153-167

Doi:https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13953528

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Publication Date : 2024-10-24

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Istanbul was an important stop for Russian pilgrims from the eleventh century to the fourteenth century. In this study, the aim is to contribute to the enrichment of the narratives of tour guides serving for faith tourism by investigating certain elements such as holy places, holy relics, the architectural features of holy places and legends written about them, and the social, cultural and political structures of the period in the pilgrimages (hojdenie) written by Russian Orthodox pilgrims visiting Istanbul. For this purpose, four pilgrimages written in Russian between 1200-1389 were selected as the main data source. In this qualitative study, inductive thematic analysis was applied to the data and nine main categories were identified under three themes: ‘religious elements’, ‘historical elements’ and ‘artistic elements’. As a result of the research, it was understood that Russians had adopted Istanbul as one of the most important pilgrimage centres after Jerusalem since the tenth century, when they accepted Christianity as the off icial religion, and made pilgrimages to Istanbul for many centuries. It is thought that the information obtained from the hojdenies will add diversity and richness to the narratives of tour guides in tours for tourists visiting Istanbul for religious tourism.
Keywords : Russian Pilgrimage, Travelogue, Pilgrimage, Tour Guide, Istanbul.

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