Golija-Studenica

Golija-Studenica - The development of Ecotourism in a Biosphere Reserve, Serbia by Slavica Cepic, Radmila Mircetic and Dragana Romic

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Rationale: Why is this case study interesting?

A distinguishing quality of Golija landscape is a combination of social, cultural and natural heritage, which was the ground for proclaiming it as Biosphere Reserve at the first place. The future development of this area should lead to integration and linkage of these three aspects rather than their separate consideration and research. Eco tourism could be one way to revive this area and recreate these linkages, which were at some point neglected and disregarded.

Think about it from the view of another educator/student in a different country. Why should I use this case study in my teaching/education?

Author's perspective

What theoretical or professional perspective do you bring to the case study? Please answer from your personal perspective.

Landscape and/or urban context

This area is highly appreciated for its cultural heritage. Within the borders of the protected area there are 20 officially recognized cultural monuments: churches and monasteries dating back to the 12th to 17th century, necropolis from the same period, fortifications, and traditional houses from the 19th century.

The monument of the highest importance is the Monastery of Studenica, which was established in the late 12th century by Stefan Nemanja, founder of medieval Serbian state. It is generally one the most significant monuments of the cultural and historical heritage in Serbia. In 1986 Studenica was placed under UNESCO protection as a World Heritage Site. The total area of 262ha around the monastery complex is protected. It is principally rural landscape which embraces several other monuments and churches lying in the close proximity of the monastery. The main structural landscape elements here are forests, meadows and pastures, which create visual and natural background to the architecture of the monastery. In the close proximity of the monastery the construction is forbidden by law. Still there is an evident problem of the sprawl of the unplanned weekend settlements in the vicinity of the monastery complex. Other monasteries situated in the remote and hardly accessible areas are exempted from this influence.

There are many significant cultural monuments in the area surrounding the Biosphere Reserve that belong to the same cultural group, time frame and have similar features as the monuments within its borders, and are historically related.

Cultural/social/political context

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History

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