Popular religiosity and dark tourism...? Two case studies: incorrupt bodies and chapels of bones

Abstract

The purpose of this study, of theoretical and historical nature, is to think about religious cultural practices related to death. We present two case studies, which constitute two popular forms of devotion: that of the incorrupt bodies, namely the cult to 'saint' Maria Adelaide, and the chapels of bones, in particular those of Évora and Campo Maior. We discuss the attraction that death exerts on the living and try to distinguish the curious blend that seems to exist between religious beliefs and the appeal of the macabre in the selected cases. We also attempted to understand if these are cases that fall into the genre of dark tourism, as conceived by scholars in this field.A key idea remains: faced with death and its inevitability, man is placed before the question of the ephemerality of life and these ideas occupy his thoughts (and actions); the way he conducts his devotion - and especially popular devotion - are well illustrative of this fact.