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BalkanTravellers.com
16 August 2010 Bulgaria is looking to the recent discovery of what are claimed to be the relics of Saint John the Baptist for salvation of the country’s economy, The Wall Street Journal recently reported.
As BalkanTravellers.com wrote, an archaeology team – led by Professor Kazimir Popkonstantinov, discovered a few weeks ago relics, consisting of parts of bones from the arm and leg, as well as a tooth and a facial bone, on the island of Saint Ivan near the Black Sea town of Sozopol.
In claims that quickly gave rise to controversy within archaeological circles as well as society at large, the relics were said to have belonged to Saint John the Baptist.
“Officials of this recession-scarred country think the purported relics will give a big boost to tourism,” the publication noted, “drawing believers from neighboring Orthodox Christian countries” to the town of Sozopol, where the relics are now displayed in a church.
“Tens of millions of dollars have already been earmarked to prepare for an anticipated surge in visitors,” according to the publication, and the town’s port is already being enlarged, tour guides rewritten and new signs are going up to direct people to the relics.
Although the relics’ authenticity has not yet been confirmed and has given rise to controversy among both international and local religious, scientific, civil and governmental institutions, news of the find is already attracting visitors to Sozopol.
The Church of Saint George, where the supposed relics are now displayed has seen its daily attendance rise from about 100 to more than 3,000.
To help pull Bulgaria – the EU’s poorest member state, out of its worst recession since the collapse of communism here 20 years ago, the government is looking to promote tourism.
“I'm not religious but these relics are in the premier league,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Dyankov told the publication. The relics’ “revenue potential for Bulgaria is clear,” he says, adding that he wants to double government spending on the development of religious tourism so “we can make this history profitable.”
Meanwhile, according to the publication, business in Sozopol continues to languish. “The government are telling us the town will become the next Jerusalem,” hotel owner Stanimir Stoyanov told The Wall Street Journal. “We just hope that they're right.”
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- Kevin J. Wright is one of the world's most recognized religious travel and hospitality authorities. He founded and served as President of the World Religious Travel Association, the leading organization dedicated to the 300 million traveler faith tourism industry. He also served as Chairman of the World Religious Travel Expo, drawing more than 30 countries from around the world. Wright has been interviewed by the CBS Early Show, TIME Magazine, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Public Radio (NPR), National Geographic, Forbes Traveler, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and dozens of other media outlets. He is the author of four travel guidebooks.
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