Re-evaluating Abandoned Rural Christian Heritage for Sustainable Cultural Landscape Tourism: Zoodochos Pege Church, Bursa

Abstract

Abstract

Historic religious buildings, located in rural areas, are increasingly facing processes of abandonment and deterioration; due to demographic changes, migration movements, economic transformations, and loss of function. Abandoned rural churches. In particular, are regarded not only as architectural heritage elements but also as important components of collective memory, cultural identity, and rural landscapes. This study examines the potential for re-evaluating abandoned rural religious heritage within the context of cultural landscape and sustainable tourism through the case of the Zoodochos Pege Church, located in the Karacabey district of Bursa, Türkiye. The research was designed, as a qualitative single-case study and employed a combination: literature review, field observations, photographic documentation, cultural heritage analysis, cultural landscape assessment, and SWOT analysis. The findings demonstrate that the Zoodochos Pege Church is not merely a physically ruined structure, but a multilayered cultural heritage site representing the multicultural rural past. The relationship established between the church, the Karacabey Floodplain Forests. And the surrounding natural landscape presents, significant potential for integrated culture–nature tourism. In addition, the structure’s capacity to be integrated into regional cultural route systems is noteworthy. However, physical deterioration, lack of maintenance, inadequate infrastructure, and environmental impacts were identified as major risk factors. The results of the study emphasize, the importance of considering abandoned rural religious buildings not merely as objects of physical conservation, but as multilayered heritage landscapes associated with the natural environment, cultural landscape, and regional development dynamics.

Keywords: Rural heritage, adaptive reuse, cultural landscape, sustainable tourism, Zoodochos Pege Church.