Download File - Mr. Nelson`s AP human geography

Topic: Religion and the
Cultural Landscape
Aim: How does religion
organize physical space?
Antwerp, Belgium
RELIGION
Derived from
Elements of the
Physical
environment
Modifies
the
landscape
The Religious Landscape
• Structures of houses of
worship are the most obvious
contributions to the landscape.
• E.g.- In Europe, the Catholic
church stands at the center of
the town or village.
• Protestants went for more
simple, less ornate structures.
• Mosques also dominate the
landscape around them, but
synagogues often tend to be
less visible.
Hindu Temple:
Angkor Wat, Cambodia. This temple suffers from neglect and destruction
now, as Buddhism has supplanted Hinduism in most of Cambodia.
Buddhism & the landscape:
• Has an enormous impact on the cultural landscape:
• Stupas, temples, monasteries, and bodhi or bo trees
are all built or planted to honor the Buddha.
• Enormous statues honoring Buddha are also found
in many places.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIeLrcUGIK4
@ 37 minutes in
Buddhist statue in South Korea
Hinduism:
•Has an impact on the landscape,
either through building or by the
pilgrimages believers make to sacred
rivers or other places.
•Temples and shrines are
everywhere; constructing them
brings merit to those who own them
•They are built in beautiful and
auspicious places, near water since
the gods won’t come to other places.
•All temples have a circular spire as a
reminder of sky, the real dwelling
place of any god.
Varanasi, India
Sacred Landscapes of Islam
Muslim Mosques
Dome of this
mosque in Isfahan,
Iran demonstrates
the importance of
geometric art evident
in Muslim
architecture.
What impact does Christianity
have on the cultural landscape?
Two Southern Baptist Churches
Protestant and Catholic Landscapes in the
United States:
Scandinavian
Lutheran
Church
(on left)
St. Mary’s
Catholic
Church
(on right)
• Religious Settlements and Place Names:
– Most human settlements serve an economic purpose,
but some are established primarily for religious reasons.
• Utopian settlement is an ideal community built
around a religious way of life.
–Salt Lake City culminated the utopian movement
in the United States when it was built by the
Mormons.
– Roman Catholic immigrants have frequently given
religious place names, or toponyms, to settlements
primarily in the U.S. Southwest and Quebec.
Religion and Toponyms:
Religious Toponyms: In Quebec, a province with a predominantly Roman
Catholic population, a large number of settlements are named for saints,
whereas relatively few religious toponyms are found in predominantly
Protestant Ontario and New York.
Landscapes of the dead
Yucatan, Mexico
Why Do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive
Patterns?
• Disposing of the Dead
– Climate, topography, and religious doctrine combine to
create differences in practices to shelter the dead.
• Burial
– Christians, Muslims, and Jews typically bury the deceased in
designated areas called cemeteries.
» Cemeteries were typically only public open space in
congested urban places prior to the nineteenth century.
• Cremation
– Hindus wash the bodies of the deceased with water from
the Ganges River first, then burn them with a slow fire on a
funeral pyre.
The most common
form of disposal of
bodies in India is
cremation. In middleclass families, bodies are
more likely to be
cremated in an electric
oven at a crematorium.
A poor person may be
cremated in an open
fire, such as this one
within sight of the Taj
Mahal. High-ranking
officials and strong
believers in traditional
religious practices may
also be cremated on an
outdoor fire.
HINDU CREMATION Family members cover a body with wood for cremation, Agra,
India.
Disposition of the Deceased:
Each religion approaches the disposition of the deceased in different
ways, and cultural landscapes reflect the religious traditions.
Hindu
crematorium
in
Mombasa,
Kenya
Amana, Iowa – German immigrants preferred order
and tidiness
Jewish neighborhoods in European Cities
the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, the Czech Republic
Temples dedicated to ancestors
Found in most Balinese homes
Daily offerings made
BALI, INDONESIA
• In Vancouver, British
Columbia
Funerary burner
Hong Kong Condo:
The hole in the center is for the dragon who lives on the
hill.
Administration of Space:
• Administration of space:
–Hierarchical religions
• Latter-day Saints
• Roman Catholics
–Locally autonomous religions
• Islam
• Protestant denominations
Roman Catholic hierarchy in the United States. The Roman Catholic Church divides the
United States into provinces, each headed by an archbishop. Provinces are subdivided into
dioceses, each headed by a bishop. The archbishop of a province also serves as the bishop
of a diocese. Dioceses that are headed by archbishops are called archdioceses.